OTHER NAMES FOR LARCH 

European larch (Netherlands), Lärche (Germany), mélèze (France), larch (Great Britain), Siberian larch, American larch.

GROWING REGIONS

European larch - Central Europe Siberian larch - Eastern and Western Siberia and in small parts of China and Mongolia. American larch - North America

TREE DESCRIPTION

The height is usually 30-40 m, with a diameter at the chest height of 0,5 to 1,0 m. Typical for this tree is that the needles fall off in the winter. Domestic larch is available as roundwood in lengths up to 10 m, with diameters varying from 60-350 mm.

WOOD DESCRIPTION

Larch is a hardwood of which the heartwood shows colour variations from light yellow-brown (Siberian larch), yellow-brown, pinkish to reddish brown. The sapwood is clearly distinguishable from the heartwood and is yellowish to dirty white in colour. Larch starts forming heartwood at an early age, so the width of the sapwood in mature trees usually does not exceed 20 mm. The growth rings are very distinct. Each zone contains light coloured earlywood and dark latewood. On sawn wood in dots, this results in an attractive flame pattern, while quarter sawn wood shows a clear stripe pattern. For a softwood species, larch is quite heavy. The appearance and technical properties of the Larch types differ so little because of their similar structure and colour that they cannot be distinguished from each other. Any differences in weight, hardness and knotting are due less to the species than to the age and growing conditions. Since the quality depends on the origin, attention should be paid to this when using larch. Research has shown that watered larch absorbs water somewhat more easily than fresh larch.

WORKABILITY

Larch can be sawn and trimmed reasonably well. Sharp tools are necessary to give the soft spring wood a smooth finish. When working wet wood, resin can stick to the saws or chisels and cause problems. The tool life during sawing can be extended by giving the saw blades a fine spray of water or with a commercially available special liquid. The small but very hard brushes can knock small pieces out of the chisels, creating so-called "beads" on the surface. The brush is the main cause of the chisels and saws becoming dull fairly quickly.

DURABILITY CLASS LARCH

The durability class larch can be subdivided into Heartwood Fungus 3-4. Termites G. After Yew, Larch can be considered the best and most durable softwood in Europe. Sapwood sapwood Larch sapwood is less susceptible to blue than spruce sapwood and much less susceptible than pine sapwood. Hylotrupes G. Anobium G.

PARTICULARS

From the heartwood of not too old logs "Venetian turpentine" is extracted. The water absorption of Dutch larch after one hour of soaking is 1500 g/m3 for the sapwood, 300 g/m3 for the heartwood. The water absorption of Russian larch after one hour immersion is 3000 g/m3 for the sapwood and 500 g/m3 for the heartwood. Waterlogged Russian larch absorbs water more easily than fresh larch.

APPLICATIONS

Sawn larch can be used for construction timber: load-bearing and non-load-bearing constructions, window frames, doors, facade panelling, interior panelling, stairs, truck floors, etc. Roundwood is used for piles, fence posts, scaffolding poles, tree poles, masts, struts, roofing tracks and farmyard wood. Other applications include waterworks, sheet piling, jetties, flooring, noise barriers, rowing boats, boat frames, mill construction and veneer. It is also used in the furniture industry for its attractive appearance.

LARIKEN WOOD

Larch is a type of wood with durability class lll/lV and can be used for water works, sheet piling, jetties, floors and boat frames, etc. Roundwood is used for drilling piles, fence posts, jetty posts, tree posts, etc. Sawn Larch can be used for construction timber: load-bearing and non-load-bearing structures, frames, windows and doors, facade panelling, interior panelling, stairs and truck floors.

ORIGIN AND CHARACTERISTICS

The height of the trees varies from 30 to 40 metres, with a diameter at breast height of 0.5-1.0 metres. Typical for this conifer is that the needles fall off in the winter. Larch is a resinous wood with heartwood colours varying from light yellow-brown, yellow-brown, pinkish to reddish brown. The sapwood is clearly distinguishable from the heartwood and is yellowish to dirty white in colour. The appearance and technical properties of the Larch types differ so little from each other due to their similar structure and colour that they cannot be distinguished from each other.

WHICH PRODUCTS IN LARCH

You can obtain larch in larch beams, larch boards, larch scales, larch fence boards, larch poles and Swedish larch rabbet. Larch is a good type of wood to use for larch wood construction for a roof or veranda. Larch scales are also readily available.

PROCESSING LARCH WOOD

Larch wood is easy to process. Larch is easy to glue, if it has been artificially dried well; if the wood is wet, one should use special glue for this. When screwing larch, try not to screw too close to the end of the beam or plank, larch is a type of wood with a straight thread, too close to the edge means that the wood may split. Larch is a straight-threaded wood, too close together means the wood may split. To get a neat surface, sharp tools are a must. Larch can contain small but very hard pieces of resin and these can knock small parts out of chisels. If you are going to use stain-like products in combination with Larch wood, stains can appear on the wood, you can prevent this by degreasing the wood well in advance.

PROPERTIES OF LARCH WOOD

When we talk about larch or Douglas wood we mean larch and Douglas wood from Germany, Poland, the Netherlands or France. Larch and Douglas fir have a durability class of larch 5 (life expectancy average 7-10 years), we recommend using these types of wood above ground to extend the life expectancy. Douglas fir and larch are quite heavy and durable for softwood species. The cracking and shrinking effect of wood species can be clearly seen in larch and Douglas fir. In warm weather you will quickly see cracks in the wood and in colder and damp weather some will also completely disappear. Of course, untreated wood is more environmentally friendly than treated wood, so keep this in mind when buying larch garden wood. larch garden wood is often used for sheds and covers, but also increasingly for fences.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LARCH AND DOUGLAS WOOD

The difference between Larch and Douglas fir is quite small. Generally speaking, Douglas wood when freshly sawn or planed is a little more pink in colour than larch. Larch wood in for example larch poles or larch floor boards are generally slightly yellower in colour than douglas. Larch wood products are said to be slightly more durable than Douglas fir products. Not for nothing, both species are often sold interchangeably. You will not find this at our hardwood discount, we personally prefer Douglas fir.

JAPANESE LARKS

The Japanese larch is native to the central part of the Japanese island Honshu. In Europe, the species is often used in areas outside the natural range of the European larch. The Japanese larch sometimes interbreeds with this species to form the bastard Larix eurolepis (= Larix ×marschlinsii).

SIBERIAN LARCH SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT

Siberian larch cannot be compared at all with larch or Douglas fir from Europe. Siberian Larch comes from Russia, Mongolia and small parts of China. Siberian larch can be recognised by its small knots and is much yellower in colour compared to European larch wood. Siberian larch is often seen as wall cladding in the form of Swedish larch and larch half-timbered rebates. Siberian larch is often mounted on your façade untreated.

BUILDING DECKS OF LARCH

If you choose to build a decking or veranda from larch floor boards then we advise you to buy the sub-structure from hardwood, the beams under the decking stay damp for a long time and hardwood can withstand this. When mounting the larch floor boards we advise you to keep a gap of between and 10mm, as larch and Douglas fir tend to warp in width during heavy temperature fluctuations. For a beautiful and professional finish, we always advise our decking screws, have a look in our webshop for more information about which screw is the best for which product.

LARCH SCALE BOARDS AND LARCH RABBET WOOD

In our webshop you can order larch boards. Under scaling larch, and this Douglas fir or larch floor board you will find our larch wood construction and larch garden wood articles.

SHAGES

For the application of Douglas larch as untreated boards or rebates in fences, Siberian larch is preferred to Central European larch or Douglas fir. Siberian larch has a longer life span than Douglas fir. Finally, larch is slightly more durable than Douglas fir, although Douglas fir has fewer knots and a warmer colour. The differences are minimal. The larch durability class can also always be read via the book houtvademecuum.

LARCH FLOORBOARDS

As well as being used in gardens, larch is also used as an indoor floor. For example, there are various larch floors available that can be used indoors. However, larch is often a heavy-duty floor so it is usually avoided as a parquet floor.

TIPS

We advise always to install larch or Douglas fir above ground level so that the wood can always blow dry. When installing 9x9, 12x12 or 15x15 cm larch poles in shelters, it is preferable to use our concrete footings as foundations. For closed walls of larch Douglas fir boards we advise placing a concrete band at the bottom. larch douglas durability, the durability class larch is class 5 and perfectly suitable for use in the garden, if it does not come into contact with the ground, larch durability class 5 is not suitable for contact with the ground.