Cedar deck

tewhiteman

Am considering using cedar for my new deck and pergola. I understood it to be more resistant to rot and require less maintenance than treated lumber. However I heard differently just recently and heard that the deck will rot in 7 years.

Any professional opinions out there?
Thanks.

Canarywood1

Don't know what part of the country your in,but all cedar is not created equal,and that will determine weather you can aquire the better lumber for your project,but for the best rot resistance you should use heart wood as opposed to sap wood,in any of the cedars.

Daniel Holzman

Canarywood is correct, there are numerous species of cedar, and many different grades within each species. Some species of cedar are totally unsuitable for decking, other species will work if they are top grade, and other species can work even if they are not top grade. Best to discuss the project with a KNOWLEDGEABLE lumberyard, certainly not a big box store.

Note that cedar is typically rather soft, easily scratched, and is generally a relatively weak wood, meaning you will likely need 2x stock for the deck. An alternative wood is ipe, a South American hardwood that is very strong, very hard, and very resistant to rot. Also can be very expensive, depends on where you live. My deck is ipe, a good choice for longevity and does not require any maintenance, but is more difficult to install than PT or cedar because it is very hard.

JulieMor

Cedar requires MORE maintenance than PT lumber, not less. If you want to keep the cedar looking new, it could require yearly or even twice yearly maintenance, depending on the product you use, how you apply it and the exposure to weather, mold and mildew.

Just as there are different grades of cedar, there are differing qualities of PT lumber. Do your homework before purchasing.

mae-ling

Yeah cedar is more work, but sure is pretty!

hotrod351

i built my deck out of redwood. but if you think about = all the old wood roofs were cedar, they tried redwood but it was to soft. isnt cedar more expensive than redwood. anyway any deck is going to require some type of maintenance to make it last. my deck is over 20 years old. the wife goes out once a year and seals it. its really here deck i just built it for her.

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Canarywood1

If you mean cedar shingles yes,they were and maybe still are in some New England states,the most decay resistant cedar is the heart wood of western red,and the hardest is Port Orford.