Athough we generally recommend HDU over wood for outdoor signs in stressing climates, a wood sign, stained or clear-coated has a beauty HDU cannot match. We nearly always use the best grades of Western Red Cedar and California Redwood for our outdoor signs, because these woods will wuthstand moisture, snow, ice and UV radiation better than most other woods, including hardwoods. However, we do make outdoor signs out of genuine Mahogany, Teak, Cherry and White Oak. All of these signs are stained or left natural, and have several coats of 2 part urethane clear-coat to protect them from moisture. Once in a while a customer requests unprotected wood that will age naturally; we use 100 yr old barnwood (white oak), or redwood or cedar for these requests.