Douglas Fir

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fletcher2

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Hi everybody,
Need some advice please. I am just about to order a shed load of Douglas fir to enable me to construct an Oak lookalike conservatory/sunroom. Was going to use Oak but the cost is giving me sleepless nights. Has anybody out there any experience using Douglas Fir for structural work and if so are there any pit falls or tips that I need to know about. The timber is costing about £1200 so I really don't want to drop the ball here.
Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you.
 
I would have thought Douglas fir to be more costly than oak and if it's home grown fir, there are many species, and it could be nowhere near as long lasting as oak.
Regards Rodders
 
I have had some excellent Douglas Fir, cheaper than Oak. Buy from a supplier you trust The other thing is with Oak you need about 30% waste whereas with Douglas Fir I would think 10% is plenty
 
Hi, thanks for your reply. My wood supplier has just told me that he is not happy supplying me with this timber as it will be wet when cut and will split. He couldn't come up with any alternate suggestions. Any ideas what timber I could use apart from oak (expensive) to build this?
 
There are several lengths at 12'6" long from 6"x3" to 6"x6" and many uprights at 4"x4" so a bit of a mixed bag. The timber yard I was about to order from decided in their wisdom that they didn't want to supply it as it will be wet when cut and will split badly as it dries. Don't know what to do now. As I said I cant afford oak. Any alternate suggestions would be gratefully received.
 
I would have thought you could buy this reasonably well dried either air or kiln for the smaller stuff. Could you bolt two 6x3's together to get the 6x6?
 
Yes quite possible. Ill have to look into it. Do you know of an alternative timber that would suite?
 
murphs14":1fh9a6b0 said:
Any ideas what timber I could use apart from oak (expensive) to build this?

Siberian Larch?

Comes kiln dried and is way cheaper than Oak and good durability. Used lots on our place from flooring to A frames. Only word of warning is the Russians idea of kiln dried does not seem to be the same as US and other European timbers so need some time to finish drying.
 
murphs14":2upo5236 said:
There are several lengths at 12'6" long from 6"x3" to 6"x6" and many uprights at 4"x4" so a bit of a mixed bag. The timber yard I was about to order from decided in their wisdom that they didn't want to supply it as it will be wet when cut and will split badly as it dries. Don't know what to do now. As I said I cant afford oak. Any alternate suggestions would be gratefully received.

I'm not sure that 'splitting badly' is the best description? As a relatively tiddly UK timber producer, I am bemused by a lot of people's genuine terror at the thought of using fresh sawn timber.

Do sacrifices at the altar of the almighty kiln appease the timber gods of precision and stability? Who knows.....

Douglas must be very popular at the moment, it's getting rather expensive to buy in for milling (so much so that I'm selling it at the same price as Sweet Chestnut for construction). It is a lovely timber in so many ways for structural work. Lovely stability, available in enormous lengths, not blessed with massive sticky resin pockets, very sensible lifespan and so on.
In answer to Blackrodd's early comment- I'd expect UK grown Doug Fir to be between 1/2 and 2/3rds of the cost of fresh Oak. I know that people use the word 'fir' to generally describe everything from Scots Pine to Leylandii, but Doug Fir supplied as sawn timber should only be Douglas. Longevity in a frame is generally down to detailing and build, I've seen some that I don't think will make 20 years, and others that will probably go on for 200 years plus.
Weirdly enough, botanically speaking Douglas is not a member of the Fir genus- true Firs tend to be very decent in terms of timber, but not very good externally. You might come across Silver Fir or Grand Fir as a joinery whitewood, in many ways similar to Hemlock. Anyway, enough digression.

My suggestion would be-
+ to contact a small sawmill directly outside of whatever quadrant of London you are from,
+ and I would also suggest that you 'up' your timber sizes to make it a relatively solid piece of timber framing.
+ avoid bolting up any sections of timber that will see the weather, you're making a perfect little clammy spot for decay.

I have seen issues in the past when people make a light and delicate frame that actually creates issues further down the line. When you look at the time and effort involved in the actual construction (and the other layers and materials involved), it's often easier to bulk up on a relatively cheap basic raw material that form the backbone of the construction. Maybe try a 5x5 post.

All comments welcome. W
 
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