Quality and size of Kelo-wood

Kelo-wood has no uniform quality criteria. Acquiring good quality Kelo-wood requires long and expensive trasportation from hardly inaccessible areas. Even an excellent stand yields only 5-10 m³/hectare (70-140 cubic foot/acre) of good quality Kelo-wood. Naturally, this has an effect on the price of the product.

A building made of good materials will, however, last and retain its value from generation to generation. Good quality Kelo building material has a silver-gray, hard surface. There can be some bark and scar on one side of the log, whereas no rot or processing marks are allowed. Kelo-wood is characterized by an increasing patina and the disappearance of small faults on the surface.

Second-class, less expensive Kelo-wood is used, for example, for building storehouses, huts and outdoor shelters or as saw timber. Red-hearted pine is derived from saw Kelo timber. Red-hearted pines are created when hundreds of years old pines end their diameter growth, and the heartwood turns red. When the heartwood is still fresh, it is difficult to distinguish it from sapwood. However, as the heartwood dries, the effects of light and air turn it red. For example, a ceiling made of sawn Kelo-wood is very impressive.

Size of Kelo-wood

In addition to the quality, the price of Kelo-wood is also affected by the tree's top diameter. The most inexpensive Kelo-wood with the diameter of 17-24 cm (7-10 inches) is used, for example, in storehouses and small sauna buildings.

Kelo-wood logs with the diameter of over 20 cm (8 inches) fulfill the requirements for year-round habitability in southern Finland (K-value under 0,60). Therefore, they can also be used in residential houses.

In the skiing centers of Lapland, building projects usually utilize Kelo-pine with a diameter of more than 25 cm (10 inches). The most impressive and valuable Kelo-castles are made of the so-called Mammoth Kelo-wood, the top diameter of which is almost a half meter (1.6 feet).

The Kelo-wood logs are normally 4-7 meters (13-23 feet) long when we deliver them. On request we can select trees of specific height when felling the trees to suit the customers' needs. The trees can be as tall as 12-13 meters (40-43 feet), and can, therefore, be utilized as ridgepoles or long walls of a building.

Kelo-balk

Balk timber sawn of kelo-wood is a unique material for traditional buildings. Already hundreds of years old, it is red-hearted, dry pine timber, which does not sag, distort or discolor. Using an accessory to the power saw, a skilled carpenter can make the walls look like those cut by old master craftsmen with a hatchet.