Choosing The Right Wood For My Fence Project
There are many different options for lumber so how do you select the right one? Let’s go over the options.
Pressure Treated Pine – pressure treated lumber is not recommended for fence applications. The wood is soaked to the core with chemicals to prevent insect damage, within the first few months the treatment seeps out of the wood causing twisting and warping. This is a low budget option not offered at Legacy Fence and is only designed to last a few years.
Untreated Pine – this is a less costly alternative to western red cedar that we offer. Also referred to as “whitewood” the pine has a cream to yellow color. As the average fence is 200 linear feet the cost difference between pine and cedar is minimal and we always recommend going with western red cedar as the red cedar outlasts the pine by 5 to 10 years.
Japanese Cedar – this is a newer option to the US market that is slightly cheaper than the western red cedar. The pickets curl on the ends and swell and pop off the fence resulting in callbacks. We discontinued using this product after a 100% callback rate. In this example you can see the morning had perfectly straight pickets and by just that afternoon they were curled up, within a few days we were replacing pickets. We recommend staying away from this product.
Western Red Cedar – This is our most installed wood product and highly recommended. Western red cedar contains oils that make it naturally rot and insect resistant and isn’t likely to shrink or warp after installation.
