Learn About Cedar
Nature’s Best Choice
Northern White vs. Red Cedar
Natural History of Northern White Cedar
Nature's Best Choice
Northern white cedar is ideal for both interior and exterior construction because it is naturally durable and resistant to moisture, decay and insect damage. It accepts stain and paint more uniformly than western red cedar, and it resists mold and rot naturally.
White cedar also has a unique, closed cell structure that traps tiny pockets of air to boost the wood’s insulation values.
Northern white cedar is very popular with craftsmen because it can be easily worked by hand or with power tools. It also has exceptional dimensional stability. It lays flat, stays straight and retains fasteners. It has an even grain, fine texture and the lowest density of any commercial domestic wood. While True North Cedar uses white cedar primarily for shingles, fence panels, house logs, and decking, white cedar is also commonly used for boats, ships, canoe ribs, fishnet floats, rustic furniture, saunas and novelties.
Properly pre-finished and installed, white cedar should be the last siding any home will ever need. There are examples all over the world of white cedar shingles lasting well over 100 years. With its richness of grain, texture and color, white cedar offers a timeless complement to any architectural style, from traditional to contemporary.
Northern White Cedar vs. Western Red Cedar -- No Contest!
northern white cedar |
VS. | Western Red Cedar |
|---|---|---|
Strong, resilient fibrous quality. |
Tensil Quality |
Strong, yet brittle fibrous quality. |
Less brittle, less likely to split or crack. |
Tensil Quality |
Splits easily, particularly during installation. |
Resists decay better than any other species, except cypress. Northern white cedar shingles frequently last over 100 years. |
Longevity |
General decay-resistant life expectancy is 35 years, at best. |
Remains stable even flat sawn. Northern white cedar, at all grades, will not cup or curl. |
Stability |
Requires vertical grain cutting to resist warping and cupping. Western red cedar at #2 grade and lower is always flat sawn, and subject to cupping. |
Accepts stain and paint evenly with superior penetration and without blotching. Excellent absorption and penetration of chemical fire retardant. |
Absorption |
Resistant to stain and paint. Exhibits blotches and streaks. Potential for uneven absorption and limited penetration of chemical fire retardant. |
Left untreated, northern white cedar will acquire a silver-grey patina within five years. |
Maintenance Characteristics |
Left untreated, western red cedar will acquire an uneven, blackened appearance within five years. |
Produced from sustainable forest resources (35- to 70-year cycle). |
Ecological Sustainability |
Produced from diminished, non-renewable old growth forests. |
Natural History of Northern White Cedar
Northern white cedar trees, thuja occidentalis, are softwood, coniferous evergreen trees. They grow near marshland and on dry limestone ridges in lower Canada and throughout the Great Lakes region.
The name “white cedar” is somewhat misleading, as northern white cedars are not true cedars (in the pine family), but are in the cypress family. ‘Northern white cedar’ is also known as ‘American arborvitae’. Arbor-vitae means ‘tree of life’, dating back to the 16th century when Native Americans taught French explorer Jacques Cartier how to use the scale-like cedar leaves to treat scurvy.
An unusually tall conifer, the white cedar typically ranges in height from 50 to 70 feet with a pyramidal crown. The sapwood forms a narrow, nearly white band, while the heartwood dominates and is uniformly straw-brown. The dark-green scaled leaves are fan-shaped, aromatic, and turn bronze in the winter.
The white cedar can be propagated by seed or from cuttings, and will grow and prosper in most soils, but does best in limed soil. It is the origin of numerous hybrids.
The northern white cedar is valuable for wildlife habitat, particularly deer, which use it for shelter and browsing during severe winters. It is also feeds and shelters snowshoe hare, porcupine, red squirrel, and many bird species.