Money BlogRedwood - Your Best Choice in Swing Set Construction

Jul

24th

Redwood - Your Best Choice in Swing Set Construction

Files under family | Posted by Mark Roth

by Alex Petigraw

If you ask owners of wooden swing sets what the best wood is, you’ll get a variety of different answers. There are those who love their pine set, others who will tell you cedar is the best, and still others will say nothing beats a redwood swing set. The final decision is up to you, but there are several reasons that make redwood your best possible choice.

To understand why redwood is overwhelmingly the most popular wood for swing sets, you need to know some of its qualities that make it perfect for building anything that will spend its life outdoors. This article will also point out the differences in various qualities of redwood swing sets, so you have peace of mind, knowing exactly what you’re paying for.

Redwood has a unique pinkish-red color which turns to gray as it ages. There are several grades of redwood, but one of the most commonly used grades for outdoor construction is called Con-Heart. The ‘con’ stands for construction grade and the ‘heart’ refers to the fact that it comes from the inner part of the tree, or the heart of the tree.

The natural resistance to rotting and insects only exists in the wood from the heart of the tree. The outermost wood requires staining every year, due to the lack of natural defenses against decay. Con-Heart wood needs no maintenance and if the company you’re buying from tells you the swing set will need to be stained annually, you’ll know it isn’t the heart of the redwood.

If there are any white parts in the redwood, it’s called sapwood and it has virtually no resistance to rotting or insects. Again, you’re protected with Con-Heart Redwood, because it contains no sapwood. Heart redwood has a natural resistance to insects and decay that goes all the way through the wood, not only the surface. This is important because it means the exposed ends and edges created from sawing or nailing are just as resistant as the outside surface of the wood.

All woods have a natural response to moisture, and even redwood will swell a bit when it gets wet and shrink slightly if it gets very dry, but it does so to a much lesser degree than other woods. Known for its stability, redwood is able to hold its shape with far fewer incidences of cracks, splits, or warped boards or beams.

When you’re investing in a wooden swing set, durability is an important consideration. Because of its ability to fend off decay and bugs, a redwood swing set will still be in great shape and will look better than one built with a different wood, even 20 years down the road.

Some companies will use just enough redwood in the construction of their sets that they can legally call it ‘redwood’, when in fact it may be a mixture of redwood and red cedar, or even Chinese Fir. Read all the fine print and if in doubt, ask! If you’re paying a higher price for redwood, you certainly want to be sure that’s what you’re getting.

To get the maximum redwood benefits, even if they say they use Con-Heart wood, find out if it was used for all parts of the swing set, not just the beams and larger pieces. You want all the natural protection that redwood has to cover all the pieces of your swing set, not just a few.

About the Author:

About the author: Alex Petigraw is a swing set industry veteran. See more of his articles on Swing SetsFree report on buying the right Swing Set