# Advice on fence & shed lumber



## chippin-in (Jan 28, 2012)

I need a new back fence 10 feet high. I need to build myself a shed. and I will probably build my mother in law a shed instead of fixing the flimsy 1 she has. 

I have an abundance of cedar trees in the country that I can have milled. I've been thinking about using those cedar trees not only for the fence but also for the sheds. Would it be a good idea to have the cedar milled into 2x 4s to use on the sheds and fence...4x4s for the fence also. I also thought about using cedar for the exterior of the sheds too. what do you think?

Thanks
Robert


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## Mac (Jan 28, 2012)

My old barn (1917 +/-) has eastern red cedar(native to Iowa) logs for the poles, a few have rotted at ground level, above the soil/drip/splash line they are fine and below soil line(6-8") they are solid still. I have not been real happy with cedar for structural unless it is a full log or milled from the center beam. It's great for siding and fencing.


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## Kevin (Jan 28, 2012)

I use ERC all the time for siding & fencing. I also use it for structural building, using post & beam. When I say post and beam, I'm not referring to the use of traditional timber frame joinery. Just make sure you don't put structural timbers into very much tension. Compression is fine, but ERC is brittle, tends to have many knots, and you have to know how much tension they can take in general, and for individual timbers. 

It's not very scientific because numbers for ERC are simply not available in any of the engineering handbooks. But anywhere ERC grows, you will find a long history of structural use by using over-built frames. The ones that were not over-built are most likely no longer standing. 

For the sheds, if they'll be small ones such as an 8 x 12 for example, stick framing with ERC 2 x 4s are probably fine provided you have some pretty clear lumber. But if by 'shed' you mean something like a 12' x 20' I would use post and beam construction with 6 x 6s for the posts (I used 8 x 8 in my home), and lathe the posts horizontally to apply the siding. I use 6 x 8 to 8 x 10 beams depending on the size of the structure. For a large shed 6 x 6 or 6 x 8 are fine. 4 x 4 or even 2 x 4 are fine for rafter purlins provided they're braced properly. I have seen people here build their homes using 4 x 4 ERC for all the main framing and I just cringe at that. 

That's my experience with it. I love the stuff. 


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## chippin-in (Jan 28, 2012)

Its ERC. Thanks for the replies. the sheds it will only be 6x6 or 8 x 8. So relatively small. If I have them milled about a day or 2 after I cut them down, should I allow them to air dry for a while ,should I kiln dry them?

Kevin, I think you told me once that you use cedar almost immediately after milling is that right?

Thanks
Robert


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## Kevin (Jan 28, 2012)

ERC dries fast. Even in winter but especially in summer. In the summer I can use board thicknesses in days. I cut my house siding 5/8" and the fence siding 3/4 or 4/4 depending on if it's a 6' or 8' fence. 

I don't install wet siding. You _can _if you use board and batten and just nail the siding in the center of the board, and use wide batten so they won't shrink from out behind the batten, but I always side with board on board, so wet isn't an option. 



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