Hemlock opinions...

[Super77Guy]

As some of you may have read in another thread of mine, i am planning on building a "smallish" size pole building (3 sided) for my tractors and other equipment. Anyway, I have access to numerous Amish owned lumber mills, so I was planning to use Hemlock as my primary wood source, other than the necessary PT lumber for the poles and ground skirt boards. I have used hemlock for other projects, and I know the Amish use hemlock for most, if not all of their out-buildings, but I always like to get the opinion of others on issues like this...

Thanks!!

 

[forgeblast]

I have it as the sheathing on my barn, coop, leanto etc. I find that its mostly sold "green" so i will warp, if they drop it off get it on the barn quick. I do a lets say 4'' board, then give a 1'' space, then 4'' board, and then i rip some boards in half and to an overlap on top of it. (board and batton)
looks great holds up really nice, and the price is right. I also have them as decking on my bridge and after two years of not being stained they are in great shape.

 

[ToadHill]

My barn is sheathed in Hemlock and it's made from a barn I took down. I reused the wood to cover my new barn and the barn down I took down was over 100 years old.

Keep it away from soil contact and it will outlive you and a few more generations.

 

[Super77Guy]

I have it as the sheathing on my barn, coop, leanto etc. I find that its mostly sold "green" so i will warp, if they drop it off get it on the barn quick. I do a lets say 4'' board, then give a 1'' space, then 4'' board, and then i rip some boards in half and to an overlap on top of it. (board and batton)
looks great holds up really nice, and the price is right. I also have them as decking on my bridge and after two years of not being stained they are in great shape.

I'm definately going the board & batten route... Any thoughts on using the dimensional boards for the framing? I know the Amish use it, and I have used it on a hunting cabin, but I was hoping to find someone who has and get their opinion... Thanks again for responding!

 

[Storm56]

I'm definately going the board & batten route... Any thoughts on using the dimensional boards for the framing? I know the Amish use it, and I have used it on a hunting cabin, but I was hoping to find someone who has and get their opinion... Thanks again for responding!

I just built a 20x40 equipment shed in August. I was going to do the sides in hemlock and after pricing it and metal, the 35 year warranty metal was about $400 less than the hemlock! I was going to also use it for my rafters and purlins, but it was almost the same as store bought lumber.

Now maybe the local sawmill here is greedy but it might pay to check it out.

Anyway about 12 years ago I cut a bunch of hemlock on my property and had a guy with a portable band saw come in and saw it up. Sorry to say it is all but used up now. But it made GREAT wood for several projects I used it for including framing.

 

[Super77Guy]

I just built a 20x40 equipment shed in August. I was going to do the sides in hemlock and after pricing it and metal, the 35 year warranty metal was about $400 less than the hemlock! I was going to also use it for my rafters and purlins, but it was almost the same as store bought lumber.

Now maybe the local sawmill here is greedy but it might pay to check it out.

Anyway about 12 years ago I cut a bunch of hemlock on my property and had a guy with a portable band saw come in and saw it up. Sorry to say it is all but used up now. But it made GREAT wood for several projects I used it for including framing.

It sounds like they might be a little greedy, because a few of the mills around here have priced out higher than the mill we use...

Here's a few examples of the difference between Lowe's prices and the Amish mill we buy from:

2x4x8: Lowe's = $2.98 Mill = $1.60
2x4x10: Lowe's = $3.29 Mill = $1.96
2x6x16: Lowe's = $9.44 Mill = $5.50
2x8x12: Lowe's = $8.82 Mill = $5.40
2x10x8: Lowe's = $7.98 Mill = $4.50


As you can see, there's a pretty significant difference, which obviously translates into a very nice savings...

Thanks for the feedback!!

 

[ElDorado]

A few years back I built a retaining wall out of hemlock, actually for my kids swing set/sand box. Local old timers say that's what was used before PT. I called local saw mill and ordered 8x8's.

Lessons:
1. A 16 foot, wet hemlock is a bear to move around alone.
2. It makes real good splinters, wear gloves.
3. I did not price compare. It ended up being $1200 for the material. I agree with others, commercial product may be same money.

One of our local mills sells a "waste by product" cheap. The product is called backer board. It is the back of live edge siding (called barnstorm around here) that they cut. It's 1/2 inch taper to paper thin and 12 inches wide. They sell it in lots of 2000ish lineal feet. I can not remember the exact price but it was less than $0.20 per lin. foot (I want to say it was $0.17/lin foot). Maybe one of your local Amish mills has a similar product. Let us know if they have a similar product in your neck of the woods.

 

[Storm56]

It sounds like they might be a little greedy, because a few of the mills around here have priced out higher than the mill we use...

Here's a few examples of the difference between Lowe's prices and the Amish mill we buy from:

2x4x8: Lowe's = $2.98 Mill = $1.60
2x4x10: Lowe's = $3.29 Mill = $1.96
2x6x16: Lowe's = $9.44 Mill = $5.50
2x8x12: Lowe's = $8.82 Mill = $5.40
2x10x8: Lowe's = $7.98 Mill = $4.50


As you can see, there's a pretty significant difference, which obviously translates into a very nice savings...

Thanks for the feedback!!

Thank you for the feedback. I felt my guy was a bit greedy, turns out he was even more greedy than I thought!

 

[ElDorado]

Here's a few examples of the difference between Lowe's prices and the Amish mill we buy from:

2x4x8: Lowe's = $2.98 Mill = $1.60
2x4x10: Lowe's = $3.29 Mill = $1.96
2x6x16: Lowe's = $9.44 Mill = $5.50
2x8x12: Lowe's = $8.82 Mill = $5.40
2x10x8: Lowe's = $7.98 Mill = $4.50


As you can see, there's a pretty significant difference, which obviously translates into a very nice savings...

One problem I had buying from a local mill, an old suicide mill, is lack of consistency. A "2x4" could be anywhere from 1.75 to 2.5 inches x 3.5 to 4.5 inches. This was over a length of 8 foot. Needless to say it created some challenges and I have not used this mill since. Just a heads up regarding "local" mills.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Hemlock is a great wood for construction. Use it green. If you dry it - it becomes very hard to nail or screw into. My house is close to 200 years old with 8x8 and 10x10 beams for sills. When I started renovating 20+ years ago I had to replace a few floor boards. The sub floor was a challenge to nail in place. I kept bending 4" nails that were going to hold a true 1x8 subfloor in place. A friend dropped by and said the beams were hemlock and given the age they would be like stone to work with.

I like the colour of hemlock when dried and have seen floors laid with hemlock. The boards were all drilled, screwed in place and plugged before sanding and finishing... great look but a lot of work...

Go for it...