Pressure-Treated Pine VS. Cedar: Which is Better for Houston?

First, a little bit about us.

We are a small business located at 6919 Alder Dr. in Houston Texas. We were fence builders before we started to sell material, so we know what we are talking about. Now we specialize in selling cheap lumber and fence material for homeowners and contractors in the Houston area. You can learn more about us by clicking this link.

Now lets get to the decision making.

Pine Pros and Cons:

Pine is short for Pressure-Treated Yellow Pine. It is derived from cutting down Yellow Pine trees. They have little natural sap so they need to be pressure treated in a special machine to give them the same resistance to mold and weathering. We pressure treat them in house with out custom pressure treating compound that gives them higher durability than other sellers. It is more abundant in the world which makes it cheaper than Cedar pickets.

1. Chemically Pressure Treated: Pressure treated by a special compound to resist rot and decay. We use a higher concentration of the compound which makes our lumber looks greener for longer.
2. Cheaper: Since Yellow Pine is more abundant in the world it turns out cheaper than cedar which helps if you are in a budget constraint and need to get a fence quick.
3. Shock Resistant: Although Pine is less dense than cedar, that means it could bend more before breaking which would make it naturally more shock resistant.

Cedar Pros and Cons:

Cedar uses it’s natural sap to protect itself from rot and decay. It also has a different color while being fresh (Orange/pink instead of green/yellow for pine), which some people consider more beautiful. But either way, the natural colors of wood for fencing don’t last forever and normally turns gray after a year.

1. More Expensive: Since Cedar is less abundant in the world, it costs more. Some people find that worth it for the color and the natural resistance. Still keep in mind, you will most likely need to use pine rails and posts either way.
2. More Dense: Cedar is naturally more dense due to its sap and natural resistance which make it more brittle since it can’t bend when hit and will instead snap. But its density also makes it a natural sound barrier.
3. Natural: If you are worried about chemicals in the world around you, cedar is all natural. Although Pressure Treated Pine uses no harmful chemicals, some people dislike the not natural origin of the wood and would instead opt to go use cedar which is almost twice as expensive.

So whats the final decision?

If you have no specific needs, get pine. Its cheaper and treated to resist rot and decay. It’s also simple and gets the job done. BUT, if you have a HOA which requires Cedar, you will of course, need to get cedar. Also consider cedar if you want a natural and more dense wood that can also act as a natural sound barrier. Just consider it’s price (Which will always be lower than major retailers if you buy from us)

But, where should you buy it?

Where to buy.

As we talked about before, we are a small business located at 6919 Alder Dr. in Houston Texas. We specialize in selling cheap lumber and fence material for homeowners and contractors in the Houston area. We offer both Pressure Treated Pine (Treated with our custom high resistance solution) and Natural Red Wood Cedar. You can read our other article about where to buy cheap material in Houston.