Chile Forum

Well, I may be having trouble w/ the satellite. But I also tried to post my photo and it doesn't seem to accept an attachment. So it could be since I'm at tourist status I don't have that ability yet? Sorry.

Just to share our progress since we broke ground a year ago.This home was built with the effort of one man and a woman, no workers of any kind.Lots of frustrations, blood, sweat and tears and finally has been completed.We are extremely happy and proud with the results It's open, bright, airy, comfortable and with a great layout.And now is time to enjoy it!

Looks great Gloria, I am sure you've got some killer views too.

MikieO wrote:Looks great Gloria, I am sure you've got some killer views too.

Thank you Mikie, we have come a long way.


This a view in the winter from every angle in the house.

There is always hope at the end of a rainbow.Another view from our home.

admin wrote:The "Oregon pine" term actually referred to red wood (or at least pine) at one point that was imported from Oregon. Now it is grown locally. I am not really sure what that reddish stuff is at Sodimac. People have translated it to me as "red wood", but I use to have deck contracting biz in college. None of the red wood decks I built ever had that color or grain that stuff has. It might simply be an effect of how they are growing it. Anyone up for having a sample sent to a lab for a DNA test?

To anybody's knowledge, is actual Redwood (Sequoia sempervirons) grown in Chile? It seems to me that it would be a good substitute for the now well-protected Alerce.

Pat

My understanding of the term Oregon Pine was that it was from the north, when sailing vessels sailed south from the US to pick up nitrates from the mines in the north they would bring down a load of timber as ballast and sell it to the mines as tree are very scarce in the north, the wood ended up all over the country and was generically called Oregon Pine some may have been redwood or other available types of wood, I am sure I have seen douglas fir as floors in 100 year old houses in Valpo. The plantation pine in Chile is a form of radiata pine (originally from California) which has been heavily cultured and is common in New Zealand and Australia.

nwdiver wrote:The plantation pine in Chile is a form of radiata pine (originally from California) which has been heavily cultured and is common in New Zealand and Australia.

Right. Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) is native to California, but really has a narrow native range within the state. In the mid-1960's they became popular as ornamental and landscape trees due to their relatively fast growth rate. The problem is, that outside their native range of the central California coast, they become unduly stressed and are prone to several pests (mostly beetle larvae) that are attracted to any pruning cut made in the growing season like a shark to bloody chum. These pests can smell sap flow in Pinus radiata from 30 miles away.

The lumber and pulp plantations I saw in Central Chile were these Monterey Pines and Eucalyptus globulus. The forestry plantation methods I saw reminded me a great deal of those in Bavaria. It would not surprise me that Chilean forestry methods were learned from German mentors. Trees are planted on uniform centers and lower limbs are bucked up to divert root carbs to the highest terminal growing shoots, promoting faster height and more uniform trunk diameter. It also minimizes knots to some degree, but Monterey pines have a lot of secondary branches and there will always be lots of knots, except in the very heart.

In my opinion Chilean foresters are flirting with crop disaster in choosing these two species. They are the most pest-infested tree species in California, whose climate and geology is very similar to Chile's. Such mono-cultures are like big petri dishes waiting for a pest to get established and wipe out the crop. These two trees may be the fastest peso, but growing them is playing biological musical chairs. One day the pests will arrive and many millions of trees will have to be quickly harvested at a loss, mature or not.

This is why I asked before about Redwoods. I have grown them professionally for 25 years, and there are a few sterile cultivars that I believe would perform well in Southern Chile. I think between their pest resistant nature, the amount of annual rainfall in the south, and my particular cultural tricks, I could grow California Redwoods faster to market than the Monterey Pines now being grown. Of course, these would be mostly for the domestic dimensional lumber market, as they would be too valuable to export as pulp.

There are a lot of older homes with traditional Alerce shingles that will eventually need replacing, and the Alerce tree is very slow to grow. The old growth is now protected (for the most part). Redwoods look and perform about the same in the mill, and in the builders' hands. Besides, I know Charles is eager to strap on the old tool belt and build a beautiful new "Chilean Redwood" deck.

Pat Mc

About redwood, I found this perusing the internet.

Alerce is a cousin of the California redwood and is native to only southern Chile and Argentina. It is an endangered species that came under the protection of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1967. Alerce are the second longest-lived trees in the world, with recorded ages of over 3,600 years, Alerce is highly valued for its fine red grain, durability and quality. The wood’s resin resists decay, meaning that Alerce products remain in good condition for over a hundred years. One cubic meter of Alerce wood is valued at up to US$5,000 on the international market.

Legislation was passed in 1976 to protect the Alerce, but a loophole allows for the logging of Alerce trees that died before 1976. This loophole encouraged a black market in Alerce wood, with traders often stripping off their bark or starting forest fires to kill them (ST, Aug. 25, 2005).

Greenpeace Chile reports that only 17 percent of Chile’s Alerce forests are under the direct supervision of the National Forestry Corporation. The rest is on private land that in the past has been subject to illegal logging. Satellite photos by NASA in July 2004 proved the extensive destruction of the Alerces in the last 30 years, with over 14,000 hectares logged in the years 1997-1998 alone (ST, July 13, 2004).

One cubic meter of Alerce wood is valued at up to US$5,000 on the international market.

When doing the demo on my house, the "maestro" went to great pains to save the Alerce panelling on the walls and ceilings (entire house). I didn't want it as it made the house too dark but I might have negotiated something had I known that. It was rotten in many areas though and the chances of me finding a ready market would have been slim.