Wood, which is a natural and healthy building material, is one of the most important elements of interior architecture. It is very important to choose the wood that we encounter everywhere from flooring to furniture, from cover to construction and to use it correctly. Choosing the right wood for your space can be a confusing process, according to the different types of wood and hundreds of alternatives color to prefer from, so it’s important to have a general knowledge of wood.
Weather-Resistant Wood for Your Garden Projects
If you’re looking for suitable wood for your garden projects, you can make it easy for yourself by purchasing naturally weather-resistant wood. On the other hand, you can also weatherproof wood yourself, especially if it’s more sensitive to weather effects. Here, you can find out which types of wood are weather-resistant and which ones require additional protection.
When it comes to their resistance to weather, woods vary significantly. Wood sourced from tropical regions is naturally weather-resistant. However, not everyone prefers to use tropical wood due to sustainability concerns. You can identify this, for instance, with FSC or PEFC certification. If you prefer to avoid tropical woods, some local wood species like Douglas fir or European pine make excellent alternatives.
Ultimately, you can also use less weather-resistant wood and protect it against rain, snow, wind, and UV radiation.
Wood species for outdoor space:
In order for garden furniture to be usable for many years, the selected products must be made of durable and high-quality materials. Many products manufactured with different materials such as wood, aluminum, synthetic or natural bamboo have different functions and unique reasons.
Wood: The space, elegance and warmth created by wood has made it one of the essential materials for garden furniture. The first thing you should pay attention to it when buying wooden garden furniture is the type of tree.
Outdoor-resistant wood and its equivalent, teak, are ideal choices for outdoor furniture. If these materials are dried with proper cooking methods and processed with proper machinery, they can be used for years without rottenness.
Hardwoods require insignificant maintenance and highly resistant to moisture. That is, it is the best option for outdoor projects such as outdoor decks and balconies and outdoor furniture. Waterproof wood products can be easily used indoors or outdoors.
Hardwoods have a direct grain and are dense wood. This prevents moisture penetration. Cedar is an insect-resistant hardwood, which makes it suitable for outdoor furniture due to its natural aromatic aroma.
Cedar is also used for interior furniture such as wardrobes. You can also find Cedar for saunas, cabinet, and home cover.
Waterproof wood products include white oak and teak. They are also long-lived trees that are resistant to rottenness and cracking. These dense woods do not require much maintenance and have a natural ability to repel rottenness, moisture and insects. As such, they are popular choices for outdoor furniture.
In the following, we name the woods that can be used outdoors:
Acacia wood
a strong and thick wood with a lot of oil. Acacia is well resistant to atmospheric factors, rottenness and insects. Acacia wood is usually used to make wooden boats. If you have access to this wood, it is a good option for wooden structures in the outdoor space.
Cedarwood and light pine: it is soft and easy to work. Due to their softness, pine and cedar wood does not have much resistance to warping, UV rays also cause physical changes in these woods.
The most important advantage of cedar wood:
It is resistant to moisture, rottenness and termites. This wood is mainly used for fences. These woods can withstand moisture for years.
Cedar
It is famous for keeping pests away, not producing bacteria, and being resistant to heat and humidity with its unique smell.
Cherry
Cherry, which can be expensive when used in furniture production, attracts attention with its soft suede-like color.
black locust
It is one of the strongest and hardest woods in the interior forests. The hardness of this wood competes with hickory, but it has more stability and resistance to rottenness.
Beech wood
Beechwood, with its hardness and smoothness, is highly regarded and commonly used for outdoor furniture. Beech wood is also preferred for crafting toys. Its high compressive strength makes it ideal for use as flooring material. Its uniform structure also makes it very easy to process and machine cleanly. It’s worth mentioning that Beech wood, like cherry wood, can be easily steam-bent.
Oak Wood
Oak wood, referring here to European white oak, is hard and heavy with excellent strength properties and high wear resistance. Due to its durability, it is ideal for use as a construction material, even in outdoor settings with varying weather conditions. For centuries, structures made from oak timbers played a significant role – entire cities like Venice and Amsterdam largely rested on oak pilings.
Ash Wood
Ash wood has a medium weight and is characterized by good strength properties and high elasticity. It is almost harder than any other wood. Due to these qualities, ash wood is preferred for use in toolmaking (such as hammer handles) and in the construction of sports equipment (for parallel bars and ladder rungs).
Ash wood shrinks slightly and maintains good durability after drying. It can be easily processed by hand or machine. Sawing, planing, and turning it do not pose any problems, and surface finishing is also straightforward.
Due to its beautiful appearance and distinct grain patterns, this hard wood is often used in interior design for wall and ceiling cladding, parquet flooring, or stairs. However, ash wood is not resistant to weather conditions. Thermal modification (“thermal ash”) can significantly improve the wood’s natural durability and dimensional stability, making it suitable for outdoor use.
Douglas fir
Among the woods suitable for outdoor use, Douglas fir is widely available and is mainly used for construction and building projects. This species is one of the hardest woods that it is available in the United States commercially. Working with this wood is relatively easy. It is also easy to paint and complete.
It also has good adhesion. If you celebrate Christmas, you may be familiar with these species. Douglas fir is a popular type of Christmas tree.
Mahogany
Frequently used in furniture production, mahogany Wood has a very shiny brownish-red tone. Since this tree is valuable, it may cost more than other trees.
Maple
A very dense and durable material, maple is one of the most widely used woods in interior decoration. Its distinctive bright color is quite impressive.
European Pine
European pine is a softwood tree that exhibits a distinct color difference between its heartwood and sapwood. Among native softwoods, European pine is one of the heaviest and hardest woods. The natural durability of its heartwood is also superior to other softwoods.
European pine wood is a valuable construction material suitable for both outdoor and indoor use. Its decorative appearance makes it a popular choice for furniture. In home construction and renovation, European pine is employed for entrance doors, windows, garage doors, facade elements, and for covering ceilings or balconies. Inside the house, European pine is often used for kitchen furniture, as well as for parquet and flooring, stairs, and wall or ceiling coverings.
Ipe tree
Ipe grows fast and is mostly found in Central and South America. Ipe is a hard and dense wood.
Teak is a durable outdoor wood. This wood is relatively dense and fine-grained. It has a very high resistance to rottenness, twisting and cracking. It has an attractive appearance and vein and is usually used to build luxury boats. Teak wood darkens over time and is a good choice for small outdoor projects.
Characteristics of suitable wood for outdoor use
Woods that are resistant to the penetration and growth of insects and bacteria.
Woods that have high resistance to moisture penetration and do not have rottenness problems.
Woods that have the necessary and sufficient resistance against different weather conditions.
Woods that do not damage due to strike.
Woods that do not lose their quality when exposed to sunlight or direct sunlight.
Woods that have minimal maintenance costs.
Alternative: Waterproof Wood Yourself
Weather-resistant wood is ideal for gardens and terraces, but it can come with a high price tag. However, if you’re on a budget, there’s no need to compromise on your desires.
In such cases, you can, for example, use pine wood, which is readily available at hardware stores at reasonable prices. You can make it waterproof by applying varnish or paint in your preferred color.
