Western red cedar is a durable timber that weathers very well.

When freshly sawn, its heartwood can be pink but this changes to a reddish-brown as it dries and eventually weathers to a soft silver when outside.

It has a coarse texture, straight and even grain and is easy to hand and machine tool.

Western red cedar makes one of the best deck board materials. It’s exquisitely soft grain makes it a delight to walk on bare-foot. We’d recommend 30mm boards, straight off the saw with no machining and a Douglas Fir frame under.

Stainless fixings are recommended as the wood has acidic properties that can corrode iron.

The decking in the image above is Western red cedar.