Is the timber here good enough for roofing?

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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I'm thinking of some ideas to build a gazebo in my garden and I want to ask any building experts if the raw timber that is generally available would be suitable for constructing a wooden roof.

My initial idea was going to be cana, but I thought I would look at a few different options as well.

This was to sort of roof design I was thinking about. I'm quite close to the sea and I'm concerned that the timber would rot quickly, even the treated stuff. Although I'm sure there is a hard wood option such as mahogany or oak, but I reckon the cost would be astronomical. So I'm looking for an economical alternative.

squaregazebo.jpg
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
Most wood here is imported, including treated pine which is an American standard for outdoor use.
 

HM11

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Mar 24, 2012
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It could be built out of treated lumber. Then roofed with either real terracotta tile, terracotta like tin, or they make a terracotta poly-composite tile. Roofing it with one of the products I suggested would protect it from the rain and you should get many years out of it.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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2d/2?

Okay. Probably 99% of the wood on this island is now imported. The 1% that is not comes from Plan Sierra, but I do not know their distribution channels but I can find out.

Ochoa is a huge wood distributor and they have a modern "Wolmanizing" facility in Santiago. So that is where you go for you wood needs.

If you need exotic wood, go to Madesol, either in Santo Domingo or Santiago....Maybe for a special trim or something.

The construction of your gazebo would use treated plywood as the base of the roof and as one poster suggested either terra cotta or tin sheeting that "looks like" terra cotta.... Ochoa can provide everything you need...

Nice project...


HB
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
correction: 2X8 treated pine is going for RD45 a foot. Ferr. Ochoa's method of calculating by area threw me off a little. It's charged by the surface area per linear foot.
 

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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correction: 2X8 treated pine is going for RD45 a foot. Ferr. Ochoa's method of calculating by area threw me off a little. It's charged by the surface area per linear foot.

Does that mean a 2ft X 8ft board costs 360 pesos?
 

beeza

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Nov 2, 2006
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No you must mean 2in by 8in plank right? How long are the planks?
 

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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I believe that even the treated wood will eventually be consumed by the voracious termites here.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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Beeza, we just went through the same thought processes - we were going to use treated lumber for our outside covered room. After talking to a lot of people, we decided not to take a chance with the wood. Like zoom says, the termites here are unstoppable. For example, we had our kitchen redone in andiroba and caoba, specifically because of the termite problem at our house. I almost flipped when I saw termite trails on the wall above some of the cabinets. Thankfully no damage. At least none that we're aware of.

Plus we had some leftover caoba [we had used our own tree for some work] and actually found some bugs eating it when we went to move it.

Once we eliminated the wood option, it was between cement and metal, and we went with metal, and an aluteja roof [looks like terracotta tiles]. We're also very close to the water, so we had not only the anti-rust base coat on the metal, we bought Tropical Industrial Esmalte [which wasn't easy to find, most places didn't have the Industrial]