Is hemlock a good wood or junk?

Last year I had 5 new posts put in the basement of my ~150 year old barn/garage/workshop, and the builder used rough hemlock. Each is rough and

-John

When I was growing up in Oregon, they cut lots of them that went straight to the papermill.

Steve

Thanks to all that replied. It'll probably end up as firewood. I was hoping that on some off chance that it might be good for furniture. Oh welll, I do still have a hickory to use as boards... :-)

Thanks. Jeff

I'd be very surprised if it weren't insect infested and/or rotten if it's been down for three years... There is a lot of hemlock around here and from what I've seen, once it's on the ground it deteriorates quickly. This is a very different situation from milled lumber that is generally kept out of the weather, or painted and maintained, where hemlock is OK. It makes poor firewood--too soft and leaves a lot of creosote in the chimney.

John

Here in the NW, hemlock is commonly used as baseboards & trim in tract houses, including the one I live in. It takes stain & lacquer well. It's similar in grain to fir but lighter in color, more yellow whereas fir is redder. Don't know about a tree that's been on the ground for 3 years though. Firewood is a good possibility.

Will

Its been standing dead for 2 years and a storm blew it over. Even now, the branches have kept it off of the ground. It'll be a real bear to get it out though.

Jeff

It is too soft for furniture, but it's also good for construction even if it's not been kiln dried. Hemlock dries quite hard as anyone who has tried to drive a nail into it after a few years knows.

Hemlock has frequently been used for bridges due to it's strength and resistance to decay, once dried. When I rebuild my deck in a couple of years, I intend to use hemlock instead of cedar.

Ed

Once again, you might want to read about the wood before you put it outdoors.

Hemlock is poisonous, one of the old timer greek guys drank it to poisn himself.....

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 17:17:33 -0400, "mike hide" scribbled:

The pine family trees found in North America and eastern Asia called hemlock (genus Tsuga) have no relation with the poisonous Eurasian herbs in the Carrot family (genera Conium & Cicuta).

Luigi Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

I was just pulling your pisser, when we were kids we used hemlock stalks for pea shooters and haws for peas....mjh

It must be good. Socrates said it's to die for.

;-) Glen

Sometimes words have two meanings.

Yeah and that poisonous hemlock isn't a tree. And a Bee in a your bonnet may be in the engine compartment of your car and not on your head.