There are also application in the market, which utilize only virgin raw materials. Its most widespread use is in outdoor deck floors, but it is also used for railings, fences, landscaping timbers, cladding and siding, park benches, molding and trim, window and door frames, and indoor furniture.

Manufacturers claim that wood-plastic composite is more environmentally friendly and requires less maintenance than the alternatives of solid wood treated with preservatives or solid wood of rot-resistant species. Resistant to cracking and splitting, these materials can be moulded with or without simulated wood grain details. Even with the wood grain design these materials are still visually easy to distinguish from natural timber as the grains are the same uniform color as the rest of the material. Well-known trade names include Practiwood, NewTech, TimberTech, Trex, JER Envirotech, CorrectDeck, Artowood, Chylon, Ultradeck and Weatherbest.

Wood-plastic composite is still a very new material relative to the long history of natural lumber as a building material but can be substituted in most instances. Although being highly resistant to rot, Wood Plastic Composites still soak up water due to their mixing with organic wood fibers.

Wood-plastic composite lumber is composed of wood from recovered saw dust (and other cellulose-based fiber fillers such as pulp fibers, peanut hulls, bamboo, straw, digestate, etc.) and virgin or waste plastics including high-density polyethylene, PVC, PP, ABS, PS and PLA.

Source: Wikipedia

Lumber is supplied either rough or finished. Besides pulpwood, rough lumber is the raw material for furniture-making and other items requiring additional cutting and shaping. It is available in many species, usually hardwoods. Finished lumber is supplied in standard sizes, mostly for the construction industry, primarily softwood from coniferous species including pine, fir and spruce (collectively known as Spruce-pine-fir), cedar, hemlock, but also some hardwood, for high-grade flooring.

In the United Kingdom and Australia, "timber" is a term also used for sawn wood products (that is, boards), whereas generally in the United States and Canada, the product of timber cut into boards is referred to as lumber. In the United States and Canada, timber often refers to the wood contents of standing, live trees that can be used for lumber or fibre production, although it can also be used to describe sawn lumber whose smallest dimension is not less than 5 inches (127 mm).

Note that the word lumberjack is used in the UK and Australia to refer to North Americans who fell standing trees, and so the word "lumber" conjures images of what North Americans call "timber", and vice versa.

Source: Wikipedia

Solid dimensional lumber typically is only available up to lengths of 24 ft, yet since builders have a need for lengths beyond that for roof construction (rafters), builders use "finger-jointed" lumber that can be up to 36 ft long in 2×6 size (see Engineered Lumber below). Finger-jointed lumber is also widely used for smaller lengths like studs, the vertical members of a framed wall. Pre-cut studs save a framer a lot of time as they are pre-cut by the manufacturer to be used in 8 ft, 9 ft & 10 ft ceiling applications, which means they have removed a few inches of the piece to allow for the sill plate and the double top plate with no additional sizing necessary by the framer.

In the Americas, two-bys (2×4s, 2×6s, 2×8s, 2×10s, and 2×12s), along with the 4×4, are common lumber sizes used in modern construction. They are the basic building block for such common structures as balloon-frame or platform-frame housing. Dimensional lumber made from softwood is typically used for construction, while hardwood boards are more commonly used for making cabinets or furniture.

The nominal size of a board varies from the actual size of the board. This is not due to shrinkage as the board is dried. Rather, it is the result of planning the lumber from its original nominal size. Two-by’s are widely used in construction. When faced with 1/2" sheetrock, the resulting combination is a true 2 inches (1.5" two-by-four + 0.5" sheetrock = 2.0 inches).

Source: Wikipedia

Incoming search terms:

• dimensional lumber pre cut lengths sizes
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Defects due to conversion

During the process of converting timber to commercial form, the following defects may occur:

• Chip mark
• Diagonal grain
• Torn grain
• Wane

Defects due to fungi

Fungi attacks timber when these conditions are all present:

• The timber moisture content is above 20%
• The environment is warm enough
• There is air

Wood with less than 20% moisture remains free of fungi for centuries. Similarly, wood submerged in water will not be attacked by fungi because of absence of air. Fungi timber defects:

• Blue stain
• Brown rot
• Dry rot
• Heart rot
• Sap stain
• Wet rot
• White rot

Defects due to insects

Following are the insects which are usually responsible for the decay of timber:

• Beetles
• Marine Borers
• Termites
• Red Ants

Defects due to natural forces

• The main natural forces responsible for causing defects in timber are two, namely, abnormal growth and rupture of tissues.

Defects due to seasoning

• Defects due to seasoning are the number one cause for splinters and slivers.

Source: Wikipedia

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One of the most conventional framing methods is the Neumann Notch, which involves a thirty-two degree angling of adjoining lumber and then a right-angled wedge with an eighteen degree cusp fitted between the lumber before being bolted. This convention was pioneered by Daniel R. Neumann, a carpenter from Germany, that was responsible for the structural development of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. This framing convention spread to construction sites in other colonies, most famously Plymouth and Concord. Neumann’s notched framing then was adopted by carpenters and construction companies and this framing convention is still used today in traditional frame sets.

Another somewhat less conventional method for framing is known as the "New-style" binding. The basic setup of the New-style binding was developed by Austin D. New, a Mormon settler in Salt Lake City, Utah during the 1800s. The basic structure of the New-style binding involves a set-up of two similar sized logs set against each other perpendicularly and lashed together with hemp rope. This technique was used to construct many of the early houses of the Mormon settlers due to its ease of use and durability. Eventually the New-style binding became obsolete as the settlers began constructing homes out of the more traditional brick and mortar.

Source: Wikipedia

Incoming search terms:

• Neumann Notch
• Neumann Notch timber

Treating lumber provides long-term resistance to organisms that cause deterioration. If it is applied correctly, it extends the productive life of lumber by five to ten times. If left untreated, wood that is exposed to moisture or soil for sustained periods of time will become weakened by various types of fungi, bacteria or insects.

Source: Wikipedia