12" x 12" Solid Cedar Column vs. Cedar Cased Column

[JES]

Wife and I have been working our home, design and have gotten to the point of getting into the specifics with our builder. Our porches have 12 x 12 columns and I was thinking they would be solid cedar, builder suggests using cedar to case it since 12 x 12 are not typically straight. His experience is the cased posts look straighter, but I was thinking solid wood. Anyone have any experience with this that can provide some insight?

Thanks.

[Mofo]

I think the solid post look better. Our builder also said cedar wrapped for the same reason as yours. Also it you have lights or plugs on them it is easier to hide the wires. If you do want solid beams check out M&M Lumber. They are off Riley road near Bass Pro in Pearland. Talk to Raul and tell him Jesse sent you. We bought an old barn beam from them for our mantel there.

[hntndawg]

I have 8x8 " solid cedar post and they were very straight. I have seen 12x12 that looked perfect as well...as long as you buy them from the right place ( not home depot type wood) I don't see how that would be an issue.

[the-butcher]

It's all about price. What your willing to pay. Casing it should be bunch cheaper and will look great but it's up to you

[Mudslinger]

I would go with the solid. For what you are going to pay for them, you should be able to go and pick out the ones you want that are straight. A distributor is who you need to see about buying, not a retailer.

[Coach]

I personally like the cedar posts.

You can get some really nice straight ones not too far north of Houston, in the Mexia area.

[Tejas Wildlife]

Yep, I'm just South of Mexia

I personally like the cedar posts.

You can get some really nice straight ones not too far north of Houston, in the Mexia area.

You want to cut your own posts? I've got straight cedar trees over 20 inch diameter at the base & probably 25-30 feet tall. There is a cedar mill in Bremond, TX (kinda between Waco & College Station) that will cut YOUR cedar tree into whatever thickness you want. He also has dried cedar logs at his business but I don't know what he charges.

I just give him a cedar tree trunk for every one he cuts for me. Can't remember the name of his business right now.

[hunt247]

solid

[Sticks&Strings]

Depends on the look. I'm doing a home in friendswood now about $500k and we are wrapping them. They look good both ways to me

[mikemorvan]

Solid is mo' betta... imho...

[nutterbug]

Go with the solid. They may crack over time, maybe twist a bit, but when you wrap an exterior post, the gaps at the corners get larger over time. Even if you miter them? Just my experience!

[Ouch]

We are using solid 12" posts at 10' on ours. Delivered last week.

$100 material difference to use solid rather than wrap. (3 posts)

[mjhaverkamp]

I am thinking about redoing the front of my home with stone, I have 4 big brick columns supporting my porteche, (sp) the columns have 6 inch pipe inside to support it, probably going with the cedar wrapped columns with stone about 4 feet up.

[Extremebowman]

No question, solid columns. You'll be glad you did in 3-5 years for several reasons

[JES]

We are using solid 12" posts at 10' on ours. Delivered last week.

$100 material difference to use solid rather than wrap. (3 posts)

Where did you get them?