In Southern Maryland, my grandfather would use it for roof perlings, nailed on green. They would also use them when building boats, for side knees. Because of the twisting action of the wood, it will hold nails tight even under stress. Of course water causes sweet gum to rot easily, so if used on a roof, make sure the roof nails have rubber grommets. Other than those two things, sweet gum was not used much at all...