Wood for exterior use ?

[MikeyD]

I am hoping to soon be in an area with many victorian homes. I'm thinking I might get into making brackets and such. I was wondering what would be a good wood for exterior use. Anybody with any thoughts or know anything about which woods hold up when used on the outside of a house?

TIA

Mike

[ncsealeveler]

Cypress is a good outdoor wood.
Tony

[Bill Wilson]

If kept painted, most woods will do OK outside. Of course some are naturally better than others. Cedar is probably the most commonly used outdoor wood for things like siding and wooden shingles. White Oak holds up pretty well, as does black locust. Both are dense, hard & heavy woods, not sure how appropriate they are for decorative elements. Ipe is probably the most rot resistant wood you can readily find, but it's pricey and even heavier and harder than white oak or locust. Mahogany and teak are also very rot resistant, but also very expensive and can be hard to come by. I've heard that walnut is fairly rot resistant, but it doesn't get mentioned along with the more commonly known exterior woods, so I can't necessarily vouch for it.

[NC Scroller]

Best choices are cypress, cedar, or white oak.

[MikeyD]

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm thinking cypress is a southern wood and as I am going to be in Colorado the shipping cost may be a problem. I have checked in the area and hardwoods are not readly available. The cedar was my first thought but I have read where it has a bad habit of splitting. I have seen this on some white cedar I used on some small projects. Haven't really noticed it on the red cedar.
While researching this on line I saw a discusion on a product called MDO. They say it is the material used for the green info signs that you see along the highway. Anybody know about this stuff?

Thanks

Mike

[Bill Wilson]

MDO = Medium Density Overlay

It is commonly used for exterior signage. Norm Abrahms used it a good bit on "The New Yankee Workshop" for exterior projects. I've never actually seen it, but my understanding is that it's essentialy a plywood substrate covered with some kind of resin impregnated paper which provides the smooth, paint friendly surface.

I would suspect that its durability would depend on a good coat of paint and regular maintenance, just like most anything else.

[Jediscroller]

Being out west I would suggest Redwood. This should be relatively available to you.

[bob allen]

mike
you might look at redwood it stands the test of time in out of doors
bob

[MikeyD]

Hadn't thought about redwood. Thanks for the help guys. Once I get relocated then I will check out what is avalible there.

Mike