I still smell the shop when I shut my eyes. One half held a stack of cypress boards cut that very morning, their shavings coiled like blond confetti; the other half carried fresh western red cedar, rosy and loud enough that my dog thought Christmas had come early. Both piles promised easy cuts and smooth planes, yet each whispered a different story. If you are standing in the lumber aisle asking cypress vs cedar, pour a mug, pull up a stool, and lets talk shop.
Quick-Fire Answers for the Busy Builder
- Pick cedar when rain never ends, bugs never quit, and a silver patina feels just right.
- Reach for cypress when crisp joinery, stubborn stability, and fine detail sit top of mind.
- Both woods turn gray outdoors unless you babysit the finish.
- Stainless screws, smart drainage, and decent airflow help either board live longer.
- Price flips with geography. In many western yards cedar costs more, while southeastern yards often price cypress lower.
Why This Question Even Matters
You are not just comparing colors. You are balancing strength, density, scent, shrink rate, tool wear, and that silent promise of longevity every board makes the moment you swipe the card. Mistake the match and you sand more, refinish more, maybe even rebuild. Pick the right partner and the project ages like a good guitar: a few nicks, a deeper tone, zero regrets.
Species Cheat Sheet
- Western Red Cedar Thuja plicata, soft, fragrant, reddish.
- Eastern Red Cedar Actually a juniper, best for lining chests, not our main focus today.
- Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum, pale straw to tan, stable, friendly under a plane.
- Monterey Cypress Cupressus macrocarpa, regional variant with similar traits.
Ask the yard which one sits on the rack. Many employees toss cedar or cypress around like nicknames and that can cost you.
Color, Scent, Texture
- Cypress wears straw-gold heartwood streaked with soft brown, grain mostly straight, texture even, scent mild and earthy.
- Cedar leans salmon to brick red, grain fine and silky, scent sweet and bold enough to perfume the truck all ride home.
Close your eyes and sand a board. Cedar dust shouts campfire and closets. Cypress dust barely mutters.
Numbers at a Glance
| Property | Cypress | Cedar |
|—|—|—|
| Janka hardness | ~510 lb-force | ~350 lb-force |
| Specific gravity | ~0.42 | ~0.31 |
| Modulus of rupture | ~10 600 psi | ~7 500 psi |
| Tangential shrink | ~6 % | ~5 % |
Cypress swings heavier, stiffer, and a hair harder. Cedars gift is weight, or lack of it.
Workability Under Blade and Sandpaper
Cypress
Long, clean curls fly from the planer, edges stay crisp, and fine moulding profiles pop without fuzz. Pre-drill near edges because it can split if you hurry a screw. Sandpaper lasts because dust remains powder fine instead of gummy.
Cedar
Blades meet butter. Cuts feel effortless. The trade-off shows up under clamp pads: soft fibers dent if you crank too hard. Plane against the grain and cedar may fuzz yet a card scraper fixes that fast. The aroma? Think grandpas hope chest.
Durability Face-Off
- Moisture Cedars oils slow fungi better than modern sap-rich cypress, though heart cypress still stands tall.
- Insects Neither board is candy for termites, yet neither is steel. Ground contact still ends badly.
- UV Both bleach to silver. Clear oil stretches the clock, pigment stretches it more.
Old timers brag about cypress porch posts that lasted fifty years. Those posts came from ancient heartwood long gone. Today you guard modern lumber with design and finish or you accept gray.
Strength in Use
Building a broad table top? Cypress resists sag across wide spans. Hanging cladding ten feet off the ground? Cedar feels safer on your shoulder all afternoon. A rocker arm that needs spring without snapping? Cypress again. A big pergola lattice above the patio lights? Cedar moves easier, even if you cut twice as many strips.
Head-to-Head Summary
| Challenge | Better Choice | Why |
|—|—|—|
| Constant rain | Cedar | Oils fight rot longer. |
| Intricate carving | Cypress | Details stay sharp after sanding. |
| Fast growth shade tree | Cypress | Roots drink less water than cedar hedges. |
| High insect region | Cedar | Pests avoid the aroma a bit more. |
| Long clear length | Cypress | Boards stay straighter. |
| Lift-all-day siding job | Cedar | Light weight wins. |
Real Money Talk
Prices swing daily. Still, a ballpark helps:
- Pacific Northwest retail: clear cedar climbs over cypress by twenty to forty percent.
- Gulf Coast retail: cypress often undercuts cedar by a similar gap.
- Knotty grades narrow the gap, though clear knot-free cedar always asks a premium.
Always phone three yards before you load the trailer. Bulk orders sometimes ship cheaper from a mill two states away than the flashy big-box down the street.
The Climate Lens
Dry Mountain Winters
Boards shrink then swell come spring. Both species handle the cycle, yet cypress shows fewer micro-checks on wide rails. Two coats of a wiping oil each fall keep life simple.
Gulf Humidity
Muggy air, hungry bugs. Cedar walks in feeling at home. Cypress survives with smart design: elevated feet, vent gaps, sealed end grain.
Coastal Salt Fog
Neither board rots overnight, yet both black-stain against plain steel hardware. Stainless or high-grade coated screws matter more than the choice of wood once salt hits.
Joinery Playbook
- Pocket Screws Great for indoor frames. Outdoors you still glue and switch to stainless screws.
- Loose Tenons Router or domino slots work beautifully, especially in cypress where mortises stay clean.
- Full Mortise and Tenon Offers classic strength. Cedar shoulders crush if the fit is too tight; pare lightly.
- Plugged Screws Hide fasteners on outdoor benches, match plug grain to board, smile when rain never finds the steel.
Finish Line
Oils
Start with tung or linseed blends. Two flood-on, wipe-off coats make water bead for a season or two. Easy to refresh, easy to repair.
Spar Varnish
Five thin coats block UV longer. Maintenance asks for a scuff and a fresh layer every couple of years. High shine possible if thats your vibe.
Pigmented Stain
Color holds longest. Semi-transparent options let grain grin through while still guarding against light. Remember, cedar may blotch; wipe a conditioner first.
Handling End Grain
No matter the species, the straws show at the ends and drink water fast. Brush a thinned epoxy or heavy oil right after the chop saw. Do it before lunch or regret it in a month.
Project Ideas to Try This Weekend
Cedar Garden Planter
- Cut four sides at twenty-four inches, four ends at twelve inches.
- Pre-drill, drive stainless fasteners, leave a drainage gap along the base.
- Splash a natural oil, watch the pink fade to honey over the first summer.
Cypress Porch Bench
- Rip seat slats to fourteen inches deep, forty-eight inches long.
- Shape legs from chunky two-by stock, hide loose tenons inside.
- Ease every edge with a small round-over to shed water, then oil.
Mixed-Media Patio Table
- Cedar top strips glued edge-to-edge, cypress frame underneath for rigidity.
- Steel hairpin legs bolted through oversize holes with rubber washers so wood moves.
- Two coats of satin spar for a low-glare look that still laughs at spills.
Decision Tree
- Will the piece live in standing water or soil?
- If yes, cedar speaks louder.*
- Do you need longer clear spans with less sag?
- If yes, cypress stands firmer.*
- Is low weight critical?
- If yes, cedar beats cypress by a few pounds per board foot.*
- Do you plan to refinish often?
- If no, accept gray or choose pigmented stain either way.*
Common Questions in Plain Speak
What is the strongest difference I will notice on day one?
Cypress planes silky yet dense, cedar planes softer and smells like heaven.
Which lasts longer outside?
With modern second-growth stock, cedar edges out cypress unless you baby the cypress with design tricks.
Are they the same tree?
No. Different families, different biology, different extractives.
Is cedar always more expensive?
Often, not always. Location decides.
Can I mix them in one project?
Absolutely. Use cedar for slats where weight drops, use cypress for frames where stiffness matters.
Deeper Dive: Modern Lumber Reality
Old growth swamp cypress once sank boats before rotting. Those logs now sit behind museum ropes or serve as reclaimed flooring in high-end remodels. Current commercial cypress comes from faster growth stands, typically lighter in color and lower in extractive load. Cedar faces a similar story, though its natural chemistry stays strong even in younger trees. Moral: base decisions on the boards in front of you, not tales from your great-uncles veranda.
Tips for the Lumber Yard Run
- Sight every board down the length, watching for bow or twist.
- Smell both faces; fresh cedar screams, fresh cypress whispers.
- Look at ring count on the end grain, tighter rings often mean harder fibers.
- Tap the surface with a fingernail, cypress rings sharper, cedar sounds duller.
- Buy ten percent more than math tells you; off-cuts and defects always appear.
Bring gloves. Splinters catch quick, especially in knot clusters.
Health & Safety
Cedar dust can trigger allergies. Run extraction, wear a respirator, no macho exceptions. Cypress dust rarely bothers lungs yet still coat your sinuses. Long sleeves buttoned, no loose cuffs near spinning steel.
Hardware Rules
- Use stainless fasteners outside; even coated deck screws stain these species over time.
- Consider brass for accent hardware, though it pits by the coast.
- Pre-drill close to ends every single time. Split boards ruin afternoons.
Design to Beat Water
- Lift feet off the ground with nylon glides.
- Cut drainage channels under each slat.
- Slightly dish chair seats so water rolls off.
- Round edges; sharp corners suck up moisture.
- Never trap end grain against a solid surface.
Follow those five moves and either wood outlives the cushions you toss on top.
Real-World Story Time
Two summers back I built twin Adirondack chairs, same pattern, spare hour on a Friday. Chair A wore cedar, chair B wore cypress. Same oil, same screws. By Labor Day the cedar chairs arms showed fewer tiny checks, yet the cypress chair felt sturdier when a big friend flopped down. Neither one rotted, both grayed evenly. Lesson learned: pick based on priority, not myth.
Little Tricks That Save Big Trouble
- Keep fresh sandpaper handy; softwoods clog discs in seconds.
- Wipe cypress with denatured alcohol before epoxy so the bond grabs.
- Brush cedar end grain with shellac if you plan a pigment stain to dodge blotches.
- Slip an old yoga mat under boards when sanding to stop slide and prevent dings.
- Store cedar scraps in a cloth bag inside a closet; natural aroma kicks moth balls to the curb.
Avoidable Mistakes
- Driving regular steel nails in cedar, thinking paint will hide the streaks (it will not).
- Rushing cypress through the planer dull knives by lunchtime because you hit hidden grit near the bark.
- Forgetting to leave expansion gaps, then cursing when a cedar tabletop cups in August.
- Trusting sapwood on either species in ground contact, especially planter feet.
Side Note: Cypress in the Yard, Cedar as a Tree
Cypress trees often love wet ankles; plant them too close to a foundation and root flare cracks concrete. Cedar hedges grow fast, but they swallow light from small gardens. Wood choices start in forests long before saws spin.
The Final Five Reminders
- Pre-drill screw holes, always.
- Seal every fresh cut, end grain drinks first.
- Stainless steel or coated hardware keeps stains away.
- Round every exposed edge, boards stay smooth and resist water.
- Clean and re-oil surfaces on a schedule you can keep.
Follow that list and either wood treats you kindly.
Parting Thought
Pick cedar if the scent makes you grin and you hate hauling heavy planks. Pick cypress if crisp details call your name and you want rails that refuse to sag. Mix them when it feels right. Woodworking rarely boils down to one perfect answer; it sings in options, compromises, and the quiet crackle when a sharp chisel meets honest grain. So, choose, cut, build, breathe deep, and carry on.