Yellow cedar:
Sustainable, Durable, & Elegant

Characteristics & Properties

Yellow Cedar, also known as Nootka Cypress or Alaska Yellow Cedar, is a majestic evergreen tree that thrives along North America’s west coast. With pendulous branches and dark green scale-leaves, Yellow Cedar boasts distinctive characteristics that make it highly sought-after worldwide.
Yellow Cedar is renowned for its exceptional durability and resistance to decay, making it a prized material for uses such as boat building, sauna manufacturing, cabinetry, and millwork. Its straight grain and distinctive honey-yellow color add a touch of elegance to any application, while its natural resilience and corrosion resistance make it ideal for industrial uses.

Yellow Cedar’s slow growth in wet, mountainous environments gives its wood a dense, consistent color and high stability. Its identifiable characteristics include a broad, grooved trunk, a sharply cone-shaped crown, and scale-like leaves with sharp points. The wood is free from pitch and resin, and its natural extractives provide a pleasant aroma when cut.

Yellow Cedar can be used in many ways!

Yellow cedar is a versatile wood with numerous applications across different industries. With its unique properties and natural resistance to decay and insects, yellow cedar is a top choice for any project.

The top 3 areas to consider using Yellow Cedar for are:

• Timbers
• Decking & Docks
• Fencing

Here are some of the common applications of yellow cedar:

• Decking, & Stairs: Its strength, hardness, and wearing properties make it ideal for structural grades used in exterior applications.
• Outdoor structures: Its durability, and resistance to corrosion make it perfect for outdoor applications where durability is crucial.
• Boat building, Sauna manufacturing, Cabinetry, and Millwork: Yellow cedar’s density, straight grain, and smooth finish make it a popular choice due to its exceptional working properties.
• Dock construction and Laminate stock: its resistance to rot and insects, stability, strength, and attractive appearance, making it ideal for such applications requiring longevity and stability.
• Appearance grades, Lumber, and Moulding stock: It is produced in various appearance grades according to industry standards and is commonly used in commercial settings.
  Indigenous crafts and Traditional uses: Indigenous peoples use it for a wide range of purposes, including hats, baskets, boxes canoes, carvings and more.