Why Clear Cedar

Why Clear Cedar

Western Red Cedar (Thuja Plicata) Characteristics:

Western Red Cedar is an exceptional beautiful wood. In its natural state it is very rich looking and radiates a certain warmth. The mellow tones range from light amber to deep brown. It remains subtly aromatic for a long time. The wood is free of pitch and resin but contains natural oils acting as preservatives and helping resist insect attack and decay.

Western Red Cedar is also dimensionally stable, lies flat and stays straight.

Western Red Cedar also offers other benefits that are not commonly known. The cell structure of Western Red Cedar creates interior air spaces giving it an insulation value considerably higher than most softwoods and much higher than brick or concrete. Structures clad with Western Red Cedar siding tend to stay much cooler in the summer and warmer during the winter.

Western Red Cedar is also an excellent insulating and sound suppressing lightweight wood, easy to handle for the professional carpenter or for the do-it –yourselfer. It can be cut, shaped, planed and glued easily. Because it is pitch and resin free it finishes to a rich glow that can be enhanced with transparent, semi-transparent or full-bodied stains or oils.

Special Application:

Properly finished and maintained, Western Red Cedar will keep its beauty and last for generations. Because of its stability and durability  Western Red Cedar is preferred in outdoor applications such as siding, decking, fencing, planters, lattice, garden sheds and outdoor furniture. The dimensional stability make it perfectly suited for use in high moisture areas such as kitchens, saunas and bathrooms. Whether used as paneling, doors, windows, railings, fencing, posts, or beams, Western Red Cedar enhances any structure, contemporary or traditional.

Western Red Cedar is available in a wide range of grades and products. It is manufactured as dressed or rough sawn, kiln-dried or green form, flat or vertical grain. Dimension lumber, paneling, siding, decking, boards or other products come in different widths, thicknesses, profiles and grades. No other wood offers greater versatility than Western Red Cedar. Architects, builders, interior designers, and the quality conscious home owner appreciates this natural beauty – “the clear choice”.

Before the first European explorers visited British Columbia, native coastal people incorporated Western Red Cedar in their homes (long houses), their cultural identity (totem poles) and their voyages to collect food in their ocean going Western Red Cedar canoes. Western Red Cedar structures have withstood centuries of wind, rain, snow and sun.