Do you know your softwood from your hardwood? Here’s a small wood fact for you:
“Softwood is wood from trees such as conifers. Opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from trees which have broad leaves that usually change color and die every autumn. Softwoods are not always softer than hardwoods. Both groups include a variety of wood types that vary in actual hardness. (Balsa is a hardwood but is softer than most softwoods).
Softwood makes up about 80% of the world’s production of timber. (Which, can only be a good thing, considering the highly endangered tropical sort are usually Hardwoods!).
We use softwood to create about 90% of the Rotunda building. Graded Structural beams of Redwood (pine) form the structrual timbers in the wall cavity, “Douglas Fir” is usually selected for the windows and doors (Douglas Fir is a softwood but is much harder than many hardwoods) and the cladding is most usually a UK Grown Larch.
Known for it’s durability, it’s beautiful, (almost red-orange) honey-hued finish when it’s freshly sawn and it’s playful and rustic waney (bark) edge; it’s known historically as the timber the Scots used for boat-building as it’s got such a high resin content.
We specify this timber for our cladding to ensure these little eco-buildings are not only weather-protected but blend in to a rural or forest environment as if it’s just grown straight up from the forest floor…
Recently, we’ve been commissioned to install Cedar Cladding on several of our buildings; this stemmed from a personal preference of our clients but has given the Rotunda a sleek, new coat.
Perhaps, like an otter. The sea otter, known for it’s rugged, fluffy and arctic-hardy fur looks remarkably different to the smooth asian short clawed otter, clambering out of the pool after a swim.
What’s the difference in performance? Very little.
We’ve found the lifespan to be more or less identical. The properties of both timbers are excellent. Both have greater resistance to rot and decay than other timbers, due to high resin content and tannins which contain anti-bactericidal and anti-parasitic properties. The antiseptic ingredients protect against fungus, mould and insect infestation… and they are just, decent, hard wearing timbers which look brilliant and do their job perfectly well.
So, which is best for you? Well, if you want fewer knots, a denser grain and more clean lines, we’d reccommend the T&G kiln dried Cedar yurt cladding.
Irrespective of a species initial colouration, all species will have weathered to a near-matching silver-grey appearance after around 5 years.
This is worth bearing in mind, if you’re hoping for your Rotunda to retain that new reddy-orange colourful “just new” look after a few years. It will most likely look like this!
It is possible to treat your timber cladding with a UV protection spray to maintain the same golden & red hues if you are keen to keep the original look in place for some time to come.
We are pretty passionate about timber, trees and of course the magically memorable buildings one can create from such a renewable and beautiful resource. If you have any questions or ideas for a new cladding style please feel free to drop us a line, we’re all ears!
Until next time…
Rotunda x
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