# Cedar vs. Redwood



## coletrain (Jul 16, 2008)

Hi Everyone,
I am building a glider bench for my girlfriend and I have the plans and hardware now thanks to yalls recommendations. Now for the material. I was going to go with cedar but the man at the lumber warehouse said that cedar is not very good for outdoor furniture because it doesn't have the strength that redwood has. I like the look of cedar more than redwood but if the bench wont hold screws very well I will have to go with the redwood. The bench is for her family and i sure don't want it falling apart. The redwood is a little more expensive but not much. Also the bench will be outside in the elements.

So will the cedar not hold up as well as redwood??

Thanks
Brett

Lubbock, Tx


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

I've had a cedar bench in my back yard for about 10 years. It seems to be holding up just fine. I stain it about every other year.


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## coletrain (Jul 16, 2008)

Ten years, not bad. The joint are holding fine I guess?


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## rikkor (Oct 17, 2007)

The joint are holding fine I guess?

Yes. I drilled four 3/4" holes - one in each foot of the bench - to locate and anchor it on the patio using birch dowels. The dowels have rotted and have been replaced, the cedar is fine.


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## aaronmolloy (Jan 19, 2008)

redwood has been used allot in ireland on apartment buildings and it seems to discolour after soom time but thats the irish weather for you if you are making this for a warm climate area it should its colour but something still tells me that cedar is a good option or you could also use oak for outdoor furniture after time oak will devolep a silver flek in the grain of the wood from the weather


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## Slacker (Apr 7, 2008)

Redwood will last for a long time outside, but it discolors and gets pretty ugly. Dont know about cedar, but cypress is an excellent wood for exterior projects.


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## coletrain (Jul 16, 2008)

I would love Cypress but it is not very common in my area and its a little bit expensive.


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## Steelmum (Jul 21, 2007)

I have not used Redwood. Cedar does last a long time. It is soft, gouges easily. Lightweight so the chairs I built can be moved easily.


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## USCJeff (Apr 6, 2007)

That's what you get for listening to a big box store. Cedar is one of the first woods I think (imagine others) of when thinking outdoors. It's able to contact water naturally. It will fade faster if not sealed, but I often prefer the weathered look of woods like cedar or teak.

Redwood is the same. It's less available, costs more, and is heavier. Heavy can be a good thing, though. Cedar splits very easily. I'm not sure about splitting with redwood.


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## snowdog (Jul 1, 2007)

What USCJeff said 

I love cedar but can't find any here in NE PA that is not priced like gold (by the oz). And cypress seems to be priced by the gram. I am no "green guy" or tree hugger but can't seem to bring myself to use RedWood anymore after visiting the old forests in CA.


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

What glider are you building, I have plans for an Apple Glider, I can find Redwood here in So CA but not Cedar, I think Cedar would look better. so I have it on hold untill I find some, thought about White Oak.
Snowdog don't worry we have plenty of Redwood out here, The bigger old forests are protected.


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## motthunter (Dec 31, 2007)

the answer is simple. Cedar is prettier but a bot softer… Redwood can change colors more and is a bit more durable… Flip a coin and check your pocketbook to see which you should use. By the way, if you can get cypress… this is the best choice


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## John1 (Aug 3, 2008)

You might wish to consider either Meranti (south american mahagony) or Ipe which is a Brazilian hardwood. I just completed 8 deck chairs and 5 tables with meranti with a teak oil finish. I would have preferred Ipe but it was not a stock item at my supplier. They are all popular decking materials here in NY


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## coletrain (Jul 16, 2008)

Hey Mski,
The plans i got were from the Van ******************** website and they just arrived the other day. The plans look excellent.

Everyone,
i sure appreciate all the replies and am leaning torward the cedar now. Yall have been very helpful.


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## mski (Jul 3, 2007)

Looks nice coletrain, Here is the plans I got

http://www.woodzone.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=961069&Category_Code=

John good choices but $$$$$$$$


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## coletrain (Jul 16, 2008)

Got the cedar yesterday. Gonna use screws along with Tightbond for all the connections and maybe a few oak pins on the main structural joints. Wish me luck

Brett 
Lubbock Tx


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## NY_Rocking_Chairs (Jul 20, 2008)

I built a cedar screen door for my in-laws cabin in the Adirondacks, it doesn't get much more outdoors than that. It is now 7 years old and the only joint failure was when their St. Bernard got spooked by some thunder and ran right through it. They do retreat it with polyurethane every year to help keep the cedar color.


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## John1 (Aug 3, 2008)

The meranti is a little over $5/bf and the Ipe is slightly more. Here's a lilnk to a place in the Buffalo NY area that ships Ipe with prices. http://www.advantagelumber.com/decking2.htm#price I have never purchased anything from them so I can't comment on their reliability but their prices are in line with local prices on Long Island as far as I can recall.


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## ferstler (Oct 5, 2008)

Somebody here mentioned that redwood is harder than cedar.

Actually, on the Janka scale eastern red cedar has a hardness number of 900, whereas redwood is anywhere from 420 to 480 (about the same as western white pine, but at least harder than eastern white pine), so cedar seems to be a bit harder than redwood.

A friend of mine just sold me 150 feet of 1×6 redwood in various board lengths for a buck a foot. (He had been using it as shelving to hold part of his model train collection, since sold off.) I had to lightly plane off some varnish he put onto it two decades ago, but the stuff looks great now. I am still pondering what to do with it, but I may use it as a "thick" veneer layer over some speaker cabinets that I will make out of mdf. Redwood is a bit too light to make a good speaker box by itself. The stuff is safely stored away in my air-conditioned shop right now.

I have used cedar, and like it (made a speaker box out of it and mdf once, and posted as a project on this site), and I would flip a coin if somebody asked me which, redwood or cedar, I prefer.

Howard Ferstler


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