Town & Country Cedar Homes mills and produces exclusive, durable log and timber home building products from Northern White Cedar.

In 1947, Town & Country Cedar Homes determined that Northern White Cedar was the most durable building product for natural wood homes. Northern White Cedar is inherently decay resistent. We use it exclusively for log siding, tongue & groove paneling, bead board, trim and accents brackets, cedar shake shingles, stair and railing systems and many other log, timber home and contemporary home style building products. Here's why:

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ABOUT CEDAR:

Northern White Cedar (Thuja Occidentalis) is a conifer and has a flat,dull  yellow-green leaf color. The Northern White Cedar's primary geographic growth area is lower Canada, and the perimeters of colder, swampy regions of the Great Lakes.  The best decay resistant product you can buy is the heartwood section of any tree.  Northern White Cedar will normally have the heartwood of the tree in nearly 100% of your lumber pieces. Red Cedar may have the heartwood of the tree in about 10% of the lumber pieces. Why?  Because Western Red Cedar trees are significantly larger in diameter than Northern White Cedar.  Perhaps the most important difference is COST. If you are building in areas from the Rockies to the eastern seaboard of the United States, you will save significantly on shipping costs by purchasing locally grown, harvested and milled Northern White Cedar.

Western Red Cedar (Thuja Plicata) has a reddish caste to its leaves. Western Red and White Cedar are aromatic. The face grain is very similar between the Northern White and Western Red Cedar -  so looking at the end grains is the best way to identify the species of wood.

THE HISTORY OF PRODUCTS MILLED FROM NORTHERN WHITE CEDAR: "THE CANOE CONIFER"

Native Americans of the Great Lakes region knew of the great durability and insect resistance of Northern White Cedar long before this tree became a harvestable commodity for building log homes. They valued this wood so much that they used it to make their canoe ribs and slats. They even used the oils extracted from the twigs to make chest decongestants.

When timbermen arrived in the region in the late 1800's, these new pioneers began making Northern White Cedar  log siding & paneling for their bunk homes. Several of these old Northern White Cedar log homes still stand as a testament to this wood’s longevity.

It wasn't until the early 1900's that Northern White Cedar was harvested in large quantities to support a growing demand for products made from this superior wood. Today, annual production has grown to over 100 million board feet per year. Northern White Cedar logs and timber products are now in demand for fence posts, poles, boats, decks, cedar paneling & siding, and log homes.

Town & Country Cedar Homes Inc. has proven the integrity of building products made from Northern White Cedar since 1947. White cedar log homes constructed from our log home paneling & siding products has lasted for generations. We recommend Northern White Cedar for both northern and southern log home and timber home building climates.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NORTHERN WHITE CEDAR

·  Northern white cedar contains natural preservatives within the tree itself that resist insects and decay. This is a prime reason white cedar is considered by the United States Department of Agriculture as the wood to use where a high degree of durability and resistance to the elements is necessary. It's also why white cedar log paneling amp; siding has become the preferred choice of homeowners and log home builders.

·  Heartwood within the tree will last for generations; sapwood easily decays and discolors. White Cedar has a minimal amount of sapwood (approximately ¾ inch on a 10 inch diameter log). Through our sawing, shaping and peeling processes all sapwood has been removed. Sapwood in logs is the reason why you will see a black discolorant in log homes supplied from our competitors especially in pine structures. Pine logs have a large sap ring that makes it almost impossible to remove and dictates annual maintenance.  In addition, pine logs tend to bleed sap when exposed to sun light  that must be continuously removed and restained. This is not a problem with our kiln-dried Northern White Cedar.

·  Northern White Cedar has a closed cell structure. The cell structure resembles that of cork. This cell structure combined with the natural oil provides protection against internal mold and mildew. This is also important in that if properly kiln-dried, it will resist the absorption of moisture from the environment. The process of absorbing moisture from rain, air etc and then the resulting drying effect from wind and sun, is a key component of “checking” and deterioration. (Northern Saunas use nothing but White Cedar log products)

·  The insulation factor of Northern White Cedar is among the highest of any wood. Rated at over 1.4 R- factor per inch, northern white cedar log home siding and paneling products will provide additional protection for you and your home.

·  Naturally environmentally safe for you and your family.

·  A great building product:  Northern White Cedar, due to its slow growth characteristic and tight growth rings, is dimensionally very stable. If kiln-dried properly, it will not twist, warp or shrink. This helps to reduce or eliminate any additional checking after it has been applied. Checking of external log siding has been and continues to be a problem with all pine log siding products.

WHY NORTHERN WHITE CEDAR IS THE BEST BUILDING PRODUCT

Knot bleeding is much more prevalent in red pine than in cedar and is identified as the dripping of rosin and sap from a knothole in the wood's finish. This occurs when a knot contains an excessive amount of extractives. In these cases, the extractives consists mainly of rosin, fats and turpentine and these extraneous materials can make up as much as 50% of the knot by weight. The extractive percentage is higher or lower in different wood species. The extractive rich woods are primarily all pine(especially red pine), western red cedar and incense cedar.  By comparison, Northern White Cedar has virtually little to no knot bleeding.

Kiln drying wood can help reduce knot bleeding in pine, but it won't eliminate it. Droplets of pitch will occur in pine log sidings when exposed to direct sun light or rain. The tendency for the knots to bleed will occur for many years, and they have been know to discharge resin for up to 50 years.

Pine log siding will need to be sanded and restained to remove the discharged sap. This is an expensive procedure that will need to be performed repeatedly. The average cost to restain a house is $2/sq ft of wall surface. The cost to strip a house is at least $2/sq ft. When comparing the cost differences between Northern White Cedar and Red Pine, make sure to consider the additional maintenance required on a pine home. This is especially true if the pine siding knots leak sap. This is a common problem with sun exposed pine siding.

The best method of preventing extractive bleeding is a combination of good field installation practice and the use of a quality siding product, such as Northern White Cedar. White Cedar contains a very low amount of extractives and, when combined with our kiln drying process, any potential knot bleeding is virtually eliminated from our log siding products as well as our entire product line. 
 

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