ls Douglas fir all it's cracked up to be?

URING 1988, 10.4 billion board feet of Douglas fir lumber, with a wholesale value of $2.68 billion, was produced in the West - enough lumber to build more than 800,000 single family residences.

Those are big numbers, but they're not confined to this country. Douglas fir is coveted in Japan where it is used both in Japanese traditional post-and-beam construction and U.S.-style 2x4 "platform" home building systems. In Australia and the United Kingdom, where Douglas fir lumber is often referred to as "Oregon pine," it is also prized. In Europe, the species is frequently chosen for millwork, providing a good market for clear grades.

So just what is it about Douglas fir lumber that gives it a multi-billiondollar market across the United States and around the world? Why has a lumber that was first commer-cially produced in 1828 at a small Oregon sawmill built by Oregon pioneer Dr. John Mcloughlin become so popular, so widely used?

To begin with, there is the material's amazing versatility. Consider the number of ways Douglas fir can be used in a typical house.

First, it's used for framingfor posts, beams, joists, studs and rafters.

Then it's used for sheathing and subflooring and concrete forms.

Additionally, it can be used as siding, which is both attractive and durable, meeting the records of virtually every other wood species commonly used in contemporary home building.

Moving inside the house, Douglas fir is used for cabinets, doors, door frames, windows and window frames, interior trim, mouldings and furniture. It also serves as a popular and serviceable softwood flooring, and can be finished, painted or used under linoleum and carpeting.

Story at a Glance

Outdoors it's used to build ladders. lattice work. decks. fences. storage sheds, arbors, gazebos, doghouses, retaining walls, planters and sandboxes.

Moving beyond the house itself, there are the heavy Douglas fir structural timbers used as railroad ties, in mines and in some buildings, Douglas fir posts, beams, stringers, joists, bracing, flooring and decking, rafters and roof decking make up trusses for factory and warehouse roofs.

On the farm, it's used for barn cornices, siding, boards and battens, chicken houses and feeders, cribbing, barn flooring, flumes, pens, gates and fences, chutes, granaries, troughs, hog houses and sheds.

But the question remains, why Douglas fir? What is it about this wood that makes it so incredibly widely used, so popular and, above all else, so versatile?

Begin with its strength. The wood is, pound for pound, one of the strongest of the softwoods, and its load-bearing capacity equals that of many mild steels, while being considerably lighter in weight. Douglas fir's strength makes it the nation's first-line wood for structural purposes.

It holds nails well. It holds paint. It has an exceptionally long life, even under conditions which foster decay. It glues well and is treatable.

Beyond these qualities, the wood's straightness, stiffness, ease with which it can be worked, and availability in a wide range of sizes and grades are each a good reason to value the wood highly. When they're combined in a single species, you have the reason(s) the wood is so universally prized and widely used.

There's one more reason. It's beautiful. The inherent beauty of Douglas fir makes it highly prized for virtually every kind of finish work.

That's why Douglas fir has been and continues to be a universally popular form of lumber. Customers can cut it and shape it and work it, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, they can get the size and grade they want where and when they want it, they can nail it and paint it, it can be treated, it's strong, stiff, durable, and looks good.