Accoya vs Cedar

NOTTNICK · 2 May 2017

Making greenhouse (posted below) and thought this would be better in a new post.

Lathams have suggested Accoya as 3" grade2 cedar is not available.
It sounds interesting, and maybe better than cedar.

Can anyone offer an opinion? It sounds very robust and good for outdoor use.

I will be using Osmo Cedar wood stain on it (my house has lots of cedar cladding stained with this). Do you think it will appear very different? The stain is quite strong so maybe it won't appear very different. I'm not after the grey aging.

Thanks

RobinBHM · 2 May 2017

it is likely to be twice the price of cedar!

NOTTNICK · 2 May 2017

Ouch!

Beau · 2 May 2017

I think one of the main advantages of Accoya is it's very small seasonal movement. As most sections in greenhouse construction are so small this advantage is wasted.

richarnold · 2 May 2017

We recently asked Latham's to give us a price for the materials for a small summerhouse, and they gave us a price in cedar, and Accoya to compare. surprisingly there was not much in it. I would personally go for Accoya every time, but I would do some test samples to make sure you are happy with the colour. It's also worth trying to get the grade 2, or 3 Accoya, as this keeps the cost down, and the quality is hard to tell from the grade 1

E Gardener · 20 Sep 2018

I worked with cedar for 20 years but made the move about 8 years ago over to Accoya for constructing greenhouses. So I'm well placed to give you some facts that might help you make a better decision. First off Accoya is a more durable timber, it has a durability of class 1 which is the highest you can get. Class 1 timbers have a service life of 25+ years. Cedar is a class 2 durability timber so will require treatment to give it a long life. Untreated though you could still expect 15 years for cedar if of a good grade. Accoya is stronger and machines to a better finish. Accoya generally accepts paints better than cedar as it does not have the high moisture retention issues associated with cedar. There's some pretty good information over on the Accoya website.

Here's the rub though, Accoya is significantly more expensive than cedar so it might just come down to budget. Both timbers are generally from well managed resources, I believe all Accoya is FSC certified.