Hemlock opinions...

[20 20]

Hemlock is used a lot around here, I have milled quite a few logs of it for myself and others. As someone said when it is dry it is hard and tends to crack when ponding nails. If your using it for framing you can use it green little easier to work with.

 

[Super77Guy]

Hemlock is used a lot around here, I have milled quite a few logs of it for myself and others. As someone said when it is dry it is hard and tends to crack when ponding nails. If your using it for framing you can use it green little easier to work with.

Thanks for the feedback. I will be using green lumber, as it will be coming from an Amish mill and they do not dry their lumber. Hopefully, I should be starting I'm the next couple of weeks, so I will post pics then.

 

[forester2]

I sided all my outbuildings w/ hemlock; love it. First barn used rough sawn dimensional hemlock for framing. Used kiln dried hem/fir for others. Rough sawn pain to work with as stated by others.

 

[miramadar]

I built my entire house, framing and siding, from hemlock that I harvested and milled. I love knowing that I made it all myself. That means a lot. But, as another poster mentioned, you do get dimmensional inconsistencies with local mills. This made for some interesting walls in our house. But it's ours and we love it.

But, as far as hemlock goes, it's a great material for building. It weathers well (1/4" deterioration per 100 years) and gets hard as rock over time. Unfortunately, in my area of the country anyway, there is an insect from Asia that threatens to wipe out the standing hemlocks. Soon, this very practical wood could be in very short supply.

 

[forgeblast]

hemlock wooly adelgid, its hitting PA pretty hard here too.
One local forest preserve that we have has a 500 year old hemlock, it was one of the few that was not harvested when they clear cut PA to build the masts on sailing ships.
Massive is not the word for this, it was a seedling when columbus set sail.

 

[Super77Guy]

I built my entire house, framing and siding, from hemlock that I harvested and milled. I love knowing that I made it all myself. That means a lot. But, as another poster mentioned, you do get dimmensional inconsistencies with local mills. This made for some interesting walls in our house. But it's ours and we love it.

But, as far as hemlock goes, it's a great material for building. It weathers well (1/4" deterioration per 100 years) and gets hard as rock over time. Unfortunately, in my area of the country anyway, there is an insect from Asia that threatens to wipe out the standing hemlocks. Soon, this very practical wood could be in very short supply.

That's pretty cool that you were able to build your entire house from Hemlock that you harvested. Were you worried about the moisture content of the Hemlock being enclosed within your walls?

I really haven't encountered any inconsistencies with the lumber I have been purchasing, but he is using a band saw, so I think that makes all the difference.

Here's the link to the thread where I am reporting on the progress of my equipment shed.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/184556-18x24-equipment-pole-building-question.html