Wood Types

Alder (Painted)

Cedar

Cypress

Mahogany

Pine

Alder (Painted)
Alder is a tight-grained hardwood that is used in fine furniture and noted for its ability to be painted. It is prized for its durability and strength, and it is relatively stable during moisture variations. It ranks third behind oak and pine as the wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture. Alder gives the look of many fine hardwoods at a reasonable price. All of our pieces constructed from Alder are finished with a high-gloss, two-coat, water-based enamel for long-lasting elegance. Our products come in the following bold, bright colors: Signal Blue, Sunshine Yellow, Barn Red, Surf White, Capeside Green, and Earthbound Green.

Cedar (Western Red Cedar)
Western Red Cedar is a fine-grain, dimensionally stable wood that is naturally weather resistant. With minimal care, our Cedar pieces will provide a lifetime of service and charm. Western Red Cedar contains natural oils that act as preservatives to help the wood resist insect attack and decay. Properly finished and maintained, Western Red Cedar ages gracefully and endures for many years.

The wood is uniform red to brown in color but fades to a silver grey when used externally. It is relatively soft wood which can be easily marked and has a distinctive aroma. The grain is usually straight and displays prominent growth rings. Cedar needs to be re-stained every season in order to avoid fading to silver grey.

Western Red Cedar is, above all, a wood of exceptional beauty. In its natural, unfinished state, it has a richly textured, tactile grain combined with a palette of warm, mellow tones ranging from light amber to deep honey brown. No man-made material can duplicate the depth of cedar's natural luster. It also remains subtly aromatic, and the characteristic fragrance of cedar adds another dimension to its universal appeal.

Beauty aside, the purely practical, dollars-and-cents value of cedar offers other benefits:

It is a light weight wood that is easy to handle.
Indoors, cedar's dimensional stability makes it perfectly suited to a variety of uses in high moisture areas such as cottages, sun rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, saunas, and greenhouses.
It is free of pitch and resin and it finishes to a richly glowing surface that can be enhanced with transparent or full-bodied stains or with paint. Cedar is the preferred material for all outdoor garden applications that seek visual harmony with the landscape.

Cypress
Cypress is a beautiful, distinctive and durable wood that assures years of trouble-free satisfaction and its uses reflect that. In addition to rugged outdoor furniture, cypress is regularly used in building construction, posts, beams, decks, docks, porch flooring, greenhouses and siding. Because of its durability, cypress can be used in many of the same products as cedar and redwood. The reason for this durability is natural preservative oil known as "cypressine" which gives the wood resistance to insect attack and rot.

Cypress is all but indestructible. It is a close grain wood that resists checking and warping and it is long-lasting as well as weather resistant. Cypress can be easily painted and holds paint longer than other wood. If you choose to paint this product, you should use an exterior oil-based primer (white or gray) followed by an exterior oil or latex paint of your choice. If you choose to have the product remain natural, you should apply a natural oil-based stain or preservative annually or as needed. Note: Cypress is a dense wood and the drying process may take several days depending on humidity and temperature. Small cracks called weather checking may appear in the wood. This is a natural process and will not affect the useful life of this product.

Cypress - Distressed
Our Cottage Classic products feature Southern cypress wood stained with white acrylic stain and a subtle antique finish. The finish is a Cuprinol water-based acrylic deck & rail stain that further enhances the ability of the wood to resist cracking & splitting. This finish will not crack, peel or rub off onto your clothing. This unique process of staining & finishing creates the timeless "cottage" or "distressed" look.

Mahogany
Mahogany is a fine-grain, tropical hardwood that is easily maintained and is insect, fungus and rot resistant. It is a hard and strong wood comparable in strength to Oak and Teak, and is much more scratch resistant than Cedar or Pine. With the best regards for our environment we take every effort to ensure that our Mahogany is sourced from well-managed permanent forests that allocate re-plantation.

Mahogany is selected for durability and decay resistance to maintain their natural beauty even under the varying weather conditions. Mahogany furniture seasons/weathers well with minimal shrinkage and checking. In Malaysian government tests, this wood was found to last up to 30 years when stakes of Meranti were driven into the ground. As a hardwood it holds fasteners well and it is environmentally nontoxic.

Each kiln dried Mahogany piece is ready to paint, oil, or leave natural. When left untreated it weathers to a soft gray. If treated, it should be treated with finish products meant for softer woods because Mahogany is a dense wood. A yearly application is recommended, or as weather conditions dictate.

Pine
Pine is a soft wood that comes in many varieties from various parts of the world. In the U.S., Eastern white pine, ponderosa pine and sugar pine are some of the varieties used to make furniture.