Japanese Cedar or Western Red Cedar?

What a great topic! Let's start off by saying both options are great options, however both options have their place in each fence build. At Podleski Construction we believe quality should drive each decision when planning your new build fence. We use a combination of both Japanese Cedar and Western Red Cedar on all of our fences (unless asked otherwise). We like to use Western Red Cedar for our 2x4's and 2x8 caps. Reason being, Western Red Cedar is a much stronger, better-looking, and will last longer when it comes to 2x4's and 2x8's. Japanese Cedar 2x4's can dry out and thus becoming very weak. Fences are expensive, you want to invest in using better wood so it will stand the test of time and use.

Furthermore, when it comes to pickets, we believe Japanese Cedar is far better looking compared to Western Red Cedar. Using Japanese Cedar pickets can also save you tons of money. For example, a fence that is about 200' long you will save $1,000-$1,500 by using Japanese Cedar. In our opinion using Japanese Cedar pickets will result in a better look all the while saving you money, best of both worlds!

Japanese Cedar Pickets

Western Red Cedar Pickets