Western Red Cedar for LA outdoor builds

Cedar is the most popular fence wood in North America for a reason — it's affordable, easy to work, and looks great on day one. The catch in LA: cedar requires annual sealing to last past 8 years. Skip a year and the boards cup, spot-rot, and grey unevenly. We build with cedar when the budget calls for it, when an HOA requires it, or when a hybrid (cedar body + Cumaru caps and posts) gives 80% of the premium look at 60% of the cost. For long-term hardwood durability, we recommend Cumaru or Garapa instead. Thuja plicata is the botanical name; you'll see it sourced from pacific northwest (oregon, washington, bc). We've built with Western Red Cedar continuously since 2011, and it shows up on roughly 8% of our completed projects.

Vs Cumaru: Cedar lasts a third as long and costs roughly half. Vs Ipe: Cedar is in a different category — short-life softwood vs structural-grade tropical hardwood. Hybrid cedar + Cumaru caps is our most-spec'd budget compromise. For most LA homeowners, the right western red cedar build comes down to three questions: how long do you intend to own the home, how much annual maintenance are you willing to do, and how the wood looks against your existing architecture. Western Red Cedar is our recommended spec when: tight-budget fence projects; hoa-required cedar specifications; hybrid builds (cedar body + cumaru caps).

Pricing for western red cedar varies by application: $55–$95 per linear foot for fence builds, and $45–$85 per square foot for deck builds, fully installed. Raw board-foot pricing runs $3–$6 for reference. FSC and SFI cedar widely available. Most Pacific Northwest cedar is certified through one of those systems.