Interior walls wood plank question

[MtnDon]

What you get when whitewood is on the menu varies with location.

Generally where I am in the west it is a softwood. It is called whitewood so they can throw whatever is cheap and available in the bin and not be concerned with naming the species correctly. Species can and will vary with each delivery. In the east where hardwoods outnumber the softwoods it can more often be some whiteish hardwood.

So the real answer to what is whitewood is, it depends.

[dales133]

Sounds similar to here, Forrest reds is the generic name for what could be a mix of up to 20 species!

[station29]

I was back at the hardware store yesterday looking at wood again. After doing some googling and listening to what the people hear say about white wood, I decided to use cedar. It's more expensive but I think it'll hold up better in the end with the least amount of prep work. The other thing about cedar that I like is the smell. I remember as a kid, I'd go into my parents cedar closet and play because I liked it so much, ha. Does anyone have any tips on using cedar?

[dales133]

Cedars a good choice it's light, strong and looks good.

[MtnDon]

Smell disappears when it has a finish applied.

[Treeview]

Smell disappears when it has a finish applied.

And...over time the surface 'seals' so that the odor doesn't off-gas. The raw surface needs to be lightly sanded to allow the odor to come out.

[MtnDon]

Cedar can be visually appealing though.


.... there is special aromatic cedar made for cedar closets and trunks, but that is a different species than what the usual lumberyard T&G would be.

[mrwall1]

Check out my build, I used the prepackaged knotty pine tongue and groove I bought some cedar by accident... I liked it a lot better, but had gone too far to switch... but once stained your really couldn't tell the difference. If you stain, make sure you use a wood conditioner first such as daly's benite or minwax has one also... I noticed today that home depot had the full size 1 x 6 x 8' tongue and groove Gorman on sale for $3.25 each.

We really enjoy the look of the wood when we are relaxing inside.

mike