Spruce vs Pin. Picture of UC4 cross section

Joined
23 Aug 2015
Messages
97
Reaction score
4
Country
United Kingdom
I need to put a few posts into the ground. I have bought a spruce post and a redwood pine 4x4 post for comparison.
Most websites suggest that redwood pine is better but usually can’t explain why.
Some en sites say that spruce is in fact better for in ground applications as it is more resistant to moisture.

To be UC4 grade spruce requires 6mm depth of tantalising. Pine requires full sapwood coverage as it is more permeable. From cutting the posts in half the spruce (on the left) just about gets to 6mm but the pine is a little harder to work out as it is unite patchy. It looks like the sap wood has full coverage but I was hoping for a little more depth and definition between the sapwood and heartwood. I remember buying pine 10 years ago and there was a very clear circle where the sapwood was tantalised and the heart wood wasn’t.

Which supplier would people go with? It makes sense to me that spruce being water resistant is the more natural choice so why do most go with the more permeable redwood pine?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3644.jpeg
    IMG_3644.jpeg
    444.2 KB · Views: 21
Go to your local independent timber merchants, they will sell different grades of treated timber, to a much higher standard than the sheds. Ultimately all wood will rot, but properly treated timber will last many many years
 
These were from the local timber merchants. Well one was. The other was from a very reputable merchant I had to drive an hour away to get to.
 
Back
Top