• Western Red Cedar is incredibly 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.
• 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.
• Among other things these naturally occurring organic compounds called (thujaplicins) give off that distinct cedar aroma that is pleasant to humans but a deterrent to insects, moths and other wood pests. This is why Cedar is the choice material for closet liners and blanket storage chests.

Why Cedar?

• CONSIDER THE ADVANTAGES OF USING CEDAR
  • Unlike Plastic or Resin furniture, Western Red Cedar will not bow or sag over time or blow across your yard. Your Cedar furniture will hold its handsome appearance year after year with very little maintenance. Cedar and our Southern Cypress products are an all around safer, healthier, natural alternative for patio furniture and outdoor dining sets than other wood materials that have been treated with chemical preservatives.
• OUR CEDAR PRODUCTS ARE A NATURAL ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICALLY TREATED WOOD
  • Much of today's outdoor furniture consists of (chemically) pressure 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, chromium and arsenic (CCA).
  • 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. (Contact your local Environmental Department for more information.)
• THE CEDAR 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. Aromatic Red Cedar is a member of the juniper family. 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.
  • An Aromatic Red Cedar log is composed of white and red sections of wood. The white section nearest the bark is referred to as "sap wood" and the red, inner section is called "heart wood".
• A Wood Of Warmth And Beauty
  • Whether used in patio furniture, panelings, ceilings, doors, windows, posts or beams, the presence and prestige of cedar enhances the aesthetic structure of any type or design.
• The Gift Of Durability
  • Western Red Cedar "heart wood" contains natural oils that act as preservatives to help the wood resist insect attack and decay. 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 furniture products to siding and patio decking, 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 with 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.