What wood did you use for your porch?

[widefat]

I am getting ready to completely redo one of our covered porches. The wife does not want to paint it, so we are thinking about a stain/seal process. I dont want to use pt or composite. What did you use, and how is it lasting? Redwood, cedar, ipe? Wha5 else?
It faces WNW, about 40' long. About 2' off the ground.
Respectfully, no need to reply to say you used pt or composite. Not going to use either. Neither do we want a cement porch.

 

[oosik]

Well, widefat, I might not be a good example but - - I used standard construction grade lumber and sealed/stained with a Behr product.

Both my porch decks are at least three feet off the ground - joists are 2x12 on 16" centers. All my lumber is pine. Both rest on mortared stacked bricks.

Both were built in 1982 and I slap something on them about every ten years or so.

JMHO - reason my decks have lasted so long. VERY dry conditions here - very dry. Lumber lying flat on the ground will take ten or more years to BEGIN rotting and usually will be usable even after twenty years.

I have replaced one board on one deck because of mechanical damage - otherwise nothing has been replaced.

Another example - my four bay carport uses untreated 4 x 4 posts. They have been in place now for 34 years and for whatever reason - one post rotted off at ground level and was replaced three years ago. Again - longevity most likely due to extremely dry conditions.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Once you pick something keep in mind that you might want to seal or protect the bottom side before its installed. Easy to put some sort of protection on both sides before you install them. Be careful to not have drip or runs “go around” and leave a run mark on the good side of the board.
Water resistant material such as tar paper cut into strips and laid (stapled) on top of the joist before the deck boards are installed also helps a lot.

 

[/pine]

What doe "covered porch" mean?...is it entirely enclosed? or just a roof over?
if partially exposed I would suggest teak...

 

[skipmarcy]

I had my local sawmill cut some standing dead cedar (eastern red cedar) I had on my property for me 12 years ago into porch posts and some full-sized 2x4s to build both my front and back porches. Even though the cedar won't rot sitting on the concrete porch, I used some of those little plastic stands on the bottoms of the posts that raises them about 1/2" or so. I drilled a hole in the bottom of each post to be able to sit over the 1/2" anchor stud I put into the concrete porch. I used some of the Behr preservative and 12 years later the posts on the back porch (north side) are still mostly red, the front porch (faces southwest) has lost some of it's red color but not turning gray like cedar normally does. I did the back porch ceiling with yellow poplar in lap-type siding and used the preservative and at this age it looks almost identical to the cedar. On my front porch I used ship-lapped beech with the preservative and it still looks close to original (similar to white oak) with just a little richer color.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I am getting ready to completely redo one of our covered porches. The wife does not want to paint it, so we are thinking about a stain/seal process. I dont want to use pt or composite. What did you use, and how is it lasting? Redwood, cedar, ipe? Wha5 else?
It faces WNW, about 40' long. About 2' off the ground.
Respectfully, no need to reply to say you used pt or composite. Not going to use either. Neither do we want a cement porch.

Southern yellow pine, either t&g of slightly spaced. Treat it with Sikkens. Sikkens Proluxe Cetol DEK Stain | Twin Creeks

 

[4570Man]

What do you have against PT? Being covered I’d expect nearly anything to last a long time.

 

[HillStreet]

I used red cedar over conventional PT 2 x framing. Benefits are many:
1 won’t shrink
2 won’t twist
3 won’t rot
4 enhanced by penetrating oil stain

 

[KennyG]

I'm assuming this is a porch with open sides but a roof. Cedar would be good but any wood will work if properly protected. Based on experience I would suggest two things to look out for. If you have direct sun, any coating will have to be regularly be re-applied. Also, make sure it drains. If the floor is level provide spacing between boards. If using T&G, make sure floor has adequate slope.

 

[Deere Dude]

There is a place in Alabama that sells aluminum 2x6s with wood grain stamped in. It looks very nice and another member here used it and it got good remarks. It was expensive so I just used the P word stuff., ground contact grade..