Any idea what this timber is?

[Jacob]

You don't really see it anymore anywhere except for buildings that are over 60-70 years old. If kept well it lasts very nicely as there are many exterior doors and windows made from it that are over 100 years old that are still going strong. I don't really know why you can't get it anymore because it was clearly very abundant from the 1800s to the mid-1900s, did we just run out of trees? Of course, you get some idiots that seem to confuse pitch pine for the fast-grown pines you can get today from europe and will make windows out of that thinking and claiming that it will last 1000 years so long as you use all the traditional methods they did in 1066 to put in a window because "Pine is what they used to use and they lasted fine". Tearing them out after 5 years or so :lol:

It's the modern paint, not the wood. I've had disasters with modern paints and seen my new work replaced after only five years or so. OK now since discovered linseed oil paints (Allback)
Never saw much pitch pine externally except in late Victorian stuff occasionally. I think it was reserved for interior joinery because of the grain, or external if varnished, wasted on painted wood

I tore out and replaced a couple of 1.2m x 5m tall chapel windows recently that was made from pitch pine which had totally rotted out, my guess is they were original to the chapel which was built in 1817 but the chapel was refurbished not too long ago (Probably 40 years or so ago) with some form of cement-based pebbledash on that side of the church which I think in combination with leaky gutters hyper-accelerated the rot. The other side of the church which still had the original rendering on it was completely fine, no rot whatsoever.

South (sunny) side goes first. If then repainted with modern paints will go even faster.

 

[rafezetter]

Yep, pitch pine. It was really common here once upon a time. I wish it were still so readily available.

or you' know, know someone who has a habit of grabbing it before his builder mate who keeps tearing out stuff from old houses notices it's gone, because he'll use it for foundation shuttering supports then burn it, the git. **

I've got a reasonable collection of it now, love the smell when freshly planed, even if it is seen as a very pedestrian wood by most.

**- oh and on that note there's a major tear out of an old bank that previously used to be a coaching house with some, and I quote "ffing great planks 3.5 metres long" to be removed which he thinks are Elm, and he does know his trees, used to be an arborist.