I am in the process of looking for a saw mill to buy, I think it will be a cook because of the reviews I have read and the fact that I am only 2hrs from Newton Alabama. I have about 40 acres of eastern red cedar that I want to mill and use on the interior of a new home I intend to build. My thoughts were to do the exposed beam ceiling and walls in the cedar. My question is would the smell be to over powering in the home with that much cedar in its construction? I don't want to plane and seal the wood just maybe a light sanding.
The smell will dissipate over time. Might be a little strong at the beginning, though. The color will fade, also. If you leave it unsealed you can touch it up with a light sanding and bring back both.
Mark
Stick,welcome to the forum. How will you be getting the wood out? Logrite,sponsor on the left,have cantdogs and peaveys to help out with the logs. You will need at least one.
Hello Stick and Welcome to the Forestry Forum. :) The odor/fragrance/smell will diminish and you might even get used to it, but it will always be there.
Welcome to the FF Stick Your sticker-ed air drying should help with the odor
There was a show on tv here while back about expensive homes. A fellow in Tx built his large home from cedar. Started out with 1400 logs which he milled and had to get more from neighbors. House was around 16,000 sq. ft or so. Very beautiful. He never mentioned that the smell was to offensive. bg
Welcome to the forum, Stick.
I dried about 30 cedar/juniper boards in my canning room downstairs and it was the best this house has ever smelled. ;D
It did dissipate within 2-3 weeks, so I guess I'll have to go saw more now.
Allan
You mean cedar has a smell? :D
Sawing and grinding cedar for 20 plus years must make your nose immune to the fragrance. ;D
Red cedar dosent grow here.I have heard that some people are very allergic to red cedar.I made a jewelry box from red cedar around 1950, it still smells when opened.I do think that not planing or sealing would be a mistake.I saw and plane white cedar and find it burns my nose if I dont wear a dust mask.Planing brings out the beauty of all woods.
36, some people are allergic to eastern red cedar. People are also allergic to western red cedar. The WRC dust is bad. ERC dust have not heard it being bad.
From what I've experienced, open exposed ecr will loose it's initial strong fragerance, while the boxes and chests when opened release hints of it. Time will fade the contrasts of boards not sealed or finished. So I guess after time if you want to bring back the beauty you can always put a coat on,
david
Thank you all for the responses and I apologize for being so slow to respond myself but I have traveling back to work in Vietnam. I will be skidding the logs out with a 90 hp farm tractor with a front end loader. I did not want to plane or finish the interior boards on the house cause I wanted to keep it as rustic as possible, do want to keep the contrast of colors in the wood though hmmmm looks like I got to replan my job some. Anyone got any suggestions how to keep the rustic rough look but keep the colors vibrant, linseed oil maybe?
What kind of work are you doing I Viet Nam? I WAS THERE IN 69-70-71 :new_year:
40 acres of cedar? how big is this house gonna be? :D I don't have a single cedar of any kind on my 80+ acres. I would love to mill some of it one day. Guess I'll have to buy a log one of these days :-X.
mark
I work on an offshore oil rig.
Linseed oil will darken the wood, but won't protect it from UV, water or oxidation. I don't know of a product to "preserve" the color. Sanding the surface every few years will bring it back to "fresh cut" look and aroma.
Ok thanks. I guess I will have to plane it and finish it to keep it bright looking, I just did not want the highly finished look but it sounds like that is going to be the most trouble free option.