Does anyone out there know if red cedar or white is more weather resistant. The local lumber company sells both red and white cedar shingles but they cannot tell me which is more weather resistant. The red is 10% more expensive. Is it worth the difference?
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Mel, despite their vastly different color, western redcedar (Thuja plicata) and northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis) are closely related and have similar decay resistance.
The problem is, it is only the heartwood of these two species that is highly resistant to decay. Their sapwood actually has very poor resistance. In the case of redcedar, it is very easy to distinguish between its reddish heartwood and stark white sapwood. In white cedar, the heartwood and sapwood are virtually the same color. Also, white cedar is a much smaller tree and consequently most lumber (or shingles) produced from it have a greater chance of containing some sapwood.
Given a premium of only 10%, personally, I'd opt for the westeren redcedar.
Jon,
Thanks for the quick response. I'll buy the red as you suggest.
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