Wood Construction Materials
Hardwood »Comes from deciduous trees such as oak, birch, walnut, maple, and hickory
Softwood Comes from evergreen conifers such as pine, cedar, cypress, fir and redwood
Rough Lumber Rough lumber or nominal sized lumber is the actual size or full dimension A 2” X 4” is actually that size with rough surfaces
Dressed Lumber Dressed or surfaced on all four sides lumber is smaller than rough lumber and is smooth
Dressed Lumber A dressed 2” X 4’ is actually 1 ½” X 3 ½”, and 1” thick boards are actually ¾” thick
Select Lumber Select lumber is free of knots and blemishes, and select grades are A, B, C, and D
Common Lumber Common lumber is general purpose wood and may have knots and blemishes
Common Lumber Grade No. 1 is a general purpose wood that may have sound, smooth knots up to 2” in diameter
Common Lumber Grade No. 2 is used for flooring and framing and has large knots and blemishes
Common Lumber »Grade No. 3 has loose knots or knotholes and is used for shelving and some types of framing
Common Lumber Grade No. 4 and No. 5 are poor quality used for temporary structures
Plywood Plywood is made by gluing odd numbers of veneers (layers) of wood to make 4’ X 8’ or 4’ X 12’ sheets of different thickness
Plywood Hardwood or softwood outside layers
Plywood Exterior plywood has waterproof glue
Plywood Interior plywood may or may not have waterproof glue
Plywood Veneer grade A – best, smooth, paintable, may have some neat repairs
Plywood Veneer grade B – solid, some tight knots, splits and repairs
Plywood Veneer grade C – tight knots up to 1 ½”, knotholes up to 1” splits, discoloration, and defects
Plywood Veneer grade D – knots and knotholes up to 2 ½”, splits
Plywood AC is exterior plywood with A face and C back
Plywood AD is interior plywood with A face and D back
OSB OSB is oriented strand board in the same sizes as plywood
OSB It is made from strands, flakes, or wafers sliced from small diameter logs and bonded with exterior glue under heat and pressure
OSB OSB is engineered so that the wood strands are oriented, not randomly placed like wafer board
Particle Board Manufactured sheets of wood made from ground up scrap wood, sawdust, and glue
Shiplap A board with a rabbet cut on each edge
Tongue and Grooved Boards have a tongue or lip on one edge and a groove on the other edge so that the lip of one side fits into the groove on another board
Board Feet A piece of lumber one inch thick, twelve inches wide, and one foot long
Board Foot Formula BF = T” X W” X L’ 12 Thickness and width are inches; length is feet
Board Feet Example: How many board feet are in a board 1” thick, 12” wide and 10’ long
Board Feet BF = 1 X 12 X 10 = = 10
If there is more than one piece, multiply by number of pieces of lumber of same size Board Feet
Per Thousand Most construction lumber is priced per thousand board feet M = 1000
Per Thousand Example: 10 M BF = 10,000 Board Feet
Wood Construction Materials