Large cedar boards

[sako243]

Any suggestions on some sawmills that would be able to supply something like 18x1.25" 6m lengths of cedar?

We're going to be reroofing bits of the house in the near future so I'd prefer to replace the fascias and soffits with some decent timber rather than the crap in builders merchants. I've got a few feelers out but cedar isn't that easy to come by down this neck of the woods. I don't mind travelling a bit to fetch some as we'll need at least a dozen of those boards.

@8ob? @mtt.tr? @Kram?

 

[8ob]

I will check with our local sawmill Ed, does it have to be Cedar? There is a lot of Oak about atm.

Bob

 

[sako243]

You know the house.

Chatting with the local guys cedar is probably the best in terms of longevity, larch is another one but finding trees big enough may be the issue.

Oak might be a possibility but doesn't it require more seasoning so it doesn't warp and pull off?

 

[sako243]

On the subject of oak it would have to be up from your neck of the woods. The stuff down here grows too fast and is quite a different tree when you cut it up compared to oak from other colder / drier areas of the country.

 

[Robotstar5]

You could try giving Davies Timber a call, they don't list it on their website, but they must use bigger stock to produce the Cedar stuff on there, I've used them a few times and can recommend them.

 

[8ob]

You know the house.

Chatting with the local guys cedar is probably the best in terms of longevity, larch is another one but finding trees big enough may be the issue.

Oak might be a possibility but doesn't it require more seasoning so it doesn't warp and pull off?

From green a bit, very little in length, about 1/2" per foot width. There are a few sticks here you can have that have been in the pile for at least five years, they wont move, not 6mts though.

Bob

 

[Kayos]

I'd persevere finding cedar, larch and oak doesn't weather the same imo

I've seen lengths joined in 2 ways previously, one was invisible and the other was made into feature, using black fixings. Both worked in the setting but the feature join wouldnt have worked where the invisible join was used

 

[sako243]

In all likelihood it will be clad over in plastic. Tom (the neighbour who's a good friend and roofer) and I have spent a fair bit of time going back and forth over this and we're thinking the best way forward is to pack the plastic covering out a little bit to ensure Air flow around them (there will also be access for air to dry the soffits and barge boards).

The main reason for the plastic fascias is to drop over the top of the slates and prevent the wind getting up and underneath them. The roof varies from 8-12m on an exposed hill and 100mph+ winds are common here so protecting the slates is preferred. In Tom's considerable experience in this area we're more likely to loose slates from wind rather than the downsides of cladding over the boards in plastic. So weathering colour doesn't matter so much, dimensional stability and rot resistance is more important. Although they will likely be soaked in some proper old school creosote prior to going up.

 

[knighty]

if you're going to cover in plastic anyway... why not just use plastic to start with?


I was going to suggest plastic anyway before you said that... I'm all about cutting down on maintenance

 

[sako243]

We want something substantial to tie stuff in at the end of the roof and my experience with the plastics is they end up becoming brittle and don't last. For example most pvc windows are only guaranteed for 5, maybe 10 years is you're lucky. Local chap near us makes hardwood windows and they're guaranteed for 50.

If I could avoid plastic I probably would but the "aerodynamic" properties are for the better.

 

[Robotstar5]

We want something substantial to tie stuff in at the end of the roof and my experience with the plastics is they end up becoming brittle and don't last. For example most pvc windows are only guaranteed for 5, maybe 10 years is you're lucky. Local chap near us makes hardwood windows and they're guaranteed for 50.

If I could avoid plastic I probably would but the "aerodynamic" properties are for the better.

My first house had hardwood double glazed windows and I'd spend a weekend each year giving them a coat of Sadolin, they looked nice when I sold the house, the first thing the new owner did was replace them with white UPVC

 

[gaz1]

consider decking even though its 5" wide they also come in long lengths as well

as it will last and is also durable easy enough to join together as well

 

[frank horton]

I bought some solid UVPC for Sofit's…..was like using wood…it was around 10” wide and certainly10mm thick…
Very heavy tho…..
I went by the house a year ago and it still looks good although dirty…..

 

[nickk]

The two mills by me both cut and supply Douglas fir. which is durable.

 

[Shiny Steve]

Just beat me to it, I was going to suggest Douglas as well, along with cedar and larch it has very good external qualities and quite stable. Oak and chestnut are very rot resistant but do move a lot, French oak is a lot better if you can get hold of it English oak has a lot of wild/ erratic grain structure.

 

[sako243]

Regarding plastic - I cleaned the existing old plastic ones when we had scaffold up last year. They're still just about clean but the new plastic that went up a few months before has gone green. The pressure treated stuff we put as soffits on the workshop 5 years ago hasn't been touched and still looks good. So in some respects the plastic is higher maintenance.

The two mills by me both cut and supply Douglas fir. which is durable.

The local woodyard does too but whilst durable isn't particularly dimensionally stable I've found. We clad the stable in 3/4" boards and they've stretched and pulled somewhat, not a major biggy but it does.

I bought some solid UVPC for Sofit's…..was like using wood…it was around 10” wide and certainly10mm thick…
Very heavy tho…..
I went by the house a year ago and it still looks good although dirty…..

My experience of the reconstituted plastic is not encouraging. The solid 2x4s we got for a local halls bench wouldn't support their own weight over a few feet. Let alone when it started getting warm. I don't doubt there are varying degrees of quality but as a rule I've not been that impressed compared to some decent timber.

I think we've established that cedar is probably the best choice currently, it's trying to source some which was the initial purpose of this thread.

Don't get me wrong, alternatives and discussions are always welcome but we've somewhat already gone around that loop in private.