Porch Floor Material

[Jim Stewart]

Hi All, I have a 1830's house that has a front porch that goes for about 3/4 length of the house. The porch at the center has a hand cut limestone slab that is 6'x10'x6". I redid the porch floor on either side with treated tongue and groove 2"x6" but now need to redo that. I want to keep with the 1.5" inch thick stock so the floor will be level with the stone slab. I would like suggestions on what to use for the floor material. I was wondering about red oak. I can mill the stock. Don't know how rot resistant Red Oak would be. The porch faces North and can remain damp for a bit but it is not too bad. I will apply Seikens SRD every three years. Any suggestions for material?

[scott vroom]

Where are you located? Does the porch get any direct rain or snow? Clear heart redwood or cedar are excellent choices for weather exposed applications but are very expensive. Have you considered any of the man made T&G porch products?

I've never used red oak in weather exposed applications and would hesitate to do so.

[Jason Roehl]

Red oak rots easily in part because of the pore structure--the open pores wick up water and hold it, while the wood itself is not very rot resistant. White oak would be a much better choice for rot resistance, along with cedar, redwood, ipe and a few others.

[Von Bickley]

Red oak rots easily in part because of the pore structure--the open pores wick up water and hold it, while the wood itself is not very rot resistant. White oak would be a much better choice for rot resistance, along with cedar, redwood, ipe and a few others.

Jason nailed it. Red oak will not last outside. White oak or ipe would be your best choice.

[George Gyulatyan]

Look at massaranduba. It's extremely dense, oily, and relatively inexpensive choice compared to some of the others like cedar and Ipe. Has a dark reddish brown color. Not sure if you can find them in 1.5" though.

[Don Sundberg]

Not sure where you are located but Black Locust might be another rot resistant wood choice if you have some locally available to mill. I believe Red Elm would be ok too but finding enough logs of it might be tough. I have been cutting a fair amount of it lately for firewood but most are not big enough to yield much lumber.

Don

[Kevin Bourque]

I also vote for Black Locust. Here in Southeastern Pa. it's pretty easy to find and it's relatively inexpensive.

[Peter Quinn]

I'd go for a 5/4 t&g material and pack up the existing framing the 1/2" neccessary or it will become very expensive. Cypress might be another option to those previously mentioned.

[Jim Stewart]

All good information. I got excited about Ipe until I saw the price. The massaranduba was less. I now will look into the Black Locust. It would be fitting for the house. I have a fair amount of that on the farm but we have a fungus that attacks it when it gets very large. Some parts of Indiana are not subject to the fungus. The porch is covered but blowing rain or snow do get on it. The treated T&G that is on now on the porch is still in good shape after 25 years, but I need to take it up to access the Rock foundation. This is an amazing old structure with Limestone walls that are 24" thick. It is about 30' tall at the gable. Jim