wtnhighlander Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Planning to make some decorative shutters for my house. Plan calls for frame and panel style, not louvered. Material will be either western red cedar or yellow cypress. Anyone have pros or cons regarding either material? How about hardware suggestions? These don't actually need to swing, but I'd like for them to appear as if they will. Also, I am open to opinions about the best finish. My house is sided with horizontal run WRC lap, currently coated with semi-transparent 'dark mahogany' stain from PRG. If I go with WRC I plan to keep the natural color, but cypress is too yellowish, so stain of some sort will be in order. What say ye all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I like working with cypress. Western red cedar can be kinda knotty and seems to split easily. Both are good for exterior use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 +1 on cypress. It will probably be pretty cheap in TN and 99% of the western redcedar I see is complete and total junk. Sapwood, knots, splits easily and I think it is overrated when it comes to rot. Sure if you get clear VG heartwood it will last a long time but that will cost $$$$. A friend of mine made frame and panel shutters out cypress about 7 years ago and they look good as new. He painted his blue. I would consider a opaque or semi transparent stain with some color (white, blue, green, whatever you or the wife will think looks good against the stained siding). I really don't like trying to match or coordinate fake wood tones. what color are your eves, overhangs, window trim, front door? I would match one of those Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Cypress. You can Google 'hand forged shutter hardware", and find anything you want, but House of Antique Hardware has some pretty decent stuff at more reasonable prices than individually hand made pieces . I'd paint them with Sherwin-Williams Emerald. Prime all mortises and tenons before assembly. Drawbore pegs with just a couple of pieces of masking tape for the offset using a jig and drill press. I've seen many failed old ones from too aggressive a draw-bore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-astragal Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I've had bad luck with yellow cypress. It rots very easily believe it or not. From what I've seen cedar would be better for exterior. I built a window for a guy out of cypress and it rotted in less than 3 yrs. replaced it with Spanish cedar and it should last a long time. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Thanks for the input, guys. I like the cedar for color and rot resistance, but what I have available locally is more knot than board. That fact is leaning me toward cypress, as nice large straight-grained boards are easy to come by around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I'm curious about the rotting Cypress. I worked on a 1777 Low Country house near Wilmington, N.C. Land is very sandy down there, so I'm sure that could have played a part. When we started work on it, the original foundation was only 3 foot cubes of heart Cypress. It had been sitting on those blocks for 200 years, almost exactly. There was a little bit of deterioration under the bottom, but it looked like the wood had just dissolved a little bit. The blocks still measured 3' cubes with the bottoms a little bit concave. The owner wanted the house jacked up a bit, and a brick foundation built under it, and he got some big price for some of those blocks of Cypress. Back when the good sawmills were still in business here, ones near the river kept wide Cypress boards in stock around 2' wide. People bought them to use two to make bottoms for almost flat bottomed river boats. I still see some of those boats on the river. All those mills went out of business in the '80s, and early '90s. Fortunately, I still have a stache of some wide Cypress boards that I bought back then. I have one house I built in the late '80s that has Cypress siding on it that never had any kind of coating put on it, and it's still in fine shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Tom, that observation matches everything I know about cypress as well. Maybe Steve could share more details of that particular experience? My curiosity is up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimberlaneShutters Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 We've been using several woods, but our mainstay has been Western Red Cedar. It's true, there are definitely qualities associated, and at first we almost went away from it, but we've found sources to provide high quality, clear western red, that allows us to work with the quality and characteristics that make it ideal for exterior shutters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 We've been using several woods, but our mainstay has been Western Red Cedar. It's true, there are definitely qualities associated, and at first we almost went away from it, but we've found sources to provide high quality, clear western red, that allows us to work with the quality and characteristics that make it ideal for exterior shutters. The challenge is finding high quality clear cedar retail. Cypress is graded according to hardwood standards, making it easier to find clear heartwood (or so it seems). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-astragal Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I was told that its the new cypress that rots. The old slow growth wood is great. I think the trees grow too fast but I'm no scientist. I built some doors back in '06-07 and used cypress for the cores and some had rotted in 5-6 years. The mahogany show wood was 100 % solid and could be restored. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 The challenge is finding high quality clear cedar retail. Cypress is graded according to hardwood standards, making it easier to find clear heartwood (or so it seems). Not to mention, cypress grows on trees around where I live, but WRC does not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Here, woodpeckers and flying squirrels think WRC is the best thing since dead trees. The first two houses I built (1973) had WRC siding. Flying squirrels were in both attics in less than a year. For wood siding, I switched to White Oak, and have never had any trouble with critters. Back then, I could buy good quality rough cut White Oak for a hundred bucks a thousand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Not to mention, cypress grows on trees around where I live, but WRC does not... That is the key thing. If I were to build my own shutters I probably would use white oak, like Tom said. I can get it from a local sawyer cheaper than box store cedar. I can get good cypress from a hardwood dealer but it is still more expensive that white oak from the sawyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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