No back yard is complete without an Adirondack chair.
These chairs are comfortable, versatile, and attractive.
When deciding on which piece of outdoor furniture to buy, it can be quite difficult to choose of what material you want it be made.
Many Adirondack chairs are made from metal or plastic, but the most long-lasting and attractive option is wood.
One of the most popular kinds of wood is cedar.
Cedar does not weigh much, but is still stable.
It lies flat easily and remains straight under stress, so it resists the propensity to splinter and warp like many other kinds of wood do.
It also dries out faster than other woods, so cedar does not rot as much.
The Western Red Cedar tree (Thuja plicata) grows mostly in forests along the Pacific coast of North America.
This area spans from Northern British Columbia in Canada to California.
These trees can also be found in drier interior forests in British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Washington.
The Red Cedar tree grows mostly in mountainous regions.
It is a larger tree, growing up to 55 to 75 meters tall and 3 meters in trunk diameter.
Red Cedar is a coniferous evergreen tree in the cypress family, according to Wikipedia.
It is one of the two arborvitaes found in North America, and is not actually thought of a "true Cedar" tree.
The real cedar tree grows in the western Himilayas and the Mediterranean region.
This wood contains oils that work as a natural preservative that keeps the wood from deteriorating or rotting.
It also has a high resistance to bacteria and fungus.
Cedar also contains organic compounds called thujaplicins.
These compounds give off the easily identifiable cedar odor.
This aroma acts as a disincentive to insects, keeping cedar furniture free of invasion.
Cedar wood is exceptionally thermodynamic.
The cellular structure of the wood creates interior air spaces that increase the insulation value above that of most woods.
Therefore, outdoor furniture made of cedar stays much cooler than furniture made from different materials.
Cedar is also very lightweight.
It has about 80% the strength of oak, but also possesses much more resistance to bacteria and fungus.
These properties make it an exceptional choice for making outdoor furniture.
Usually, a red cedar log is divided into two sections.
The white part nearest to the bark is called "sap wood," and the inner, red section of the log is referred to as "heart wood.
" Both Red and White Cedar is used to make outdoor furniture, including Adirondack chairs.
White Cedar is structurally very similar to Red Cedar.
However, White Cedar has much less of the natural acidic preservatives found in Western Red Cedar.
Therefore, White Cedar does not have the same durability that Red Cedar possesses.
When buying an Adirondack chair or other outdoor furniture, cedar is a first-rate option.
Cedar is durable and resists many different destructive factors, such as rot and insects.
You have a choice between Red and White Cedar, depending on what you find most attractive.