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It is indeed both red and wood.
Wonder if the same dude calls oak orangey wood?Also, not looking to pick holes in the very thorough and sound advice that @Airhead takes the time to contribute on here.
I don’t know anything about 95% of it but I do know the difference between redwood and Sapele so thought it worth pointing out to avoid confusion for anybody wanting to buy Sapele and ending up with pine.
horsee1-
Well worth making the point. I have learned so much from this thread over the years.
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You are absolutely right to point this out. It's embarrassing how bad my knowledge of different woods is considering the amount of joinery I've done. Sadly mostly in MDF!
It's very true that I'm calling it redwood because it's red wood! Sometimes the bloke at the shop will mutter something about the name of this week but I'm too busy eyeballing the stock for a straight piece :)
Replacing cills with the generic red wood is a double edged sword. I've had good results with it but I tend to be a bit more sympathetic to the paint needs and I prepare them very well, until recently with the very thin Dulux weathershield primer. Although they changed the formula a long time ago I have a tin of the original blue one which soaks into the surface of the wood and provides a flexible 'adhesive' surface for the undercoat to stick to.
I do see problems with replacement cills and windows of all different kinds of wood but mostly poor painting seems to be the cause.
One major advantage it has over pine is the lack of knots. I think that is probably why it's seen as a better option by a lot of carpenters.
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Don't forget that a lot of what is sold as sapele (or more frequently generic "hardwood") in places like Selco is often meranti which apart from being a different species has a completely different grain structure. It is however the same approximate colour as sapele (mostly) but the grain structure makes it less suitable for some joinery techniques it's hard to cut a mortice without a hollow chisel/chain morticer for example as even a razor sharp chisel will cause significant tear out. It takes paint fantastically though.
Sharkstar
Airhead
Bobbo
The guy who came to fix our windows a couple of years ago referred to the sapele cills as redwood. It's reddish, and it's wood, so there is that. The cills haven't held up well over the years. I wonder whether an actual redwood might have lasted longer, with its higher resin content.