New Western Red Cedar Fascias?

gutovicky · 27 February 2017 at 9:12AM

Hello MSE Home Maintenance/Repair Forum,
Does anyone on this forum have experience of fitting Western Red Cedar Fascia and Barge boards?

I favour wood over plastic. I understand Western Red Cedar is a durable timber and that its resinous quality would protect it externally without needing painting. This sounds good to me.

Can anyone advise me where to get WRC boards (I live in Carmarthenshire, South-West Wales)?
Would I have to ask my supplier for 'specific cuts'(?) of timber - so as to minimise or eliminate the risk of boards warping or bowing over time?
Does WRC need special nails/fixings?

Any advice or insight would be appreciated!

Furts · 27 February 2017 at 3:16PM

My timber fascias and bargeboards are pressure treated softwood. These are stained and I would expect countless years of trouble free life. All around me are similar timbers which have received no decoration in 30 years. They are exposed and weathered but almost invariably still solid.

Far more exposed are the fence panels and gates around my home. These too are ordinary pressure treated softwood, which were coated with stain 30 years ago, and have never needed coating since. There is no rot anywhere with them.

I never considered using cedar in any of these areas because softwood can last if specified and treated properly.

Private_Church · 27 February 2017 at 6:22PM

Western Red Cedar is really only used for glasshouses etc and It ue to be used for fascias/soffits for timber framed "Colt" houses which were usually clad with Cedar shingles but WRC absorbes water so not great if you want to prevent the rafter feet from rotting so I would agree with Furts and use either pressure treated softwood (not tanalised) or you could go for Douglas fir which would last longer and you don't need it to be pressure treated........ Its about the only durable softwood pine available........

ceredigion · 27 February 2017 at 7:13PM

gutovicky wrote: »

Hello MSE Home Maintenance/Repair Forum,
Does anyone on this forum have experience of fitting Western Red Cedar Fascia and Barge boards?

I favour wood over plastic. I understand Western Red Cedar is a durable timber and that its resinous quality would protect it externally without needing painting. This sounds good to me.

Can anyone advise me where to get WRC boards (I live in Carmarthenshire, South-West Wales)?
Would I have to ask my supplier for 'specific cuts'(?) of timber - so as to minimise or eliminate the risk of boards warping or bowing over time?
Does WRC need special nails/fixings?

Any advice or insight would be appreciated!

Talk to.

Melingoed LTD
Station Road,
Newcastle Emlyn,
Carmathenshire.
SA38 9BX

Just for the record I am not connected with the above in a commercial sense, other than a happy former customer.

gutovicky · 28 February 2017 at 9:40AM

Thank you for the swift and really useful responses!

Furts - from your experiences, I'm very interested in the pressure-treated softwood option. May i ask what part of the country your property sits?
Private Church - I'm also going to research more about using Douglas Fir if it can go up as it is, without treatment/painting [...so the qualities of WRC without being a 'sponge'...].

Once again, when ordering the timber should I ask for specific 'cuts' for the boards?
Also, should I aim for non-UK timber? Am I right in thinking that UK-grown softwood is weaker and less-durable than other sourced softwood timber (Scandinavian?) because it tends to grow too fast here?

Ceredigion - thanks for flagging up a useful local supplier. I'll definitely be contacting them for advice

Any help/info much appreciated.

capeverde · 28 February 2017 at 11:19AM

We use Canadian WRC on a regular basis. Most of the informaton you read about the wood is factually incorrect. It became trendy for architects to specify the wood in a number of circumstances and this is now coming back to bite them on the backside. Firstly the wood will discolour and stain quite rapidly if not protected. We use a 3 part sikkens treatment with primer pigmented basecoat (for uv protection) and top coat. You must also only use stainless steel fixings or it will again stain badly. You alsol have the issue of drying the timber. Unless it is down to a moisture content of under 20% you will have big problems with shrinking and unless it is finished at around an inch thick with cupping as well. We use a clear and better grade from importers in Wigan and pay around £ 6.00 per l/m based on 6x1 stock. Its a great wood for cladding if you put the work in but forget it for fascias and soffits unless you want to have some serious graft. Redwood is what it is but if you want something special I would go for oak but with an emphasis on the same sikkens treatment. I have an oak balcony on my house overlooking the sea in Pembrokeshire and it looks as good now as when it was fitted 3 years ago. It has had about 6 coats of sikkens though and pay attention to any joins/gaps.

Furts · 28 February 2017 at 12:51PM

gutovicky wrote: »

Thank you for the swift and really useful responses!

Furts - from your experiences, I'm very interested in the pressure-treated softwood option. May i ask what part of the country your property sits?
Private Church - I'm also going to research more about using Douglas Fir if it can go up as it is, without treatment/painting [...so the qualities of WRC without being a 'sponge'...].

Once again, when ordering the timber should I ask for specific 'cuts' for the boards?
Also, should I aim for non-UK timber? Am I right in thinking that UK-grown softwood is weaker and less-durable than other sourced softwood timber (Scandinavian?) because it tends to grow too fast here?

Ceredigion - thanks for flagging up a useful local supplier. I'll definitely be contacting them for advice

Any help/info much appreciated.

I worked for a developer who built houses all over the West Country using timber fascias and barges. These have stood the test of time. Like all developers there was scimping. So the timber was not best quality - I cannot recall the grade but it was Ex25mm. Also the cut edges never got treated, and the staining was minimal - inadequate coats of thinned down Sadolin Classic.

Much like capeverde is saying, my timbers got perhaps five coats before the scaffold was dropped, and all cut edges were treated. Expanding glue was used, and joints were sealed. I opted for Ex32mm, and it is all unsorted joinery grade Redwood.

Again like capeverde I am a fan of Sikkens, though I used Sadolin Classic on my home - quicker and cheaper but it is a strange product. Pigment is everything here - do not use clear products. I am wary of Sadolin Extra - perhaps just a personal thing.

If you go for timber you must source good quality - seek guidance locally. My local travis Perkins is excellent here, and I have two excellent nearby timber importers. Do not entertain the likes of Wickes, B&Q and so on!

tony6403 · 1 March 2017 at 1:26AM

Furts wrote: »

If you go for timber you must source good quality - seek guidance locally. My local travis Perkins is excellent here, and I have two excellent nearby timber importers. Do not entertain the likes of Wickes, B&Q and so on!

Travis Perkins owns Wickes . I don't know but I can't imagine that the company gets timber from different sources.

gutovicky · 1 March 2017 at 9:36AM

Thank you everyone for your contributions.
I'll just try another couple of questions to try and get my head straight about these new fascias & barge boards.......

[Capeverde - I wasn't necessarily looking for anything 'special' - I'm mainly looking for something that'll be stable & minimal maintenance for many years. I wanted to research more on Western Red Cedar since I'd heard that it is durable & weatherproof [U]without any treatment[/U] (I realise it would quickly fade to a grey colour). But I can see you're not keen...]

So, if I went for a pressure-treated softwood, could that be ANY softwood - even local grown (south-west Wales)?

Can anyone offer me any more reassurance about using untreated Douglas Fir (again I can get local-grown DF)?

WHATEVER timber I went for - Douglas Fir untreated/other softwood but pressure-treated/oak (thanks 'capeverde') - should I expect to have to give the boards plenty of good quality wood treatment (Sikkens/Sandolin) in all cases?

And, if it's got to be wood-treated/stained before going up, should I be using kiln-died timber?

Finally, should I be nervous about using UK-grown softwood - is it of a poorer quality?

Thanks again for your time!

missile · 1 March 2017 at 9:43AM

capeverde wrote: »

We use Canadian WRC on a regular basis. .... Firstly the wood will discolour and stain quite rapidly if not protected. We use a 3 part sikkens treatment with primer pigmented basecoat (for uv protection) and top coat. .....

Which Sekens products / colour would you recommend?
https://www.duluxtradepaintexpert.co.uk/products/picker/#painting/sikkens

missile · 1 March 2017 at 10:05AM

Furts wrote: »

... I used Sadolin Classic on my home - quicker and cheaper but it is a strange product. Pigment is everything here - do not use clear products. I am wary of Sadolin Extra - perhaps just a personal thing.!

Which colour for good match to WRC? What issues do you have with Sandolin Extra? What do you think about Sandolin Ultra?

New Western Red Cedar Fascias?

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