With inspiration from the most recent FHB, I am re-trimming and re-screening an approximately 25×25′ pool house. (All my prior DIY work is interior). Design is fairly basic: Wrapping columns, base plate on concrete, cross-members, screen stops,simple interior trim out, etc. Everything painted white.
I live in the Atlanta area and am having a hard time with — of all things — wood selection.
I assumed that cedar is the best, somewhat affordable choice, but only one supplier appears to carry it (Norcross) and his stock needs a month of drying before use.
Asking around, one of the larger distributors says he sells lots of Windsor One primed finger jointed stock for this application. Online specs say it’s good for exterior (at least 8″ off ground) — if you follow good installation practices. Makes me kind of nervous.
Questions:
1. What are the alternatives for this application beyond cedar?
2. Is Windsor One a good candidate?
3. An aside, why is cedar so hard to find in this region?
Thanks for the help.
Ken
Replies
3. An aside, why is cedar so hard to find in this region?
Because you have something better and more readily available. Cypress!
Doug
if you want paint grade, go with a manmade product. i prefer Aztec it cuts and machines like wood. I find it at a local lumber yard, but I think it's pretty easy to find nation wide
Ken, while Windsor One is an excellent product, I would have reservations about using it for a porch because of all the water traps that are inevitable, even with good planning and design. Like Doug said, cypress is a great material locally available to you.
Mike
Thanks for the quick and helpful responses. Though it's no excuse, I'm a recent transplant to the SE from the NE -- thus my lack of knowledge. Only strange thing is that I spoke to half a dozen local lumber yards looking for a solution and no one mentioned cypress. I probably asked the wrong question.
If you don't mind, I have a couple of follow up questions re cypress:
1. What grade should I look for?
2. What are the requirements for good, visible trim painting (oil?, primer type to avoid bleed through, etc.)
Thanks for the help. If there's a prior post that I should reference to save your time, please let me know.
Ken
Me make 2 for AZEK.I Love A Hand That Meets My Own,
With A Hold That Causes Some Sensation.
[email protected]
Ken
I don't know why the lumber yards didn't recommend the cypress, maybe they just assume everybody knows about it!
I'm from the midwest and clear cypress was readily available to us. It easier to find fairly clear cypress than clear cedar. Not sure what your needs are concerning it.
If you need help with what finish to put on the cypress I'd search out Goldhiller, he'll know what to do.
You can do a search on cypress, I'm sure its been talked about here numerous times.
I dont know anything about Azek products, have read very good things about it so it might be worth a looksee. You can also do a search on that product, its also been discussed quite a bit.
Doug
Edited 4/21/2005 11:40 pm ET by Doug@es
Not sure if it available down there but another wood you might look for is Red Miranti (it's also called African Mahogany and one other name that I can't come up with). It is a type of Mahogany imported from Indonesia actually. Great all weather characteristics and makes a sweet looking deck. I did mine in this last year. I'm guessing it would look great trimming out your project. It is not an exotic wood but is a wood which they have developed into an industry in that part of the world.
It looked so good I even used some of it to build the bar and trim in between our dining room and Kitchen during our new kitchen project. Take a look here is the deck while I was building it and the partially finished bar as well
Thanks to all for the feedback.
I checked around today and found cypress KD 4S4 at a couple of distributors. It's pricey: about $2.50 per linear foot for a 1x8 -- but a good local substitute for cedar.
FYI, I am leaning toward combining cypress and external grade MDF (Extira) . I'll use the Exira for the columns and other non-weather surfaces (it's 40% of the price of the cypress). I'll use the cypress on all surfaces touching/near the ground and where water might accumulate.
Local distributor says he's seeing a lot of Extera used on columns and other exterior vertical applications. No problems (to date). Quick check of BT indicates the same (but it's a relatively new product)
At least, that's the plan for today.
Thanks again for the advice.
You might consider MDO for wrapping you columns as well. I'm not familiar with exterior MDF, but I would think the corners would chip easily.