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hi there people.
listen, i have my own sawmill, and am wondering, what is doug fir like as a siding material. anything i should know?
i can get it easily. but it is plantation material, no old growth left in ireland. what is it like in comparison to western red cedar. i can get the cedar (coming from your neck of the woods), in shingles, but if i go with the doug fir i would have to get it machined into clap’s.
what do you lot think?
what about using green spruce as framing lumber, i could also cut it myself, if it was a good idea. definitely some savings in the wallet dept., but i don’t want to skimp where i shouldn’t.
any suggestion’s?
good luck
Replies
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Douglas Fir is the king of structural framing materials because of it's strength, stability and straight grain. It makes very poor siding, or roofing. It will split, cup, crack and check, and it will absolutely not hold paint...and that's all there is good to say about using it where it's exposed to the elements.
Western Red Cedar makes for poor framing lumber because it lacks strength, but it makes for great siding and roofing because of the natural oil, or tanon, content.
We don't see spruce much here in the Pacific Northwest (home of the Douglas Fir & Western Red Cedar) but I know they used to make airplane parts with it - probably still do. Must be light and strong. When you say "green", are you talking freshly sawn? Or air dried below 20%, or what?
*I don't know about Ireland, but here it would be a termite feast.-- J.S.
*no termites here John
*eddie, i remember in past postings you spoke of beveled siding. Jim is right in discouraging you on using the fir for that. However if you milled it as boards say 1x6 and used it as board and batten or even ran it as a thick butt horizontal siding it would work. I would definitely keep it well oiled to minimize splitting, splintering etc. If you used the boards as a horizontal lapped siding, your trim details would need to be sized accordingly.The board lapped siding detail, was quite common in some areas of the US . I have seen it used with pine, fir, and cedar. The most interesting detail I have seen was in Cape Breton, at the restored Fort Louisburg, where the used both lap and board and batten for roofing on some of the houses. There it was most likely a spruce.Spruce used green will twist and move all over on you, unless you use it as timbers. Dryed (kiln-dryed) it is one wood in the infamous S-P-F labeling of lumber quite common here in Montana. Spruce-Pine- Fir, the fir being white or Grand fir and not Douglas fir. Just recently, the local lumber supplyer here has been carrying a K-D spruce siding. Not sure it will hold up very well.walk gooddavid
*I think you're asking for trouble if it's not at least air dried, eddie. 20% moisture content, max. I've always heard to sticker and air dry lumber 1 year for every inch of thickness, but for less than 100 bucks, a moisture meter can sure be a life saver.I love Douglas Fir. And I've tried time after time after time to use is for siding and exterior details. I'm a hard learner, but even I have finally learned my lesson. If it's a choice between fir and cedar, stick with the cedar outside, 20 years from now you'll be glad you did.(what kind of sawmill you got, man?)
*thanks david.jim, we have a small family sawmill. ours are like everything else, just a little bit different than your type. but we are having to get more mechanized, as a result of the lack of good staff. the recent 'celtic tiger' economy has had a terrible side effect. the irish worker has decided that they don't want to work anymore, and we are only getting used to the immigrant option.anyway, with that rant over.thanks for the info guy's.good luck
*eddie,What you call "timber buildings" over there are called "wood frame construction" over here, the most common type by far in the U.S. Timber buildings here refer to post-and-beam, rather than stud-frame, construction.DF plywood siding is very common here on housing considered "lower end" -- the infamous T1-11 siding. 'used on trim also, although less so now. It's vitally dependent on its coat of paint for rot resistance, so it's definitely not a maintenance-free siding material. But it's cheap.Using dried planks as board-and-batten, as was mentioned, is an option, but again the paint or stain coating is very important.WRC is seen on higher-end homes; 'can still get excellent quality wood from Canada. It stands up very well as siding and roofing. In coastal areas, it seems pretty common to leave it unfinished and let it weather to a grey color; even unfinished in this hostile environment it stands up well.