paulownia

[S.Joisey]

The local lumber yard recently switched to primed finger jointed paulownia for trim. It's supposed to be rated for exterior use.

Anyone else familiar with it? Paulownia is a light, strong wood that is supposed to have some natural rot resisitance. I'm a little leery of it for exterior use, especially with the finger joints, but the price of solid 1x is sky high.

[Dick Seibert]

Re: paulownia

It's similar to balsa wood .

[NW Architect]

Re: paulownia

It better work better than finger-jointed pine! My 1992-built house had that in window casings and brick molds. Had to replace all of that on the sun-exposed sides

[Ohiobuilder]

Re: paulownia

I have a standing rule, no fingerjointed material on the exterior of a home. I have never heard of paulownia.

[bread and roses]

Re: paulownia

From Wikipedia:

Paulownia timber is a pale whitish coloured wood with a straight grain. Its characteristics of rot resistance and a very high ignition point ensures the timber's popularity in the world market. Paulownia grown on plantations generally has widely spaced growth rings and is therefore much less valuable.


I can attest to this- we have a paulownia tree in our yard that we cut down to the ground every year, and it gets 20 feet tall by the end of fall. The stems are hollow, but surprisingly strong considering how fast they grow. But that is "considering". I would imagine on a plantation they would let the trees stump-sprout after harvest, which would make the first growth ring 1 to 4 inches thick depending on conditions.

First year growth is astronomical, later growth will still be fast but not so impressive- you can get a full-sized tree with a trunk more than a foot through in 8 years. The wood is brittle and branches tend to break off.


Wikipedia also says:
Testing by CSIRO in Australia has shown that Paulownia wood is very attractive for wood-boring insects.

The limbs I've thrown in the compost pile take longer to rot than the pine limbs I've thrown in, and a lot longer than birch.

[Garager]

Re: paulownia

The local lumber yard recently switched to primed finger jointed paulownia for trim. It's supposed to be rated for exterior use.

Anyone else familiar with it? Paulownia is a light, strong wood that is supposed to have some natural rot resisitance. I'm a little leery of it for exterior use, especially with the finger joints, but the price of solid 1x is sky high.

Finger jointed trim (swelling problems), I won't use. Why are you worried about the cost of solid, it isn't you thats paying for it, the HO pays for the material and if it comes from you ordering it, then you should also profit from it.

[Unforgiven]

Re: paulownia

I went into the Wood You furniture store and they had some stuff out of Paulownia. They had a story about Japanese planting a tree when a female child is born and harvesting the tree when she marries to make her a bridal chest. Nice, smooth wood, and a fast growth hardwood. The open grain kind of resembles Mahog. to me (figure only, it's much lighter), but I haven't seen it stained.

[ThingOfBeauty]

Re: paulownia

Ixnay on the fingerjoint on outside, unless you have no rain. The glue is quite strong when they make the material--true enough--but when you get some water into the board, the pieces change size at different rates, and no glue is strong enough to keep a piece of 5-11/16" wood glued to a piece that's 5-9/16". The seams open, from there it's a matter of a year or two.
Been there, done that, even got sold a new better material with the same old issue. No mas.

[S.Joisey]

Re: paulownia

I think we'll be seeing a lot more of paulownia for the reasons everyone has stated: strenghth, even grain, rot resistance, and speed of growth.

My lumber yard claims the glue is exterior and the manufacturer rates it for exterior use. But, like everyone else, I'm skeptical.

Muchas gracias for the input.

Bread and Roses - You know, I had one in the back yard too when I was growing up. We called it the "jingle bell" tree for the seed pods that rattled. The wood was light and the small branches were hollow. I never imagined it could have commercial value.