How to choose the right type of wood for outdoor: what wood is used?
Finding the ideal wood for outdoor use is a difficult choice. There are many types of wood available; where do you start? We are happy to help you on your way to your dream garden!
Of course, you want a type of wood that fits well with your home and your garden. But in addition to the appearance, the following parts are also essential to keep in mind:
Application: What do I want to use the wood for?
Sustainability: How can I enjoy my summer house/deck/garden partition/roof for as long as possible?
What is your budget: How much do I want to spend on my garden?
For what application do you want to use the wood?
Depending on the application, you can choose the right type of wood.
Façade and wall cladding
For your summer house, you should look for a type of wood suitable for facade cladding. You can clad your garden house with Tropical Hardwood, Oak, Douglas, and Pine, as well as Western Red Cedar.
Western Red Cedar hardly contains knots due to our sorting. Add to this a high stability, and you have a type of wood with a chic look.
Also, tropical hardwoods contain few knots. If you want to go for a rural atmosphere, choose Oak, Douglas, or walnut. These woods are rustic and have knots.
Thermally modified wood has undergone a specific process, which means that the wood is almost entirely worked out (which gives a sleek result) and is also very durable.
Add some color to your garden house? Then choose Douglas; this is a well impregnable type of wood, which can be stained well for coloring.
Garden fence
If you want to place a new garden fence, Douglas is a prevalent type of wood, and In recent years you have seen more and more Douglas firs in gardens.
Douglas radiates warmth through its reddish hue, which immediately gives your garden a beautiful atmosphere.
You can also order Douglas planks and Swedish coniferous wood for your garden partition.
Gate
To properly close off your garden, it is wise to place a gate.
Several types of wood are suitable for choosing a gate, such as Douglas, Western Red Cedar, Siberian Larch, and Oak.
Look for the look that best suits your garden partition.
Platform
Decking can give your garden a cozy atmosphere. If you are going for decking with a luxurious and sleek look, it is best to choose Tropical Hardwood.
If you want to make multiple uses of wood in the garden, it is nice to use the same type of wood.
You, therefore, see more and more that the wood types such as Oak, Siberian Larch, and Douglas are used as outdoor flooring.
Canopy
If you want to add a covered terrace to your house, it is wise to support the roof construction with sturdy posts. A suitable type of wood for this is Oakwood.
It has an authentic look and is a solid type of wood. You can also make the roof construction well with Oak.
Also, Douglas wood is a suitable type of wood for a roof.
Garden furniture
By garden furniture, we mean tables, chairs, and sun loungers that have been designed in terms of functionality and material in such a way that they are suitable for outdoor use.
They can be placed and used in the garden, on the terrace, and the balcony.
Constructions on the waterfront
Do you have a garden on the water, and do you want to construct a sheet pile?
Then choose tropical hardwood such as Azobé, Angelim Vermelho, and Cumaru.
These are types of wood that are very durable and therefore highly suitable for direct ground contact.
How can you extend the durability of wood?
The wood has to endure a lot due to outdoor use. From rain showers to bright sun rays in the summer, the wood must withstand it.
Of course, wood is a natural product, but you can also give the wood a helping hand to protect it from the weather, and You can do this with oil or stain.
For further information, please read our article on how to extend wood durability.
Hardwood or softwood
You will undoubtedly have heard of hardwood. It is often said that they are the hardest types of wood and that they last the longest. Perhaps less well-known is the term softwood, which includes the other types of wood of the dichotomy.
What is the difference between hardwood and softwood, and what are the best types of wood for garden furniture?
When it comes to hardwood, many people immediately think of solid and hardwoods. However, the difference in name has nothing to do with the hardness of the wood.
Hardwood consists of wood species from so-called angiosperm trees and plants. Softwood comes from gymnosperm trees and plants.
The difference between angiosperms and gymnosperms means that the seeds are protected and covered by fruit, for example, in most fruit trees, such as apple, cherry, and nut trees. In gymnosperms, there is no sheath, as in pine or spruce.
In general, you can easily categorize softwoods from the conifers and hardwoods from deciduous trees.
For the majority of hardwoods, it is indeed true that the wood is harder than most softwoods. However, there are exceptions, and you will also see some softwoods with a higher hardness than certain hardwoods.
Both hardwoods and softwoods are used for outdoor furniture, but the majority is hardwood. Hardwood is naturally more durable than softwood.
Essential questions to ask yourself before choosing wood for outdoor:
What are the colors in my garden, and which type of wood suits them best?
Does the wood come with an FSC quality mark, and is the wood harvested responsibly, legally, and sustainably?
You need to pick a suitable material so that the result is strong, solid, low maintenance, and high durability.
So after reading this article, you can go back to the hardware store without the stress of choice. You now exactly know what the options are and what suits you and your garden best.
Ultimately, it is important to know whether a type of wood is suitable for outdoor use and whether it can last long when exposed to severe weather conditions.
What budget do you have to spend?
When designing your garden, you naturally also take your budget into consideration.
What is my budget? Another thing to consider is cost or budget. The best wood is the highest price everyone must pay.
Do you choose a relatively cheap type of wood or go for a kind of wood with a more luxurious look and a slightly higher price?
Choosing outdoor wood by FSC quality mark
These certificates enable consumers to recognize whether the wood has been produced and extracted sustainably.
The FSC quality mark indicates that a wood or paper product has been independently produced in an FSC-approved forest.
This quality mark has nothing to do with the quality of the wood. Still, it is purely an indication of the origin of the wood used, Which allows you to recognize and ensure that you are purchasing a wholly legal and ethically responsible product.
Wood for outdoor furniture
You already know some woods that are useful and reliable as materials for outdoor furniture. In general, any wood is eligible when the sole purpose is just regular furniture production.
You can add the chemical paint as an additional layer on the wood surface.
You may buy the cheapest one but add extra maintenance if you intend to keep years; the right choice is you pick the wood with a solid and robust structure.
The furniture has to be high durability and capable of withstanding many external conditions. That’s what you must consider when using the best wood for outdoor furniture.
Advantages of wooden garden furniture
Wooden garden furniture naturally has a beautiful natural look, which means that they fit perfectly into your home garden
There is a variety of garden furniture available. Every piece of garden furniture is available in wood, or of course, you can make it yourself.
With the latter, I automatically come to the next advantage of wooden garden furniture. Wood is easy to work with. You can make anything out of it! In that respect, wood is, of course, also just fun to use.
Which wood is best to use for garden furniture
There is a lot of difference between the various types of wood. Each type of wood has its own appearance and properties.
It is worth taking a closer look at this. You can choose from our wood species as well as various beautiful wood species from across the border. Please read our article about types of wood for outdoor furniture
Which wood is best to use for garden furniture? It’s hard for me to advise on this. That, of course, depends on your taste and wishes.
Tips for choosing wood for outdoor:
First of all, you must choose wood with the FSC quality mark.
Wood with an FSC logo is produced according to strict rules relating to legal logging, protection of nature, and the rights and well-being of the local population and workers.
In addition, you should choose hardwood or impregnated wood.
This is certainly important when using your wooden garden furniture outdoors. Wood and moisture naturally do not mix well because wood is susceptible to rotting.
If this is the case, the quality of the wood will deteriorate rapidly. So it is important to consider this.
You will conclude from this that wood has a “limited expiration date” and cannot be used for a very long time, but that is certainly not true.
A good quality wood that has been made resistant to moisture if necessary will last a long time. In many cases, very long.