Wood Knowledge Database - www.woodhappiness.com

One of the most difficult woodworking "missions" is the correct choice of the wood you want to use for the outdoor conditions , in order not to have failures and the wood last a long time . The outdoor conditions are way more complex and difficult than the indoor ones , for all materials and not only wood . It's way more easy to create a Formula 1 tιre , than a car tιre for the daily needs of us , the regular people and our regular cars . The Formula 1 tire will have to deal with specific conditions and for only a couple of hours , than the regular car tire . The regular car tire should perform generally very good , for a couple of years and in a "million" of road and other conditions , during its lifetime . This is a very difficult "puzzle" . The same applies to the outdoor wood . The combinations of the conditions are too many and the stamina the wood should have should be big . I'll give you a guidebook to choose the best wood for your outdoors , through my experience and knowledge i shared( and respect too much ) with some Greek wood University friends in the past . If you want the complete wood guidebook , for all the wood uses and not only the outdoor , go to my past post i made , in HERE . Before all you should be aware of this thing i've told you before in here and a grandmaster University Professor told me once : " Sometimes when you're dealing with Green elements as wood , the percentage of failure is always present , no matter how many correct things you did , or whatever . " So let's start . Best wood Types , Specialized for Outdoor use . 1) Industrial - Engineer wood . All the industrial - engineer wood , that is technical made from humans , have way better resistance - stamina to the outdoor conditions and can last longer than the natural wood , with way less maintenance needs . The industrial MDF , OSB , particle boards , and whatever else of wood "sandwiches" of wood along with resins , glues , acrylics , et.c , are designed into factories by humans and have very high and upgrade capabilities , the natural wood doesn't have . We want our wood to be way more tough than the natural species are and we just made it ourselves into factories , using chemicals , pressure , heat and whatever else . The industrial wood is the best solution for outdoors , concerning the resistance , long lasting and with less maintenance from us , factors . Of course it cannot reach the beautiness of the real natural wood . If you want the best performance and wood toughness for outdoors , choose industrial wood . 2) Pakkawood and Marine Plywood . Pakkawood is industrial wood made from veneer and resins combined together with heat and pressure and it's an extraordinary good wood choice . Many Japanese - as they invent it - ( and not only ) wood chef knives have pakkawood handles and their resistance of this wood type is legendary . I cannot agree more , because i have a couple of cheap and expensive knives with pakkawood handles and they're great , as you see in my below photos . Pakkawood can handle continuous abuse , water , fluids , hits , et.c , very - very easily with zero damage and i recommend it highly , for smaller( or not ) outdoor crafts and whatever else you like . You can find it in reddish color in blue and whatever you like , as the resin can make it as you wish . The marine plywood is the boards you see and step on , in the pools , in the showers , many times as an exterior decor in apartments or block of flats ( it's very popular ) and in general in many outdoor woodcrafts . It's very resistant to moisture , water and outdoor conditions , that's why it's very expensive to buy . Yes , its price is high , but it worths it for sure . 3) Furfurylation - Acetylation - Impregnated - Shou sugi Ban - Heat process , wood for outdoors . All these 5 wood processes you can make to natural wood , it makes it way stronger and resistant to the hard outdoor conditions and there are highly recommended . The furfurylation process more extended is HERE , for you to see . The acetylation process post with the whole process is HERE . The impregantion of wood by using salts and other chemicals is maybe the most capable technical process and modification you can do to wood , in order to make it very strong and long lasting . See the entire process with al the details in HERE . The Shou sugi Ban process comes from the ancient times in Japan and in other areas ( i think the ancient Greeks did it also ) and it uses the fire , to make the exterior surface of wood , very strong . You just burn( controlled ) - carbonize the exterior of wood and you make it extremely durable for a very long time . See the exact process with videos in HERE . Free public domain CC0 photo. It's highly recommended , to the wood parts you want to put inside the soil for supporting or creating several woodcrafts , fences , et.c . The heat process for the natural wood is another green way to make your wood stronger without the use of chemicals and it's a fine method . Of course it doesn't make the wood so tough as the impregnation or the shou sugi ban technique , but you can use this kind of timber for your outdoor woodworking projects . See the entire mentality and the process for the heat wood treatment in HERE . 4) Outdoor Sheds - Pergolas - Kiosk . For these types of wood creations , you'll need to use impregnated pines with salts , cedar wood , cypress and redwood ( sequoia ) . 5) Outdoor Houses - Warehouses - Agricultural constructions . We use many types of pine ( white - black ) , cypress , Australian ash , Libanon cedar , many varieties of oak ( USA ) , red cedar , padauk and of course spruce , impregnated or not . 6) Outdoor Fences - Doors . Cypress , acacia , impregnated pine or spruce , several places chestnut , cedar( mostly red ) , oak , impregnated birch and many types of tropical wood types which are tough and outdoor capable . 7) Outdoor Railroad wood . In here except all the others , you'll need extra strong mechanical durability for the wood you'll choose and usually the trachea pine ( pinus blutia ) , azobe , Japanese oak , cedar , chestnut and pine cone wood , are the most suitable . 8) Outdoor Bridges - general Decking wood . In here we need strong mechanical properties , along with resistance to salty conditions if we talk for the decking area and the correct wood choice is super serious . The black pine , the impreganted pine , the azobe - greenheart - opepe - iroko - wenge , teak and some other tropical wood , the British oak , the cypress and the US cedar are some of the most capable wood choices . 9) Outdoor flooring wood . In here the tropical wood is the big winner concerning the big use of it , in this type of outdoor woodcrafts . The Brazilian cherry , the iroko , the padauk , the wenge , the azobe , along with some several types of oak and cedar , are the most popylar wood types . The black pine can be used and if you use impregnation , you can use more pine species . 10) Outdoor Playgrounds . The most common timber in here is the impregnated wood with borate and other salts , either pine and spruce and the cypress and iroko . ** The Bamboo wood is a very capable type of wood , to use outdoors , for roofs , for wind - airflow control , for dust winds control , to create shadow for an area , to create a light private place in your garden and for generic fences . It's super light , it needs zero maintenance and it's very strong and resistant to all the variety of weather conditions , in your conuntry - place . It only gets more grey from the sun's UVs . It's a very nice and cheap outdoor choice . Extra Serious Info for your Outdoor wood . 1) The outdoor radiation will darken your wood's color a little , no matter what you'll do to protect it , but it's not a big deal , as you see in this log house photos . It's the same outdoor wall , after a couple of months in the sun's UVs . 2) The moisture of wood when it's in the outdoors and it's physically balanced with the environment , is always less than 30% . Your outdoor wood should be in the 18% - 22% moisture area generally and in the 13% - 17% moisture area , if we're talking for outdoor covered wood . If we dry our wood naturally , using the air flow we bring it around the 12% - 15% moisture area . 3) The hardwood types are more outdoor capable wood choices , because they have bigger density in their masses and the density is an extremely significant factor , for the outdoor wood . The bigger the density , the better . A bigger density wood , has more thick molecules and this means better mechanical properties and strength . Cypress , Olive oil tree , mulberry wood ( if you can have wild one , the better ) , alder and yew wood , are some of the best wood types for your outdoors . 3) If you can check these wood's quality factors for your outdoor wood , just do it . Your outdoor wood should have high "score" in the areas of : density , percussion , bending , twisting , traction , compressive strength under angle , resistance to weather generally , resistance to fatique and resistance to creeping . We have a ancient Greek word for the creeping it cannot be translated to English , accurate . What is creeping ? Creeping is the strength ability your outdoor wood should have to a continuous external power , applied to a specific spot of the wood , for a long time . If you want to create an outdoor swing for your kids( and not only ) , the horizontal wood log in which you'll "hung" the swing's seat with chains , will "accept" high powers in the 2 spots you'll attach the chains , to place the seat . These "hunging" powers will be continuous and big . The log should be strong enough and have the appropriate durability in these 2 spots . This is called the creeping durability and stamina of wood for specific small areas under continuous big powers and it's very crucial . If you create an outdoor bridge , the logs you'll use to support as props to the whole structure , should be able to endure the weight and this weight will be continuous , for specific smaller spots . Outdoor wood choices , if you don't have Money . If you don't have enough money to get some marine plywood , or a very good and top hardwood or an industrial wood or an impregnated one , et.c , you can do this as i did and do many times : 1) Get whatever wood type and piece you can and try to make it strong and long lasting with the variety of the natural - chemical finishings in the markets and the combination of these two "worlds" . I have a very cool post for this in HERE . 2) Get your wood , buy some linseed oil to use as an substrate which is super cheap ( 5$ - 7$ the liter ) , soak your wood in it , let it dry and then finish with an impregnation polyurethane . If you want color use an oil based paint , to match it with the oil . The beekepers use oil to boil their hives and then a couple of oil based paints and their hives last for many - many years . Do the same . When your oil paint will start to fade from the sun , et.c , the linseed oil( or whatever oil ) will make it fresh again , moisturizing it . My top linseed oil suggestions in HERE . 3) Never use a crust making finishing . The crust surface will crack eventually , leaving the wood unprotected . 4) You can use only a decking oil , which is super tough and spend no more . 5) You can use only a teak oil for bugs - fungi protection , along with the oil benefits . 6) If you'll "sink" some parts of your wood into soil( for a shelter , et.c ) , use the Shou sugi ban to carbonize these parts and protect them . Having a very small amount of money , shouldn't stop you from protecting your outdoor wood . You know the old days when people was very poor , from the wars , poverty , et.c , they never neglect their wood and used what they could find . Keep woodworking and your happiness will be certain and long lasting .