Red Pine

Is red pine (pinus resinosa) suitable for timber framing? I have a small plantation of mature red pine that I would like to use to timberframe the first floor of my future home. I have not been able to find anyone who has ever used it in timberframing. Does anyone out there have experience in using red pine?
Thanks.

Bobh,

Although I have not worked with freshly sawn red pine, I have some experience with it as a framing material. Last year we worked on the Crawford Barn project which involved disassembling, repairing and raising a very large barn at a new location. The barn was roughly 100 years old and the main sction was framed completely of red pine.

In general the pine seemed to have done quite well. Very little insect damage and surprising rot resistance. It did seem to react similar to Douglas Fir in tension perpendicular to the grain. Poorly. Otherwise it was still quite workable 100 years after harvest.

We did end up replacing the bad timber with Douglas Fir due to the fact that it was available and so were it's design values. I would say go ahead and design for your available timber. Worked for Colonel Crawford.

Rudy

I have experience sawing red pine from plantations here in Ontario and have found that it tends to twist (sometimes like a corkscew)when it drys too fast. If you can saw the logs in the winter and pile them where they will be out of direct sun and cover the pile loosely, this should help. Structurally red pine is stronger than white pine but heavier. Plantation red pine also tend to have bigger knots than from natural growth because they don't have to compete with other trees.