JUST THE FACTS:

CEDAR WOOD

Western Red Cedar is renowned world-wide for its unique weather-resistant properties.

IT DOSEN'T WARP

Cedar is a lightweight and dimensionally stable wood that lies flat and stays straight. Which means it resists the natural tendency to crack and check, as you might find in many other wood species.

IT STAYS COOL

Western Red Cedar has an incredible thermal coefficient, meaning even on hot days, it is cool to sit in.
Its bacterial and fungal resistance coupled with the fact that Cedar is 80% the strength of Oak, makes it the most desirable wood to use for building Outdoor furniture.

IT WON'T ROT

Western Red Cedar fibers contain oils that act as natural preservatives to help the wood resist rot and decay making it excellent furniture material for moist or humid climates. These properties also make Cedar a very popular material for hot tub and sauna areas.

Western Red Cedar has been used for generations for roofing and shingles, fences, fence posts, planking for small boat hulls and, of course, for outdoor furniture. A Western Red Cedar fence post will last up to 16 years in the ground. We have found that left out year round, untreated and uncovered in Canada's rugged winters, the furniture will last a minimum of 8 to 10 years. Furniture that is brought inside or covered for the winter will last twice that long.

IT SMELLS GREAT

Naturally occurring organic compounds called (thujaplicins) give off that richly distinct cedar aroma that smells so good to humans but makes the wood highly unattractive to insects, moths and other pests. This is why Cedar is a choice material for closet liners and blanket storage chests.

A NATURAL ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICALLY TREATED WOOD

Much of today's outdoor furniture consists of chemically treated materials. These materials hold up outdoors because they are soaked in a toxic stew of chemical preservatives that are strong enough to require warning labels for those who handle it. The three primary ingredients in pressure-treated woods are: copper, arsenic and chromium.

A controversy exists on the extent of arsenic exposure due to physical contact with CCA wood surfaces. Such surfaces include playground equipment, decks and picnic tables built using CCA treated wood. Studies have shown that virtually no inorganic arsenic is absorbed through the skin, but is readily taken up by ingestion. Thus, the potential exposure is hand to mouth, and therefore, children are considered the most vulnerable to this potential risk.

CONSIDER THE ADVANTAGES OF USING CEDAR

Unlike Plastic or Resin furniture Western Red Cedar will not bow or sag over time.

Western Red Cedar is non-toxic and safe for all uses. Over time the wood remains subtly aromatic and the characteristic fragrance adds another dimension to the universal appeal of our products.

With a bit of care your Cedar furniture will not become dull sun scorched and faded, but rather will hold its handsome appearance year after year.

CEDAR THE TREE

From Northern British Columbia, Canada, to California, a rugged spine of mountains stretches for almost 1,500 miles parallel to the Pacific coast of North America. Along the slopes and in the valleys of these mountains, the humus-rich soil nourishes mixed softwood forests in vast abundance.

The majority of Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) grows in coastal forests. Western Red Cedars grow also in the drier interior forests of British Columbia, Washington, Idaho and Montana where they are smaller in stature with a tight knotted growth characteristic. Cedars rarely grow in pure stands but are generally found in association with other species. Western Red Cedar forests are predominantly managed forests, in which controlled harvests, natural regeneration and reforestation programs ensure a perpetual harvest.

A WOOD OF WARMTH AND BEAUTY

Western Red Cedar in its natural, unfinished state it has a richly textured, tactile grain combined with a palette of warm, mellow tones ranging from light amber to deep honey brown. No man-made material can duplicate the depth of cedar's natural luster. It also remains subtly aromatic, and the characteristic fragrance of cedar adds another dimension to its universal appeal

THE GIFT OF DURABILITY

Western Red Cedar contains natural oils that act as preservatives to help the wood resist insect attack and decay. Cedar is also a dimensionally stable wood which means that it lies flat and stays straight. Properly finished and maintained,Western Red Cedar ages gracefully and endures for many years.

Aside from being the choice material for Outdoor Patio and Garden Furniture, Cedar is the preferred material for all outdoor applications that seek visual harmony with the landscape combined with stability and durability. Various uses range from various furniture products to siding and patio decking to fences, planters, screens and shelters.
Indoors, cedar's dimensional stability makes it perfectly suited to a variety of uses in high moisture areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and saunas.

NATURAL BENEFIT

Beauty aside, the purely practical, dollars-and-cents value of cedar offers other benefits: the wood's cellular structure creates interior air spaces that give it an insulation value higher than most woods and much higher than brick or concrete. Buildings which feature cedar paneling, ceilings or siding tend to stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Cedar also has excellent sound suppression and absorption qualities.

A WOOD FOR CRAFTSMEN

The same structure that gives cedar its excellent insulating and sound suppressing qualities makes it a lightweight wood, easy to handle and craft for both the professional and do-it-yourselfer. Cedar is a pleasure to work using either hand or machine tools. The wood can be cut, shaped, planed, sanded, nailed and glued easily. It is free of pitch and resin and it finishes to a richly glowing surface that can be enhanced with semi-transparent or full-bodied stains or with paints.