Originally posted by Jinx:

Originally posted by HerrBaron:

Ok, that's what I was afraid of. I thought, though, that I read somewhere on here that people were building things like bridges and such with fine wood to avoid the damage from the elements,

That would be nice, sometimes I need to make something basic outside (eg simply a set of steps to my door) and it's irritating how they weather immediately the second it rains.

Not only irritating but idiotic. The ancient Norse were very, very good at preserving wood from the elements. See this article for a discussion of how they kept their wooden churches from rotting and falling down: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/stave-church-tar-conservation