Sourcing timber for external use - what to get and where?

[mrcharly-YHT]

I need to replace some woodwork on a barge.

It isn't structural and I can't afford hardwood prices at the likes of Howarth timber. All they offer is 'redwood' or 'whitewood'. Most of the boat's external wood is good quality pine.

Trouble is, I'm having difficulty finding this. Cladding in larch is available, but not 25mmx75mm sections or similar from anywhere I can see.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm in North Yorkshire.

[orienteer]

Marine ply? Laminate it by glueing pieces together to get thicker sections.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I don't need thick sections. This is for a surround for something, similar to a window surround. Using ply would be suboptimal, for both appearance and durability.

Visited Howarth Timber today for something else and their 'redwood' pine is much better quality than I expected so it might do. No idea what it actually is, but it seems not too bad.

[T42]

Red pine is usually harder than white - looks better, too.  For something like a window-frame I'd get seasoned wood and give it umpteen coats of varnish.

[Aunt Maud]

Red coloured pine is sometimes Pinus Sylvestris, Scots pine or Baltic Pine to you and me, some call it Pitch Pine, but it isn't as pitch pine comes from Americania and Scots pine is sourced from the Baltic states. Southern yellow pine is sometimes available and very good too, heavy and resinous. Again this comes from The US. White coloured pine could be Spruce and I wouldn't use it at all.

If you're going to use any timber in fact and not just Pine, cut all the sapwood off and just use the heartwood otherwise it won't be durable.

Larch is good for exterior cladding and is fairly durable and again, cut the sapwood off and just use the heartwood. Larch has an orange colour and Douglas is a shade of salmon pink, which is also a good timber as it's light and very strong..

I can blab on all day about this, but I'll keep it short. A tighter ring growth gives stronger softwood and any timber which isn't treated or painted goes a nice silver grey after a while and is something I like very much.

The Norwegians use Scots Pine for boats and if you're lucky to get some fat wood, which is rich in harpic and other hydrocarbons, it'll last for ages although it is a pain to paint or varnish. You'll know it when you see it, as it's really heavy, sticky and stinks of pine, lovely timber and I make all my handmade windows out of it for the house.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Sweet chestnut?

I use it a lot in France where it grows profusely.  It's very similar in appearance to oak but lighter and with a straighter grain. 

British sweet chestnut cladding is hard-wearing, strong and durable, and relatively light when compared to other hardwood cladding, making it ideal for exterior use. Additionally, sweet chestnut is known to be a very stable timber, resulting in less movement, distortion or splitting. It has a similar golden colour to oak, but with stronger grain and occasional dark brown mineral streaks and will weather to a natural silver colouring if left untreated.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Other end of the country, unfortunately.

[Jakob]

One of the things I like about the Pacific Northwest, is the abundance of cheap Douglas fir.

[Exit Stage Left]

'Redwood' is a general term for wood of a number of tree species. It's usually more resistant to rot than 'Whitewood', which is Sitka Spruce. You could always go to a fencing timber yard and get some pressure treated timber and plane it.

[Aunt Maud]

One of the things I like about the Pacific Northwest, is the abundance of cheap Douglas fir.

Funny enough Jakob, standing timber is one thing Denmark is good for. I bought 30 tonnes of Scots Pine and 60 tonnes of Oak for our house. It was very cheap when compared to UK prices and excellent quality. Their Douglas, Larch and Beech is good too.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Other end of the country, unfortunately.

It's possible it's available elsewhere? I used John Boddy but seems to have packed.

[mrcharly-YHT]

The stupid thing about this is it produces a self-fulfilling prophecy. People stop using good-quality wood because it is hard to get hold of and expensive. That reduces demand. So there are fewer suppliers. So in general there is less demand, so fewer suppliers . . .

[hubner]

In the UK, whitewood is spruce (Picea abies), aka European spruce, Norway spruce.
Redwood is Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).

Other woods would be sold under their own names.

Redwood is used for joinery; door and window frames etc. Whitewood is used for studwork, carcasses etc.

I would avoid reading USA material on woodworking and woods, they use different terms and names; lumber vs timber, moldings vs mouldings etc.

For outdoor use, you need to paint or varnish it.

[Aunt Maud]

The stupid thing about this is it produces a self-fulfilling prophecy. People stop using good-quality wood because it is hard to get hold of and expensive. That reduces demand. So there are fewer suppliers. So in general there is less demand, so fewer suppliers . . .

There's also the issue of mills only catering for the market and refusing to mill large diameter butts or produce quarter sawn stuff.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I found some redwood flooring in the garage, left over from a previous job. Spent some of saturday planing off the tongue and groove (and building blisters), then Sunday cutting to size and painting with woodstain. Then discovering I'll need to replace a section of ply as well. Never ending job . . .