Thread: Oak for building

There has always been the debate as to whether English oak is Superior to Australian Hardwoods.
Comes down to personal choice but Australian Hardwoods are as good if not better in some applications. If you are after a structural member to have a high "F" rating I think you will find our timbers will give the "F" rating easily.
I have heard that Messmate from the Northern Ranges of NSW will give better than F27

Tonto you beat me to the punch!!

I too really enjoy the program and am also enamored by the use of Oak.

English, European and American Oaks are of the Quercus species whereas
our oaks are Eucalypts (eg Tasmanian Oak), Casuarinas or Allocasuarinas
( eg. hairy Oak, She Oak), Grebillia ( Silky Oak) and Cardwellia ( Silky Oak).

Theses are all vastly different to Quercus and to each other.

English Oak Is a wonderful timber because of its strength and durability. It holds
up extremely well in water.In Hambourg in Germany the magnificent town Hall is
built on foundations of Oak logs sunken into a swamp!! It is hundreds of years
old and very solid.

I suppose that if you wanted to benchmark timbers then true Oaks would be the
gold standard with other timbers being as good, better or worse.

I would forget durability of hundreds of years. I am sure our termites would love european oak. That said some of our local woods will last a while. Ironbark is quite durable and a good looking timber. Tyrpentine is another that resists white ants for a while at least. European oak can be got here but is not common. Mathews timber had some furniture grade boards but large construction bits may be hard to find. Tas oak is not a great outdoor wood but for indoor posts will be ok. Huon pine will last thousands of years even under water if you can get it or afford it.
Regards
John