Hi everyone, I am happy to be a part of your forum. You guys are full of good information. I own a small manual mill and intend to cut some red oak for flooring. I have lots of red oak but very little white oak. This will be for a barn floor which needs replacing due to rain damage. My question is will red oak be O.K. even though it will sometimes get wet from wind blown rain?
I would not use red oak in that case as it's not going to hold up. White oak is what you need if it's going to be exposed to the elements at all.
You heard it from the main man. 8)
Welcome to the forum. You and I are in a similar situation, abundance of red oak, I need white oak.
Use red oak for the portions that won't be exposed to frequent rain, and white oak for the areas that might get frequently wet.
If you're only talking about getting wet a few times a year, I would't worry about it.
The number of times it gets wet is far less important as how long it takes to dry out. If it get moist, and stays moist, and add some dirt in the board cracks like the typical barn floor you may have problems with red oak
ROUGH CUT,
welcome to the forum. glad to have another manual miller on here. pc
Quote from: Jeff on March 18, 2011, 03:26:47 PM
The number of times it gets wet is far less important as how long it takes to dry out. If it get moist, and stays moist, and add some dirt in the board cracks like the typical barn floor you may have problems with red oak
Very good point Jeff.
Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll try scsmith42's suggestion and just use the white oak near the door where most of the rain gets in.
I built a fence around the back yard..a couple of hundred feet worth...frame and boards all white oak except for 30 feet...ran out of white oak and it was too wet to go to the woods ...I had plenty of red on the yard...so I put up the 30 ft out of red oak...I am going to find out how fast red oak will rot on a vertical fence...any body want to venture a guess as to when I will be replacing the reds....? ;) ...I know that the white is the best for outside applications but it will be interesting to see when I have to start replacing the boards...Tim
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18028/fence_project_outside.jpg)
Welcome rough cut...Jeff is right. doesn't matter the amount...if it can shed water quickly and has good airflow it'll do just fine. if not, its done for. Do you have an abundance of elm or locust? either of them will work for a barn floor. A shame there is no Chestnut left. it was as resistant to weather as White oak. :(
Chet
I have used both red and white oak to build hay wagons that sit out year round. White oak best but red worked ok just try to avoid the sap wood.
I lobstered commerically for 35 years and my pots were all wood an red oak
Banjo Picker, I suspect the ends will go the quickest. But when you be looking at replacement is anybody's guess. I know untreated spruce decking is good for about 15, maybe 20 years if kept painted with stain. A spruce picnic table kept painted and no ground contact will last decades.
I built a wooden seat swing 20 odd years ago and it sits in under spruce trees and I keep the supports up on brick blocking. It's still as good as new and being under spruce it doesn't dry as quick after a rain.
On the fence in the foreground are red oak, rough-sawn, 1x6 fence boards bolted on 4x4 white oak posts in 1966.
Off the ground, chance to dry, and lasting longer than the posts. Make for some good weathered wood for pic frames and such. :)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/BlueBird%20House.jpg)