Cedar Venetians

& what the facts are after 70 years.

These day’s with all the different resellers the lack of reliable information it’s hard to know what the facts are. There is a real importance to our industry as the import of sub-standard product can quickly develop bad reviews at the customer level due to miss information of product, coursing a collapse and loss of confidence in the industry by false claims.

Cedar (western red cedar) is a regulated wood grown in certified forests so it has a value by Qm and a number of grades set by the US and Canadian Government to protect their forestry and regulate it’s use. The grades of timber can be vast and depend on the recovery rate how clear the timber is (nots, colour, heart wood, true wood, sap wood) this becomes a bench mark for cutting export clear to go into blind lath which is produced in a special way to obtain a striking and long lasting product so you need to be aware that cheap imports do not follow these standards and that is verified by tested product standards falling short of the mark this can course instability in the timber.

With the issues of finishing there are some misconceptions that need to be understood as it can course some confusion. When you see lacquers UV treated it does not mean protected from ultraviolet and it only the querying process in manufacture to set the finish immediately not protect from breaking down in the sunlight. It is to be noted although we have used lacquerer due to customer pressure in the past, we have always maintained that rapping that type of finish will cook the timber and kill it as we prefer Living Wood as a mainstay which is oils and stains. There are other timbers on the market that mimic cedar they are counterfeit marketers which will damage the industry as they claim to be western red cedar venetians and these timbers may not be certified forest cut. Lacquerers will not last in the long term and will render your blind not worth refurbishing because of the timber damage and the labour required to restore especially if the timber is really thin you have nothing to work with.

 

Cedar venetians as a window furnishing have a list of benefits (aesthetic, insulating, long lasting, no static charge, control shade & view, ageless) as long as the correct manufacturing spec is followed.

All rights reserved 2019 Ian Langhorne

The contents are protected and not to be used by any person, company or organization except by the writer, as a form of advise to inform as a credible person in this field.