Outdoor Paitio Furniture Wood Recommendation?

[Randall J Cox]

Looking at building 4 good sized outdoor chairs. Talked with specialty hardwood lumber co folks and of white oak, mahogany or hard maple, the rock maple was the cheapest by far. I have built a couple of large patio tables out of white oak and unless I keep them covered during the winter rainy season (central Calif) I had to do a light rebuild after two years, and that was after saturating them with a good quality deck oil. Given the wood prices around here, you can tell we don't live where they grow hardwood, its pricey (eg 8/4 white oak is $8.37 bd ft). Anyway, looking for wood recommendations.... I can't afford the best wood out there so maybe the middle of the pack? Or..... Randy

[Dave Cav]

You might want to check the pricing for iroko. It's often used for decks and I've built a couple of shower benches out of it.

[Jamie Buxton]

Maple is not as durable outdoors as white oak.

[Josko Catipovic]

Teak's hard to beat for outdoor stuff.

[Tony Shea]

I think you'd be very disappointed with maple outside in the elements especially after dealing with white oak. It depends on what mahogany they are calling mahogany but out of those options it would technically be the best choice and then white oak. Maple will brown very quickly and will start to rot soon after.

I know price is of concern but IPE really is some of the best outdoor material out there. Teak is right up there as well but I think you'll find Ipe much cheaper.

[Jamie Buxton]

Earlier this year, I bought 4/4 roughsawn teak for some outdoor stools. It cost $32 per bd ft. 8/4, which I did not buy, was $38 per bd ft. Ipe seemed to be around $15 per bd ft in what they call 5/4. Thicker stock, like 8/4, which might be required for furniture, was like $25 per bd ft, but I didn't shop that very closely. The OP is choking on $8 per bd ft for white oak...

[Andrew Hughes]

Maple is a terrible outdoor wood. Too much seasoned movement here in California it will warp split or crack badly. Maybe even before it has a chance to decay as tony mentioned.
Iroko is a spirt wood so that’s a bad choice too. If you happen to see the Iroko wood spirt insanity and death will soon follow.
Teak is the best but it’s expensive but a lovely wood to work even with the oil and silica it has inside.
Western red cedar
Redwood
Port Orford cedar are my suggestions

Good Luck

[Peter Kelly]

Western Red Cedar or Cypress if you don't feel that you can swing White Oak.

[John TenEyck]

What Andrew said, and add Sapele and Spanish cedar to the list.

John

[Randall J Cox]

Any thoughts or experience with mahogany for an outdoor chair project? I throw that in for Q because that's one of the woods the hardwood specialty place recommended when I talked to them. Randy

[Mark Gibney]

I would suggest not using Ipe. It's extremely difficult to work with.
In addition I figure it has to be a very poor choice from a sustainability point of view.
This is from the wood-database.com website -

Ipe species grow in very low densities, with mature trees only occurring once per 300,000 to 1,000,000 square feet (3 to 10 hectares) of forest area. This necessitates the clearing of large sections of rainforest trees (https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/2013/05/17/a-trail-of-stumps/) (most of which are of little commercial value). Though uncommon, certified sources of Ipe are available.

[Ole Anderson]

I built eight Adirondack chairs using a premium pre-stained PT pine, marketed as Cedartone at Menards. No, it is not hardwood, but you can bet they will last. I wanted to use KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) wood (marketed as Yellawood) but could not find any locally. I left the chairs unfinished. Downside, like most PT wood, it was soaking wet. 433567

[lowell holmes]

Cypress or white oak is what I use.

[Jim Dwight]

I also used PT wood for two Adirondack chairs at least 7 years ago and they still are fine. The wood was wet and I plugged the screw holes and painted the chairs. Some of the plugs are protruding and the paint is pealing but the wood is sound. I should take them to the shop and sand them down and repaint. Maybe someday.

I also have some PT wood from my dock stored inside. it is pretty dry now. i'm not sure what I will use it for but it would work much better. I have purchased PT in the winter before because it hangs around in the home center longer and the air is drier speeding drying. But for the subject chairs I just brought it home and started cutting. They are far from fine furniture but they work. I made tables and footstools at the same time. All are fine.

[Jim Becker]

Any thoughts or experience with mahogany for an outdoor chair project? I throw that in for Q because that's one of the woods the hardwood specialty place recommended when I talked to them. Randy
Mahogany (but be careful about what species is being sold...there's a lot of substitution these days) is a good outdoor wood when properly finished.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Cypress or white oak is what I use.

Another recommendation for cypress. No idea of cost or availability on left coast, but workable + durable. And if you recite sustainability specs from memory, growth in US exceeds harvest rates.

[Mel Fulks]

The easily found cypress is often too sappy to be durable. But good heart cypress is great stuff. Seems to me that when
good exterior woods get expensive ...they get used mostly for interior stuff.

[Bill Dufour]

Cedar is used for pencils because it does not form fine splinters that dig into your skin. I have seen redwood pencils as well. Would oak, teak, cypress form splinters as they age?
Bil lD

[Benoit Bissonnette]

You might want to consider autoclave-treated wood? They use inexpensive wood species and turned them into weather resistant wood for outside. If you know a place where they do this process, you can bring them your own wood for treatment.

[Ole Anderson]

Looks like i will be taking on an outdoor porch swing for my DIL's birthday June 7. Ordered plans (I work best that way), they suggest white oak also. It will be under a protected porch, so wood choice is not so important, I do like working with WO though.

[Randall Houghton]

About 20 or so years ago I built an Adirondack chair out of Western Red Cedar as a test to see how the lumber would hold up to my climate. I live in the high desert(6000ft. altitude)and right now the humidity is as about 6% so it is really dry. I left the chair unfinished to see what would happen and never covered it in the winter. It finally started to fall apart this spring so I guess it is about time for a new one. WRC is nice because it does not get extremely hot from the desert sun and is light weight so it is easy for my wife to move it around and it is my choice for outdoor furniture and house trim. You can probably find it for a reasonable price if you search with Woodfinder.
Regards
Randy

[Randall J Cox]

I see chairs made of acacia wood being built and shipped from Asia. Anybody have any experience with that wood? Good / bad? I have used white oak for outdoor projects before, nice wood to work with. Might just go back to that... maybe. Appreciate replies, learning! Randy

[Jamie Buxton]

I see chairs made of acacia wood being built and shipped from Asia. Anybody have any experience with that wood? Good / bad? I have used white oak for outdoor projects before, nice wood to work with. Might just go back to that... maybe. Appreciate replies, learning! Randy

"Acacia" is a whole family of plants which contains hundreds of species ranging from big trees suitable for lumber, down to shrubs.

[Dave Cav]

Iroko is a spirt wood so that’s a bad choice too. If you happen to see the Iroko wood spirt insanity and death will soon follow.


??????????

[Jim Becker]

I know a fellow in the UK that makes Adirondack chairs out of iroko to sell...when I visited him, there was no mention of the supernatural... :)

[Andrew Hughes]

I know a fellow in the UK that makes Adirondack chairs out of iroko to sell...when I visited him, there was no mention of the supernatural... :)

Ok guys I’m not crazy or superstitious. The first time I saw Iroko was in a rockler store. When ever I buy a new wood I look it up so that I’m not buying something poisonous like Bubinga . I bought some Bubinga back when someone cut down that Ancient forest in Africa and flooded the market with with slabs.
It wreaked my immune system very bad allergic reaction. Anyways the internet says Iroko is a sprit wood no way I’m messing with that kind of voodoo.
My Terry Porter Wood ID doesn’t mention anything supernatural but does have a very nasty list of possible allergic skallywags.
Now if you will excuse me earlier today two geese flew over my shop and I pretty sure one was wearing a hat way too small for a goose. I’m gonna try figure out what that means.:)

Good Luck be safe everyone.

[Jim Becker]

Andrew, accept apologies if my comment was off-putting. It wasn't meant to be. There are many of us who are affected by certain species of wood. Like you, I can't work with bubinga. I found that out the first and last time I used it....which makes me sad because I adore how it can look, especially when heavily figured.

[Ryan Yeaglin]

Cypress, Western red cedar, Mahogany, teak, redwood and white oak are all good outdoor woods species. I read an article about using non-tinted outdoor paint from Sherwin Williams, as it dries clear, but has the UV blockers of a pigmented paint. I made my wife some Adirondack chairs for Christmas from western red cedar and was debating about a finish because she and I both liked the natural look and I didn't want them to turn gray from weather. I ended up using Baer brand oil because the lumber yard near me that carries Penofin is currently closed due to the Covid-19 BS. Time will tell how this will hold up, but an oil is easy to touch up.

[Randall J Cox]

Thank you everybody. Think I'm going back to use white oak. It was mentioned enough times by you all and I have used it before. It was a nice wood to work with. Although I did think it was expensive the last time I bought it, it is the only time I have bought "nice" wood from a lumber company and had no idea what to expect (or how to order it). I'm a little older and wiser now, after looking up the prices per board foot of many other "nice" outdoor woods (you all mentioned) and see that white oak is on the lower end of the scale. Thanks again for all the comments. Randy

[Jim Becker]

Randall, the cost of buying "good material" is not large when you consider how using appropriate material will make the project last longer and look better. You don't need the "fancy" white oak, either. The primary reason that white oak is a great choice is because it doesn't wick up moisture and is also relatively resistant to insects. IE...it will handle the job for a long time.

[Randy Smith]

Great question that I get on a regular basis (I sell some lumber in central VA). Here on the east coast we don't have affordable access to much in the way of cedar other than our own eastern red with is typically a low grade with plenty of defects and narrow. Clear western red cedar is pretty pricey. Teak would be great but very pricey. Generally I lean towards the aforementioned white oak, or sapele, or at a better price point eucalyptus grandis (red grandis). If you can find thermally modified wood such as ash or poplar, those are very good options as well. I've built a couple decks with ipe and love it, I just don't have it available in my shop.

[Darcy Warner]

WO will turn black outside, even with a finish on it.

Tropical hardwood would be my choice.

[Doug Dawson]

WO will turn black outside, even with a finish on it.

Tropical hardwood would be my choice.

You got something against black? :^) It is what it is.

My preference is for teak, for this application. This is what God intended this wood to be used for. A million sailors can’t be wrong. BTDT.

[Curt Harms]

Not easy to find but I'd consider black locust for outdoor use. Stuff is reputed to last 2 years short of forever.

[Alex Zeller]

I built my deck out of Tiger Wood. It's one of the exotic decking woods but it's cheaper than IPE and easier to work with. Since I had left over wood I made a few chairs for friends and while they turned gray they have held up for more than a decade. It's nice wood because it doesn't splinter. It also weighs about the same as WO, not like IPE. But it could be hard to find in your area.