CYPRESS FACTS

THE BATTLE OVER CYPRESS
An article in The Advocate, February 12th, 2007
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LOUISIANA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION POSITION ON CYPRESS
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Read more about the CYPRESS DEBATE

In the United States, most cypress trees are natives of the South. They are found primarily in wet, swampy areas along the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Delaware to Florida, and west along the Gulf of Mexico to the border of Texas and Mexico. Cypress also thrives along the Mississippi Valley from the Louisiana delta to southern Indiana.

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Pecky

 

Cypress is a softwood, but it is graded under a special section of the National Hardwood Lumber Association's rules. Although it has needlelike leaves typical of softwoods, cypress loses its needles during the autumn and winter, hence the "bald cypress" name is commonly used.

We dry our cypress to a moisture content of approximately 15%. Timbers and items custom sawn (from logs) for your job will be freshly sawn, wet wood with a moisture content of up to 50%.

Cypress planes easily and resists warping. Although cypress is resinous, the resin (called cypressene) isn't a sticky sap like other woods. It glues well, sands easily and readily accepts finishes.

Cypress generally has a superior durability, holding paint well and resisting weather.

How to figure the footage you need:

Board Feet is a measurement of volume. It's a term used within the lumber industry equal to a piece of wood 12"x12"x1"thick (144 cubic inches of wood). Our products are offered in Linear Feet.

Square Feet is a measurement of area. It is like the area of your home, simply width x length: 40'x30' = 1200 square feet.

Linear Feet is a measurement of length. It only measures how long something is, not it's width or thickness. So, a piece of wood 1"x6"x16' and another piece 4"x8"x16' are both 16 linear feet long. Also sometimes referred to as "running feet".

First, determine how much square footage (area)  you have to cover. If it's a wall 10' high and 50' long, that's 10'x50'=500 Square Feet.

Next, pick the cypress product that you want to use. Determine the coverage for that product. (a 1x6 piece of T&G gives you 5.25” of coverage). Then, divide 12 by that number, and that new number is what we call a Conversion Factor. That Conversion Factor is how many linear feet you'll need of that product to cover one square foot of area. Then multiply your Square Footage by that Conversion Factor. You now know exactly how much of that cypress product you'll need to cover that area. We suggest you add 5%-10% extra to be safe.

Example: cover an exterior wall with 1x6 (5 ¼ coverage) cypress:

1. Area to cover: exterior wall 10x50=500 square feet.

2. Item chosen to cover wall: coverage of 5.25”

3. 12 divided by 5.25" = 2.29, which is the Conversion Factor

4. Multiply 500 square feet x 2.29 Conversion Factor = 1145 Linear Feet.

5. Add 5%-10% extra.