About Outdoor External Cedar Venetians

Today we have various choices for heat and cold outside your glass areas and all are functional and very attractive. The function on these blinds are sensible as they shade and protect from heat and cold, without taking away any desirable view looking thru your windows.

Outdoor External Cedar Venetians are without a doubt the most durable timber you can use for this type of application as they have a long life can be oiled, painted or stained and retain their stability through extreme weather conditions that is why they have been a popular choice for Architects designing large areas of glass to open plan living areas. Timber exterior Cedar Venetians have been a popular window covering since 1950 and makers like  Seaforth Manufacturing Company Pty Ltd being the Architectural choice of many top design firms as there were just a few manufacturers supplying these venetians due to lack of skilled knowledge about the making and preparing  the wood component for this type of blind.

Western Red Cedar imported from British Columbia was carefully selected and air dried for a period of time to a preferred moisture percentage before the moulding process of components could proceed to the assembly stage, to dry and it becomes brittle, to wet and it can show wet spot and could be unstable due to stretch or shrinkage of the grain and hard to coat. Selection quarter sawn edge grain premium export number two clear to achieve a smooth look with straight lines with none or minimal slash grain which can be unstable in outside conditions. The Cedar is grown under regulated guidelines by the Canadian Government so nowadays the old growth is preserved for future prosperity of their forests. That means the heart woods in the log cuts are a lot less than before so dark colours are a lot less available in lath stocks for blind slat.

Today you have a choice of electric operation by remote or you can still option manual if a heritage application is required. The preparation of this wood is to achieve a living wood as there are still blinds in the domestic market 50 years old and are refurbished to achieve their original function. Kiln drying is not preferred as to maintain the living cellular structure of the wood, air drying is the key. The outdoor timber venetians have a wide blade width which helps to be able to have a clear view out the window and the stack space is kept to a minimum for folding away at the top of the window, 70 mm wide slat is the most cost effective wide slat size as there is less waste and better overall function. If you stop the heat before the glass you achieve 80% thermal resistance.   

Living Wood Products.

Metal Outdoor External Venetians made from Aluminium  rolled slat are another alternative for hot dry or very wet conditions and they have an attractive clean line and function.

Aluminium is a very popular venetian in Europe and has been very well excepted in Australia as an alternative to cedar venetians in the the last 30 years and is another Architects choice in designing shade with a view of the surroundings.