I Thought Cypress Wood Did Not Rot?
 

My uncle made me a swing out of cypress about 9 years ago. Well where the bottoms bolt together its all rotted out. Could it be the hardware he used that caused this? None of the slats or the arm rest were rotten. Just where he had things bolted together? I'm confused. Anyway, I took it all apart, saved the chain and the slats and I have a buddy that has some cypress that he's going to give me to make a new one. I saved the pieces that were rotting and I'll use that to make a pattern.

What kind of hardware should I use to bolt it back together?

Brass if you can find it

Cypress will rot like any wood. There is also a difference between old growth cypress and grow back new cypress. The tight grain old growth cypress is more weather resistant, grow back cypress is no more weather resistant that a 2x4 you buy a lowes. I see people selling these cypress gliders, rocking chairs ect made of new cypress all the time and they may LOOK nice but left unfinished , crap let finished they are not suitable to be left outside. Old growth cypress has very tight grain and looks awesome but is now a reclaimed wood , meaning there are no more old growth cypress trees that are harvested for lumber so you have to tear down a building to get it

Best economical thing to do would be replace the parts that make ground contact with treated lumber

Thanks Pox. The wood I'm getting is old growth, its from a old house that was torn down. Should I use stainless, galvanized someone mentioned brass???

My grandpa used to build cypress Pirogue's and all he would use was brass ring shank nails

Brass or stainless. Neither one rust so it doesn't oxidize the wood where you install it.

Thanks guys..... I'll look for some brass on McMaster Carrs website