• 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.
• 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.
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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 is 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.
CEDAR IS 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.)
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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.

This information was copied from WRCLA.COM That it: Western Red Cedar Lumberman's Association. Max Baldwin is preparing an educational piece that will go here soon. Please stay tuned.

Physical Properties

Density
One of the lightest commercial softwoods, the density of Western Red Cedar at oven-dry conditions is approximately 22 pounds per cubic foot with a relative density(specific gravity) of 0.35. Comparative oven-dry densities of cedar and some other softwood species are given in Table 1.

Cedar's low density enhances its insulation value and makes it an easy wood to transport and handle.

Dimensional Stability
Like all woods, Western Red Cedar is hygroscopic and will absorb or discharge moisture to attain equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere. However, it has a very low shrinkage factor and is superior to all other coniferous woods in its resistance to warping, twisting and checking. The size differential between dry and unseasoned Western Red Cedar is given in Table 2. Shrinkage in both the radial and tangential directions is given in Table 3.

Thermal Conductivity
Wood is an excellent thermal insulator. This is an important characteristic since good thermal insulators help keep buildings cool in the summer and reduce heating costs in the winter.

The conduction of heat in wood is directly related to its density. Woods with low density have the highest thermal insulating value because such woods contain a high proportion of cell cavities. In dry wood, these cavities are filled with air which is one of the best known thermal insulators.

With its low density and high proportion of air spaces, Western Red Cedar is the best thermal insulator among the commonly available softwood species and is far superior to brick, concrete and steel. It has a coefficient of thermal conductivity (k value) at 12% mc of 0.74 BTU in. per square ft.h degrees F. The R value ( the reciprocal of k) for Western Red Cedar is 1.35/in. of thickness.

Accoustical Properties
An important accoustical property of wood is its ability to damp vibrations. Wood has a cellular network of minute interlocking pores which converts sound energy into heat by frictional and viscoelastic resistance.

Because of the high internal friction created by the cellular pore network, wood has more sound damping capacity than most structural materials. Floor, ceiling and wall assemblies of wood can provide effective economical sound insulation and absorption when properly utilized. Western Red Cedar is particularly effective in this regard and can be used to help reduce noise or to confine it to certian areas.

Flame Spreading Ratio
Flame spreading ratings describe the surface burning characteristics of interior finishes. They are used to regulate the use of interior finish materials to reduce the probability of rapid fire spread. Materials are burned in a test furnace for a relative assessment of flammability. The lower the flame spread rating, the more the material resists the spread of fire.

Building codes in North America generally define as interior finish any exposed material that forms part of the building interior. This usually includes interior wall and ceiling finishes, flooring, windows, doors and other wood products. US codes set the maximum flame spread rating for interior wall and ceiling finishes in most buildings at 200. The flame spread rating for Western Red Cedar is 69 (Class II rating).

Smoke developed classifications reflect the amount of smoke released by burning material. They are used in conjunction with flame spread ratings to regulate the use of interior finish materials where the potential to generate smoke or control smoke movement is of major fire safety importance.

US codes set the maximum smoke developed classification for interior wall and ceiling finishes in most buildings at 450. The smoke developed classification for Western Red Cedar is 98.

Western Red Cedar's flame spread rating and smoke developed classification compare well with the ratings of many other species of both softwood and hardwood. Because of its favorable performance, Western Red Cedar can be used for interior finish in some building applications where other species would not be permitted.

Durability
Historically, native peoples of the Pacific coast prized cedar for its long lasting qualities and used wood and bark from cedar trees for most of their building needs. Evidence of cedar's durability are the many cedar artifacts still in good condition today.

Properly finished and maintained, cedar will deliver decades of trouble-free service. If exposed for prolonged periods to conditions where decay could be a factor, such as where the wood is in contact with the ground, cedar should be treated with suitable wood preservatives.

Fastening
Western Red Cedar has good fastening properties but its natural preservatives have a corrosive effect on some unprotected metals in close contact, causing a black stain on the wood. Fasteners should be corrosive resistant such as aluminum, brass, silicon bronze, hot-dipped galvanized or stainless steel.

Nails and screws used to fasten Western Red Cedar should be about one-third longer than those used to fasten hardwood species.

Because it is free of pitch and resin, Western Red Cedar has excellent gluing properties, comparable to those, for example, of old growth Redwood and American Chestnut. It works well with a wide range of adhesives.

Finishing
Although cedar is a naturally durable species, leaving it untreated is not recommended because a finish or protective coating will greatly increase its service life. Cedar is free of pitch and with its high degree of dimensional stability, it is the best of the softwoods for accepting paints, stains, oils and other coatings. For a detailed discussion, see Finishing Western Red Cedar published by the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association.

Workability
With its straight grain and uniform texture, Western Red Cedar is among the easiest and most rewarding woods to work with. It takes a fine finish in all hand and machine operations, takes fasteners without splitting and is easily sawn and nailed. When working with Western Red Cedar, sharp cutters are recommended.

Products, Grades and Sizes
There are few more versatile building materials than Western Red Cedar which is ideal both for indoor and outdoor uses. Western Red Cedar lumber is available in visual stress grades for construction and finishing uses in a range of lengths, widths and thicknesses. It is available in clear or knotty grades with smooth surfaced, combed or rough sawn finishes; kiln dried or unseasoned (green); flat grain and vertical grain.

Table 4 gives nominal widths, thicknesses and grades of some commonly available Western Red Cedar lumber products.

Western Red Cedar is used to manufacture a range of specialty products such as siding, paneling, structural decking and outdoor decking. Detailed product information is available from the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association.

Cedar produced by the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association includes specialty end use grades as well as products graded to National Lumber Grading Authority(NLGA) rules. NLGA grades are approved by the American Lumber Standards Board of Review and are accepted under all US building codes.



Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) is one of North America's great renewable resources. Slow growing and naturally durable, Western Red Cedar has one of the longest life spans of any North American softwood. It produces long lengths of timber with true, straight grain. It is free from pitch and its heartwood has natural decay resistance. Its low density gives it an insulation value superior to most other species. Light weight, easy to work, easy to finish, possessing outstanding dimensional stability, Western Red Cedar is a preferred wood for nearly all purposes where attractive appearance or resistance to weather is important.