Swedish Redwood vs CLS

At Big Green Space we are constantly striving for ways to improve our products, and we are now proud to announce that we will henceforth be using finest Swedish Redwood planed joinery timbers in all our garden furniture products.  Swedish Redwood has a far tighter grain than the cheap pine carcassing or CLS that other suppliers offer so the lifespan of our products will be far longer due to the superior quality of this timber.  Already well known for the strength and solidity of our furniture, we are confident that this move to using Swedish Redwood will only enhance our reputation.


So why is Swedish Redwood so good?
Most of our competitors tend to use a low grade construction timber like CLS (Canadian Lumber Standard). This is a fast grown pine that is traditionally used in timber framing and it is a poorer quality to the joinery grade Redwood we have sourced.

In the picture above you will see the Redwood at the top has a lot tighter grain pattern than the cheaper CLS at the bottom. It is a denser timber and a lot more suitable for outside use. It also takes preservative far better than the cheaper whitewood and as such will last longer.

Another benefit of Redwood is that the knots are far more stable, whereas with CLS every live knot will contain a shake or split. See the examples below. The Redwood is on the left, the CLS on the right. These splits will hold moisture and rot will take hold quickly.

Furthermore, whilst most of these timbers contain sap, CLS tends to have quite large ‘bleeds’ that can appear before or after production, sticking to clothes and giving an unsightly appearance, (see below) Again, the clear Redwood is shown at the top and the CLS carcassing timber at the bottom.

Finally because our Redwood is machined specifically for the manufacture of our furniture it has far better quality control. Any timber that has defects is rejected. CLS is mass produced and available in the cheapest grades at all timber merchants. It has very little quality control due to the fact its prime use is for applications that will result in it being covered over.

Please click here to view our fabulous garden furniture range.