Wood Species Options
Boxed Heart Douglas Fir
Boxed Heart Douglas Fir
We often need to special order some timbers for larger projects, so boxed heart (BH) DF or other wood species are always options for your projects. If a rustic product is desired, we can often utilize BH DF at a lower material cost, as live newer growth harvesting may be required on a special order. BH timbers can be cut from smaller logs, so you’re still doing your part to help the earth.
Eastern White Pine
We can source locally sawn Eastern White Pine (EWP), cut by our Amish community a few miles away in Jamesport, MO, helping the small local businesses in our rural area and maintaining our small footprint goals to the environment. The EWP can be a great species alternative with a tight budget and it’s a great choice for interior timber frame. Even though the species has a fairly low rot resistance it can be used for exterior work, as well. The EWP has a very primitive rustic Early American appearance when finished and looks like it has been reclaimed from the 1800s era. Exterior EWP timber frame will fare the best when it can be protected below a porch roof with wide overhanging soffits. With expert detailing at construction and careful attention to maintenance the product will last very well outdoors.
Eastern White Pine
White Oak
White Oak
Our goal is to help our local communities and improve individual quality of life for our fellow NW Missouri residents. We have neighbors that can provide locally cut hardwoods and sawmills to process within a few miles of our timber frame shop. White Oak (WO) is a great native timber species with great rot resistance for exterior timber frame. Our WO horse corral fencing here at the ranch has lasted over 20 years without any finish ever applied. We assemble our timber frame with historically correct octagon one inch pegs (see left photo for reference) from locally harvested white oak or black locust, that we custom cut in our timber frame shop for a perfect fit. Many other native hardwood species can be a good choice for interior work.
Eastern Red Cedar
We currently have a great selection of large Eastern Red Cedar (ERC) logs in stock, several greater than 24” diameter bases that can be utilized as round peeled logs, or custom size timbers cut from them. These ERC trees were harvested prior to some agricultural land clearing by a neighbor and are unusually large for this native species. ERC is a softwood in the juniper family and is often referred to as aromatic cedar with white/cream to bright red coloring, commonly used for cedar chest and closet linings. If unfinished and in a closed area, it will maintain its wonderful refreshing aroma for years. The Eastern Red Cedar is our company namesake, we have many of them growing on the ridge on our ranch overlooking Turkey Creek with our native whitetail deer raising their fawns in the natural cover they provide for our wildlife.
Eastern Red Cedar
Native Eastern Red Cedar
Port orford Cedar
POC is a softwood with good natural rot and insect resistance and similar characteristics to WRC other than it's mainly light -yellow brown to pinkish- brown color with greater tint color options. POC is native to a very small area in SW OR and NW CA, but is occasionally harvested in a limited amount often from forest fire salvage (FSD) at a lower cost than WRC. It is a great option for exterior TF with low to moderate structural loading with harsh exposure. POC is a highly prized wood imported by Japan sometimes used for coffins and valuable furniture. We source POC from our normal western sawmills, so please provide as much lead time as possible to combine with other orders to share freight costs as it’s usually available in limited quantities.
western Red Cedar
WRC is a softwood with the highest natural rot and insect resistance due to natural tannins in the wood. It’s a tight grain wood with beautiful natural deep red mahogany to bright orange hues and a lot of color depth and warmth, but is low in strength and high in cost. It’s a great choice to add a lot of character to light color painted structures otherwise lacking in character and detail, and ideal for Entry TF with shorter spans and gable pediment receiving harsh exposure. The natural color is altered minimally by stain color, so tint choice is limited. We source WRC from our normal western sawmills, please provide as much lead time as possible so we can combine with other orders to share freight costs.