cypress

[Ivey]

This is Reggies' (Farmtrac60) next order, except for the beams on top they belong to Jack (saw4you). cypress is nice looking wood..

[jeff...]

Nice stuff there Ivey

[cskipper]

Looks great - I don't believe I've worked with cypress.

[DIYGUY]

About seven years ago I was sweet-talked into using cypress on my new decks as an alternative to PTSYP. It sure looked nice when it went down, and I was told it would not need anything special for treatment and last 15 or more years. Well, here is what I can share about cypress with you ...

It machines very readily, is not very heavy, fairly straight grained with closed pores. Ranges in color from almost white through pinkish, tan and very light brown. I did not try to stain it, but I would guess it could be somewhat problematic along the lines of staining pine. Should take paint very well. I bought #1 Select which had almost no pitch pockets in it. I was surprised to see that machined edges would splinter, but that was modest (about 5-6 boards out of 90).

As for the ability to stand up to weather left untreated - well, YMMV. My decks face south, we used to get a lot of late PM t-storms all summer long (till this summer) and the decks would be wet in the AM. So they would be wet all night, then dry out and repeat. I had the builder put all the boards bark side down and yet some still cupped badly - go figure. Anyhow, the decks all weathered to a gray patina which eventually grew mildew. I pw'ed them several times. After seven years about 1/3 of the boards were in advanced decay, 1/3 were moderately successful and the remainder were fine. I am not sure what was the cause for the difference, and could not tell if it was heartwood vs. sapwood or any rhyme or reason. This spring I pulled off the decks and replaced them with PTSYP.

The boards that were in fairly good shape and could be salvaged I stacked for future recycling into something, not sure what (Adirondack chairs?). The rest wound up in either the burn pit or in the landfill.

Cypress IMHO is a fine wood for fence boards, some outdoor furniture and perhaps some secondary wood in cabinetry. Compared with poplar in that respect it is inferior from my perspective. I don't think I would seek it out again for anything in particular, but if I stumbled over a bargain would consider it for the aforementioned uses.

[Ray Martin]

Mark,

Thanks for a great review of the wood. Norm seems to think it's a good choice for some of his outdoor furniture projects. I'd probably use it for Adirondack chairs or such.

Ray

[Travis Porter]

I have used it for adirondack chairs and have had the same results as DIYGUY. It needs protection and sealing. I was watching the woodwright's shop one day and he was working with cypress and I think understand the deal with it now. Not all of cypress is decay and rot resistant, just the heartwood. Roy was into his handtools and splitting out the heartwood and leaving the sap for scrap.

It does sand well, but I find that it splinters and tears out bad if you are not careful routing it. Regardless, I enjoy working with it, it reminds me a bit of pine but is much lighter, and I will use it again.

[Gofor]

Had some experience with cypress in FL. Friend of mine built a "Spa Room" out of it (ie all the interior/exterior walls, flooring, and ceiling were green rough-cut cypress 1 x 6's). His wife was also into plants, so the room had planting beds inside it, which meant between the heated spa and the plant beds there was considerable humidity. It held up very well. My experience was that the room was freestanding from the house, and termites got into the pine structure, which became evident when they destroyed the ridge beam of the roof.
During the "repair" (I guess I mean reconstruction), I found that the interior wood was almost all reuseable. On the exterior, tho, we had to replace most that had sapwood that was not painted, which leads me to believe that the sapwood does not do well exposed to sunlight (UV?)

For What It's Worth

Go

[Mark Anderson]

decking material should be installed bark side up for less checking. also the wood will crown up as it stabilizes in moisture, thuss shedding watter rather than holking it in a cup

[jeff...]

I never worked with cypress before, I've had quite a few folks ask for it, but have not had any luck locating logs close enough to me, without having to pay a hefty delivery price. Paying a heft delivery price means a higher BF price, so I never got any to saw. After doing a little digging, I came up with this from UNC about cypress.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pic/NCTrees/baldcypress.htm

"Baldcypress wood is light, soft, easily worked and varies in color from a creamy sapwood to brown heartwood. Because it is particularly resistant to decay, baldcypress is in demand for exterior trim of buildings, greenhouse planking, boatbuilding, shingles, posts, poles and crossties."

Like most trees that are decay resistant, it's seems to be the heart wood that does best at holding up to the elements, so it would not surprise me if cypress were the same. Although the UNC cypress bio doesn't make any distinction between the heart / sap and decay resistance.

Here's some more info...
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...ct%20sheet.htm
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/person...cs/cypress.htm


I'm sure DaveO will chime in here sooner or later

That's a nice looking whack of lumber Ivey.

[Ivey]

Thanks Jeff, and thanks for the research..

[DIYGUY]

This is a perfect example of how to start a great debate. I did a lot (and I mean a ton) of research before I told my builder to lay the boards bark side down. Most deck builders favored down, some did not pay any attention, the minority said up.

From the boards that came off my old deck - almost all had crowned, which was the objective all along. Even though they were ALL laid bark side down, some had cupped. My impression is that wood will do what it wants to do and there is no way of knowing in advance which way it will turn. Odds are better it will crown with the bark side down, but no guarantees. Time will tell with the new deck ...

[Gofor]

It has been my experience that wood that is moist cups toward the heart if at all (depends on how dry it was when milled), and when dry cups toward the bark. When I built my deck extension last year, the pine was still moist from being treated. I laid it heart-side down. This stood me in good stead until we hit this drought, during which it started to cup up. When we got Thursday's rain, it originally held the moisture in the cup. As the moisture penetrated, it gradually relaxed and is now about flat (which it was last fall and spring when we were getting semi-frequent showers.

In hand planing kiln-dried lumber, I find it invariably is slightly cupped toward the bark.

As for an outside structure, I think you are at the mercy of the elements. If the area below the deck usually is more moist than the top (ie: enclosed, poor air circulation,etc), you would probably have less upward cupping with the heart-side down during normal NC weather conditions.

Just MHO

Go

[JackLeg]

Good article in an insert in our local paper today about cypress. In Louisiana, there is a hunting lodge with cypress siding that is 75 years old. As many of you know, it's easy to work with and cures out light.

Ray, you're probably on the money about outdoor furniture. (That's our main product) and we sell it unfinished. So--- folks can paint, stain, seal or however they wish to finish their furniture.

We'll stick with it until we find something better for us and Ivey quits sawing it! THANKS TO ALL for the great feedback!

[JackLeg]

Ivey, after these pictures, we may have to up the order! WOW! That's nice lookin' stuff!

[Ivey]

I have extra if you need more..