Outdoor Paitio Furniture Wood Recommendation?

[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.