What wood for a shed?

[Zaffy]

Shed size 4.8 x 3.00 metres

What I have learned so far. Please comment.

British Douglas Fir is superior to British Larch. Fresh sawn is best. Lengths no longer than 4 metres due to warping. Featheredge overlap can be between 25mm to 40mm.

Q.1. Is green oak worth the extra expense?
Q.2. Is green fresh sawn wood of any type preferable to kiln dried for a shed?

Any other tips please before we order. Thank you

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Pressure treated softwood then use something like Jotun barn paint then it will last years. If you use any green timber for feather edge it will split and warp

 

[RobinBHM]

Generally 1 fixing row per board and vital with green oak.

Green oak is a good feather edge material and a longer life than softwood.

Itnis green though so expect significant movement and splitting. It will create a very traditional look.

The best cladding is siberian larch or western red cedar.

 

[Myfordman]

Full lead creosote is still available if you look on line. Search for bird brand. Use pressure treated softwood and saturate with as much creosote is it will absorb.

It will last many many years.

 

[Benchwayze]

If you can afford it Western Red Cedar. If not, +1 for Myfordman's solution.

 

[Beau]

Yep presure treated wood and Creosote.

 

[wills-mill]

I do quite a bit of milling and machining of locally grown softwoods.

I would actually reckon that Larch is harder wearing and more durable than Douglas, it's a denser and tougher timber and it should be a bit cheaper as well. Neither will give you much noticeable trouble if used fresh sawn, although Larch can be a bit of a blighter for splitting around fixings, so it's best to put in a decent generous pilot hole. Green Oak cladding does last best, but can definitely give movement problems, especially if fitted in the hotter months.

Longer lengths won't really give you any extra issues with warping, but they are a fiddle to handle and transport, so as you've said, you're best off with something shorter that works nicely in sections of your wall lengths.

Ignoring treatments (which have been well covered already), then for longest service life it's worth giving some thoughts to decent quality fixings, good roof overhang and proper guttering with any excess rain carried away from the structure. On Larch and Doug hot dipped galvanised nails/ screws will be fine (ignore bright nails, electroplate or Bright Zinc Plate (BZP)), if you head into Chestnut, Oak, WR Cedar then it's best to use stainless fixings everywhere as the tannins will eat cheap fixings.
Even the really non durable species deliver really surprising results if the building is detailed well and the timber gets a chance to dry off after getting wet.

Kiln drying cladding is usually for convenience of speed and weight removal for transport (relevant when it comes to Canadian or Russian timber)- it's not really an issue when it comes to stability. We've seen a few instances where people have fitted kiln dried timber externally and had problems when the boards have swelled and blown themselves off the supporting framework. Most of the more durable softwood timbers are so well behaved that they can be fitted straight off the saw without too much worry.

Photo shows a machined channel cladding in West Sussex Douglas Fir...

 

[Dan j]

+1 for Larch, although I prefer the look of Douglas fir.
Never been a fan of oak cladding as the stuff cut for cladding often seems to be cut from the wood that wasn't good enough to be used for anything else.
Overlap depends on width of boards. If you use green anything expect shrinkage.
Wider boards need more overlap.
Also when you are fixing feather edge, try to make sure your fixing misses the top of the board below as when they dry and shrink having a fixing on each edge will cause splitting.
Best to let each board be free to move individually.