Contact:   www.bre.co.uk

Benchmarking British-grown Douglas fir and larch against western red cedar for exterior cladding.

A range of comparative testing is underway to compare UK-grown Douglas fir and larch against western red cedar for cladding.  The durability testing has indicated that UK-grown Douglas fir is non-durable and will require preservative treatment for use as an external cladding.  Larch is found to be moderately durable.

Testing to determine mechanical properties has been completed and has shown that both Douglas fir and larch have better impact resistance and hardness than imported western red cedar.

The natural exposure weathering trials have been completed.  Both Douglas fir and larch showed slightly higher overall dimensional movement than western red cedar and were prone to surface checking and resin bleeds.  The visual appearance of the western red cedar was better than either the Douglas fir or larch.  However all three timbers were equally successful at forming a shield to the weather. 

Results will be posted when they become available.

Production of Oak Beams from Small Diameter Logs

The aim of this project is to improve the utilisation of a natural UK resource by utilising small-diameter low-value, UK-grown oak stems to produce re-engineered components of standard dimensions using a novel cutting and and jointing technique.  Using green gluing technology, small diameter oak stems will be converted, machined, inverted and bonded together to form a square.  This process allows a larger percentage of the log to be used, as the non-durable sapwood is enclosed in a heartwood envelope.

More information on this project will be posted when available.