How well does Poplar hold up outside?

[Wild Turkey]

I bought a pickup load of "Mixed lumber" out of a barn.  Too much dirt, etc to tell for sure what it was, but the price was right


Turns out the top half was 4/4 Poplar, bottom half 6/4 and 8/4 White Oak (which is what I was after).

But now that I have it how well does Poplar hold up for exterior trim use, stained or painted?

[DaveR1]

Yellow poplar? 

According to the Forest Products Laps handbook it isn't real high in terms of rot resistance. If you can keep it dry it'll probably be fine. I used it on a sailboat that I built. It was either painted or varnished and the boat was a trailer sailer that was kept covered when it wasn't in the water. It worked great for that. The varnished stuff actually got to be kind of pretty after some UV exposure.

[R Clark]

I bought a pickup load of "Mixed lumber" out of a barn.  Too much dirt, etc to tell for sure what it was, but the price was right


Turns out the top half was 4/4 Poplar, bottom half 6/4 and 8/4 White Oak (which is what I was after).

But now that I have it how well does Poplar hold up for exterior trim use, stained or painted?

Not well.

If the trim is going to be painted, I'd go PVC and use the wood for something else.  I use poplar for secondary woods in interior furniture projects, or as the primary for those projects if the piece is going to be painted.

[Cooler]

I uses a small piece of poplar for a house number sign that was 100% exposed to the weather, but was painted.  Wherever the paint wore off it turned gray and rotted.  I would list poplar as an excellent indoor product, but Douglas Fir would do better outdoors; cedar much better.

My deck was built in 1953 from Douglas fir.  Only the joists that were doubled up (and collected water between the boards) were badly rotted in 2004, when I rebuilt the deck.  Some of the pressure treated decking is not doing as well as the old Douglas fir.

[Ridgeway]

I bought a pickup load of "Mixed lumber" out of a barn.  Too much dirt, etc to tell for sure what it was, but the price was right


Turns out the top half was 4/4 Poplar, bottom half 6/4 and 8/4 White Oak (which is what I was after).

But now that I have it how well does Poplar hold up for exterior trim use, stained or painted?

I made some non-functional/decorative replacement shutters out of poplar.  I painted them with exterior latex paint and figured that would protect the wood.  It didn't.  Having the end grain (even painted) exposed vertically was a disaster.

[Wild Turkey]

That's kind of what I expected.  Got some more White Oak to finish the project.

Thanks

[castguy2003]

That's kind of what I expected.  Got some more White Oak to finish the project.

Thanks

Stay away from it. I made some porch railings, etc from it and they only lasted about ten years before totally shot.

[SPFurnitureMaker]

I used poplar for interior trim and built-ins that would be painted. It's a fine wood for it. It takes paint real easy and gives the appearance of high quality. I used it a lot in high-end homes, but things have changed since I stopped 10 years ago. Now for furniture I use it sparingly as a secondary wood, but it does have a smell that needs time to air off.