Should I use cedar or green-treated posts on my home?

On the corners of my home, I planned to place some type of either wood (cedar?) or green treated posts as vertical posts for each exterior and interior corner. I also planned to use 4” or 6” cedar around each window, primed & painted white. Thoughts?

MyFixitUpLife answers… By “posts” you mean “corner boards”—outside corners and inside corners. And yes, I like this detail too. I suggest 5/4 x 4 (or x 6) Western Red Cedar for the outside corners. Pre-assemble the outside corners then install as a unit. If you want both faces of the corner exactly the same width you have to rip 1-inch off one of the boards. Note: if by “green” you mean pressure treated lumber, this really isn’t the right application for PT. If by “green” you mean fresh from the saw mill, ditto. The lumber must be dry—whatever it is—before installation. Don’t be fooled by a lower cost material either.

Most people just fasten them together in an “L” and install as far as I know. The extra one inch is really hard to notice. On the inside corner a 1×1 (5/4 x 5/4) usually does the trick. On the windows, again 5/4 x4 or 5/4 x 6 cedar works great. Also, I’d “flash” (i.e. seal with flexible tape—especially if they have  flanges) the windows, integrating with it the WRB.

Grace Vycor has a dependable product and terrific installation instructions. When trimming the window itself, the boards need to be installed so the bottom piece is the width of the window. The legs extend from the bottom of the bottom piece to the top of the window, and then the head piece covers the tops of the two legs. This hides/covers end grain. You also may need a rigid metal flashing above the windows. Whether you need it or not, metal flashing is always a good idea. You just have to make sure it is compatible with the cedar.