NatureAged Gray Board-to-Board Siding

Specification Sheet #7220 - NatureAged Lumber

Species

Mixed Species. May include Pines, Firs, Spruce, Larch, Oak, Elm, Hickory, Hemlock, Ash, Maple, Beech, Poplar, Cedar, Redwood, Cypress, and/or other species. Generally heavy to (or even exclusively) softwoods unless hardwoods are specifically ordered. Trestlewood can include hardwoods at its discretion. Trestlewood generally does not sort its weathered lumber products by species (its focus is on look, not species) and is, therefore, generally not in a position to provide weathered lumber in a specific species. One exception to this is that Trestlewood can often supply 1" NatureAged Lumber in Cedar. Mixed Species means that any combination of species (including all one species) is allowed.

Source

NatureAged Lumber is lumber which is naturally weathered/aged/processed to achieve a rustic grayish/brown appearance. Lumber used in Trestlewood's NatureAged Lumber program can be i) new lumber, ii) lumber cut from beetle-killed, fire-killed or dead-standing trees, iii) lumber cut from material which has weathered out of spec, and/or iv) lumber cut from lumber/timber reclaimed from various salvage projects/prior uses (this lumber also qualifies as Antique Barnwood Lumber.) This lumber is typically nailed down to boards/pallets and then laid out to weather. Trestlewood sometimes uses special juicing and/or other processes to accelerate weathering of the featured face and edges, help backside or fresh-sawn faces and edges blend in with weathered faces, achieve a darker weathered look, etc.

Metal/Holes

Nails and fasteners are generally removed. NatureAged Lumber will generally have nail holes and occasionally some bolt holes. Some staining around holes is common.

Knots

Unlimited knots; some tight, some loose or fallen out

Checking/Cracks

Unlimited as long as board is sound

Grain Pattern

Mixed

Moisture Content/Stability

Air-Dried. Moisture content and stability of a specific board depend on a variety of factors, including source, season of year, weather, location stored, etc. Barnwood lumber is typically stored outside and can get quite wet during the winter and other periods of wet weather. Kiln drying is generally available at an additional charge. NatureAged Lumber is generally more stable and less prone to shrinkage and other movement than is new (green) lumber and less stable and more prone to shrinkage and other movement than is Antique Barnwood. NatureAged Cedar Lumber is generally less prone to shrinkage and other movement than standard mixed species NatureAged Lumber. Wood (including Cedar) is wood and will move.

Standard Dimensions

a) Thickness: 1" (actual: 5/8" to 4/4") and 2" (actual: 1 1/2" to 8/4"); b) Width: random, 4" to 10"; 12" widths are also often available (actual widths can be as much as 7/8" nominal); c) Lengths: 6' to 16'. All dimensions/lengths mentioned are for unmilled lumber. As timbers and lumber air dry (or are kiln dried), they tend to shrink somewhat, resulting in dimensions becoming somewhat more nominal. NatureAged Cedar thicknesses and widths can tend to be somewhat more nominal than standard NatureAged mixed species thicknesses and widths. Where more consistent thicknesses and/or widths are desired, thickness planing/resawing and/or edging processing options are often available. Thickness planing/resawing and edging can increase the number of loose and open knots. Boards can have small sections that fall outside standard thickness and/or width ranges. Trestlewood will often leave board ends that dip below 5/8" thick (or otherwise fall outside standard dimension ranges) to give the Buyer as much flexibility as possible, but exclude those ends when tallying board footage so as to not charge Buyer for ends that will likely need to be trimmed in the field.

Weight

Depends on species mix and other factors. Typically, 2.5-3.0 pounds per board foot.

Surfacing/Texture/Colors

Weathered (degree of weathering varies); original face was generally rough-sawn (circle-sawn or band-sawn), but may have weathered somewhat smooth. NatureAged Barnwood colors vary, but are generally a combination of grays and browns. The focus of Trestlewood's NatureAged weathering program is typically on turning one face a beautiful gray. The opposite (non-focus) face is generally less weathered than the focus face. Where Buyer wants NatureAged Lumber that is heavy to brown tones, options include using the back (non-focus) face; using lumber that has been weathering for less time; and/or using HarborAged Brown Lumber. NatureAged Lumber can include any combination of weathered and fresh-sawn edges (the latter are especially common where narrow boards are cut from wider boards.) Trestlewood sometimes uses one or more juicing processes to help less weathered faces (especially back faces) and fresh-cut edges look more weathered/aged and/or to create a darker gray look. Trestlewood generally does not offer a color sort which does not allow for some latitude in colors provided. The NatureAged Lumber program typically facilitates greater color consistency on the primary face than available with Antique Barnwood Lumber.

Appearance Variation

Boards can vary in appearance from piece to piece and even within a piece. The characteristics described on this specification sheet generally apply to each board's featured face. The opposite face and edges can differ from the featured face in texture, coloring, and other characteristics unless otherwise noted. Weathered lumber / barnwood will have at least one weathered face. The opposite face and edges can be any combination of weathered and fresh-sawn. If weathered, the weathering will often be different (amount, mix of colors, etc) than on the featured face.

Trestlewood sometimes uses one or more juicing processes to help fresh-sawn and/or less weathered/aged faces/edges blend in with weathered faces/edges. All else being equal, juicing is more likely to be used in situations where (a) lumber is cut from timbers or wider lumber (thereby creating fresh-cut faces and/or edges); (b) Buyer wants all (or most) faces/edges to be weathered/aged; (c) Buyer desires to increase the consistency of the weathered/aged look from face to face; and/or (d) Buyer wants a darker weathered look.

Siding Product Configurations

When Trestlewood quotes 1,000 square feet of a specific siding configuration, it is quoting enough material to provide 1,000 square feet of coverage based on default installation assumptions and 0% installation falldown. Buyer should order enough product to cover anticipated installation falldown and the impact of any changes to installation assumptions. Siding configuration options include:

(a) Board to Board (common widths: 4", 6", 8", 10", mixed)
(b) Board and Batten (common board widths: 8", 10", 12"; typical batten width: 4"; assumed: installed with 2" gaps between boards)
(c) Board on Board (common widths: 6", 8", 10", mixed; assumed: installed with 1" overlap on each edge)
(d) Shiplap (common face widths: 5", 7", 9" (often actual face widths of 4 3/8" to 4 7/8", 6 3/8" to 6 7/8", 8 3/8" to 8 3/4"); target thickness often between 11/16" and 3/4"+/- for NatureAged/HarborAged/ThermalAged and between 5/8" and 3/4"+/- for Antique and WeatheredBlend (while Trestlewood will generally target one thickness for a specific batch/order of shiplap lumber, a weathered face shiplap product will naturally have some thickness variation); most commonly, 3/8" shiplap joints are milled on opposite edges and opposite sides of boards)
(e) Wedgelap w/ Rabbet (common face widths: 5" to 5 1/4" (typical actual coverage of 4 1/2" to 4 3/4"), 7" to 7 1/4" (6 1/2" to 6 3/4"), 9" to 9 1/4" (8 1/2" to 8 3/4"); typical thickness of +/- 1/4" on thin side to 3/4" or a bit less on thick side; rabbet added to thick side); stress reliefs are NOT added to the back face; this is a custom product and cannot be returned
(f) Wedgelap w/o Rabbet - this product is typically cut on a resaw and is not as exact (i.e., there will be more variation in dimensions) as Wedgelap with Rabbet. Involves cutting a wedge in as-is lumber (usually 6", 8", or 10" nominal width.) Resulting product will generally have thickness of 1/4"+ to 11/16-7/8" and width of 5.25"+, 7.25"+, or 9.25"+ (with coverage width depending on how installed on site (often 4.5"+/-, 6.5"+/-, 8.5"+/-.) Stress reliefs are NOT added to the back face. Lumber is NOT double end trimmed. The wedgelap without rabbet does not sit as flat on the wall as the wedgelap with rabbet - this likely increases the chances of cupping, splitting, and/or other movement over time. This is a custom product and cannot be returned.
(g) T&G (common face widths: 3", 5"(4.5-5"), 7"(6.5-7");target thickness often between 11/16" and 3/4"+/- for NatureAged/HarborAged/ThermalAged and between 5/8" and 3/4"+/- for Antique and WeatheredBlend (while Trestlewood will generally target one thickness for a specific batch/order of T&G lumber, a weathered face T&G product will naturally have some thickness variation); fit of barnwood siding T&G often not quite as good as flooring T&G)

Unmilled siding products (a, b, and c) are standard barnwood lumber. Targeted thicknesses and widths of milled siding products (d, e, f, and g) are generally driven by barnwood lumber inventory on hand. The milling process generally reduces but does not eliminate variation in actual thicknesses and widths (across boards and even within specific boards.) The milling process often creates additional character like loose or fallen out knots. Such defects are generally left in the boards; buyer can decide whether to install them as is, cut them out, or fill them. Kiln drying lumber prior to milling it can increase the tendency for knots to become loose during the milling process. The average length of siding boards (especially milled siding boards) will generally be less (sometimes significantly less) than the average length of lumber boards. Siding square foot prices will generally be somewhat to significantly higher than lumber board foot prices because they reflect more material and, in the case of milled products, additional processing costs.

Trestlewood makes no representations about the fitness of its products for use as siding or in any other application. It is ultimately the Buyer's responsibility to (a) determine which products (and their accompanying characteristics) are acceptable for use on its project and then to (b) make sure these products are handled and installed correctly. While Trestlewood is not a construction or installation expert, it does periodically pass on (without any guarantee of accuracy) information/resources to its customers that it thinks might provide helpful starting points to consider - see, for example, Trestlewood's 7/14/2023 blog post "Exterior Wood Siding Thoughts to Consider" and Document #240173 referenced therein.)

Processing Options

Additional processing options often available include kiln drying, fumigation, thickness planing/resawing (to reduce thickness variation), edging (to reduce width variation), pressure washing, and metal removal / metal detecting (does not result in guarantee that all metal is removed.) Many of these processing steps are likely to increase the number of loose and open knots.

Other

Barnwood is a rustic product with rustic character. Such character can include checking, metal/holes, loose/missing knots, dimensional variation, wane, punkiness/surface rot, gouging, twisting, cupping, color and texture variation, and other imperfections. Barnwood can be brittle and may split easily. Special care, such as pre-drilling holes for nails, is advisable.