Garden Arbor

[harry_]

I have been tasked with building a garden arbor for a family member. The request was for it to be as light as possible in color while still being natural (not painted). It is my intention to coat it with either a preservative oil or a spar type urethane.

The question is, what woods would be suitable for this application. I have pretty much ruled out cedar for the posts. I see them as not getting along with his string trimmer. Not the any wood will hold up to that kind of abuse, but I than that almost any wood would hold up better. I was thinking clear fir for the posts.

Any suggestions for the rest?

 

[Brice Burrell]

I like Spanish Cedar because it looks like mahogany. But it might be a little dark for your tastes. White oak sounds about right for the whole project. Rot resistant and tough as nails (it ain't afraid of your trimmer).

 

[frehouseremdlin]

Id have to agree with Brice. The white oak would probably be your best bet. Make sure to post some pics after your done.

Brett

 

[Wood_Junkie]

+1 for white oak.

I've also heard and read that black locust is a great outdoor wood, though I have no personal experience with it.  Yet... it's on my short list for a future outdoor project.

A quick Google search for "black locust lumber" reveals a number of pictures of the wood. Not as light as white oak.  Not really dark, either.

 

[Brice Burrell]

...I've also heard and read that black locust is a great outdoor wood, though I have no personal experience with it.  Yet... it's on my short list for a future outdoor project.

A quick Google search for "black locust lumber" reveals a number of pictures of the wood. Not as light as white oak.  Not really dark, either.

I'm not had much luck getting locust retail in my area. A small sawyer on the other hand might be able to get all the locust you'll ever want.

 

[harry_]

White oak?

Wouldn't have even thought of that for an outside wood... no matter, my brother's fianc?e has an avid aversion to oak. Why, I do not know. I think that maybe she is just an `old school New Englander`. (read: Pine lover) I have no issue building it out of pine, I just don't want to do it again next year

I just checked my local vendors, locust of any type does not appear to be readily available.

 

[danrush]

If the main worry is damage from a string trimmer, you could just wrap the bottom 6" of each post with a base trim.  It could be the same wood, different wood, or even a manufactured product.  If it gets beat up over time, just replace the base trim

Dan

 

[peter halle]

Similar to Dan's idea, I have wrapped the bottom 8 inches with copper.

Peter

 

[harry_]

Dan & Peter,

I had thought of doing something like that, and may still do something like that.

I was wanting to field other choices of wood to see if there was something 'different' than cedar/fir/meranti which are my default choices for outside work

 

[mwhafner]

You could also try one of the new Silicon-Treated lumber products.  TimberSil seems to be the easiest to find. 

 

[Wood_Junkie]

White oak is in the top 5 or so of the outdoor durable woods.  It's been used for centures for wine and whiskey barrels, fences, barns, etc.

Superceded by teak and ipe, but stronger and harder than cedar, redwood, or cypress.  And as far as I can find WO is about the same as black locust.  I've never heard of meranti, but looked it up and now I'm intrigued.. I see it's a southeast Asian wood.. hmmm..

Red oak is the much more common lumber and is often disliked, especially the commercially made stuff (with weird graind)  but *red* is not suitable for outdoor use.  Red vs. white oak look drastically different when finished, so maybe your soon-to-be-SIL may reconsider.

...  There is, of course, always treated pine/fir..    It'll go gray in a year or so, and that's "light"  [scared]

 

[harry_]

Red oak is the much more common lumber and is often disliked, especially the commercially made stuff (with weird graind)  but *red* is not suitable for outdoor use.  Red vs. white oak look drastically different when finished, so maybe your soon-to-be-SIL may reconsider.

This is very true, so maybe she'll just have to. I'll have to see if I can get that dog to hunt, so to speak.  [wink]

 

[daviszr1]

I have been tasked with building a garden arbor for a family member. The request was for it to be as light as possible in color while still being natural (not painted). It is my intention to coat it with either a preservative oil or a spar type urethane.

The question is, what woods would be suitable for this application. I have pretty much ruled out cedar for the posts. I see them as not getting along with his string trimmer. Not the any wood will hold up to that kind of abuse, but I than that almost any wood would hold up better. I was thinking clear fir for the posts.

Any suggestions for the rest?

I'm not convinced that you still can't use cedar or cypress even though they are both fairly soft for the trimmer's use.  If you're talking about 4x4 posts, the solution is easy... post "spikes."  Take alook.  They sell for about $15.00 each.  His string trimmer isn't going to eat through steel any time soon!  I've used them for homemade hose reels and they work fantastic.  I can put a 4x4 post in and be totally done in less than 5 minutes.  No concrete or post hole digging for me!

 

[harry_]

I was considering putting those into play, however I would not want to see them. That would mean I need to put covers on them, which brings me back to wood.

I have pretty much decided on white oak, although I had considered cypress until I realized how hard it is for me to find locally.

 

[daviszr1]

I buried mine so that only about 2 inches was above ground.  With the grass and mulching, you can not even see the spike!

 

[harry_]

In the end I decided on going with Garapa.

 

[harry_]

OK, here it is.

I think my biggest challenge was that where you see the arbor is not `where it goes`. building in place was not an option. The field did not get mowed until the day before the wedding. (cows still grazing). Post wedding it gets moved to it's permanent location. As such, I opted to leave off the side panels. The legs are rather heavy and I thought I was just asking for trouble attaching them then trying to transport it.

In the end it worked out better for the photographer this way. Bother and SIL were thrilled.

 

[peter halle]

You didn't tell us it was for a wedding...