Back in '08 I had to choose between cedar and pressure-treated pine for a big backyard job

I mean, the client wanted a classic six-foot privacy fence for their place in Spokane, and the budget was tight. The cedar was beautiful, smelled amazing, and I knew it would age to that nice silver-gray, but it was almost double the cost of the pressure-treated. I went with the pine to save them money, and honestly, I regretted it after about three years. The pine needed way more upkeep than I'd said, and it started warping in a few spots where the sun hit it all day. I felt bad because the cedar would have just weathered naturally. Now, if a client asks, I lay out the long-term care difference super clearly, even if the upfront price makes them wince. Has anyone else had a job where the 'budget' pick came back to bite you later?

3 comments

3 Comments

jasonf1711d ago

Man, that reminds me of a deck I built with the cheap composite boards. They faded to a weird pink color after just two summers.

wesley18111d ago

Oh man, the "weird pink color" thing is so real. I had a similar deal with some plastic lawn chairs. They started out a nice forest green and after one brutal summer they looked like chewed up bubblegum. It's wild how some materials just can't handle the sun. I ended up painting them with that special outdoor paint, which was a whole other project. It held up okay, but you could still see that weird pink shade coming through in some spots.

the_lee11d ago

Ever notice how the sun just hates certain colors? @wesley181, my old car's bumper was this deep blue, and after a few years it turned into the exact color of a faded pepto bismol bottle. I tried a whole bunch of those plastic restore products, but it just made it a shiny, weird pink. It was like the sun had a personal grudge against that one piece of plastic.