Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions dutch elm disease and tf

sounds so serious, but really is it? With over half of NA elms affected by the disease, how many of you have used elms (healhy or not) for their projects?
I am planning on using mostly rock elms from around our property for our Mcmansion . Some look affected by the disease, some are not showing the signs yet.
I found a few references on the www about using wood from affected trees for various projects, but would like to hear from TF'ers who have done it.

I'll wade in on this one, Raff.
I've cut some healthy looking trees that had no useful timber, and some very dead elm/cedar/cherry/oak/ash/hemlocks with great wood inside. I think that the more resistant woods are the ones with the best standing dead wood.
My understanding of the dutch elm disease is that it is carried by a beetle of some kind or another. So elms in groups which already show the disease are pretty much doomed. Solitary elms seem to do the best.....

thanks and I hear ya... I brought home some roadside sugar maples, looked like they had some potential, until I ripped a few pcs and saw that they're best destined for the stove

you're right about the beetle... it's a bark beetle and doesn't seem to penetrate the tree. Some of the standing dead elms I've taken down are SOLID inside.