A.

WAYS OF MEASURING WOOD

Lumbers and woods are generally measured by thickness, length, and width. There are
varies of methods and units in measuring wood. The following are the examples of methods in
measuring wood.

DIMENSIONAL LUMBER
This is the most recognized method of measurement used by an normal person. We often
notice this type of measurement in simple or common stores that sells wood and lumber for
construction purposes. This meausurement is often refer to sizes as 2x4, 4x4, 4x8, 2x6, etc. The
measurement cites the width and length of a wood. However, the measurements stated are not the
true measurements due to the seasoning process and planning of the board. The real measurement
of 2x4 is actually 1.5x3.5, both length and width are each reduced by .5.

THE “QUARTERS” SIZING METHOD

This method is generally used by mills that sells lumber cut through rough sawn for
woodworking purposes. The Quarters method cites only the thickness of the wood as length and
widths may varies on the log the wood is sawn from. Lumber measured in “Quarters” shows the
number of quarters by an inches thick. Divide the first number by the second number to determine
the thickness of a board refered in quarter sizes. For example, a “4/4” board is 1 inches thick, and
an “10/4” is 2.5 inches thick.

BOARD FOOT
The most common unit of measurement used in woods and saw lumber is the board foot.
A rough sawn lumber are often sold by board foot, the measurement is equal to piece of wood with
12 inches wide, 1 inch thick, and 1 foot long. The formula for computing the board foot is
Thickness x Width x Length / 12 = Board Feet, thickness and width are measure in inches, while
length is measure by foot. This formula is commonly used in commercial dimensions of sawed
lumber.
𝑡𝑥𝑤𝑥𝑙
𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡 =
12
For example a 2 x 4 – 10’ has 6.667 board feet:
2 𝑥 4 𝑥 10
𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡 = = 6.667 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡
12

In addition, remember that a 5/4 x 6-14 stack of wood material is considered thicker than
a 1” thick of wood. Thus for computing 5/4 x 6-14, use 1.25 for the value of thickness instead of
1.
 1.25 𝑥 6 𝑥 14
𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡 = = 8.75 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡
12
The table below are the list in board foot for Lumber Dimension

Lumber Board Foot

Dimension Measurement

1x4 .334

2x4 .667

1x6 .5

2x6 1

1x8 .667

2x8 1.334

1x10 .834

2x10 1.667

1x12 1

2x12 2

5/4x4 .416

5/4x6 .625

For random width product like oak boards, you need to use the actual width by inches
instead of nominal width for calculating the board feet. If width are in inches in calculating the
board foot for random width, the unit of length is inches also, then divide by 144, because 144
square inches in a square is equal to board foot. For random width oak boards with an actual size
of 7/8” x 7 ¾” – 63”, the calculation will be:
1 𝑥 7.25 𝑥 63
𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡 = = 3.39 𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡
144
For calculating the board foot of logs, the following formula is used:
 (𝐷 − 4)2 𝑥 𝐿
𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡 =
16
Wherein, D is equals to inches for smaller diamter of logs, L is equals to length of log in
feet, while value 4 and 16 are constant within the formula and refers to the slab deduction
allowance. Example problem:
D = 14”
L = 18’

(24 − 4)2 𝑥 18
𝐵𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡 =
16
(20)2 𝑥 18
= = 450 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡
16
PULPWOOD MEASUREMENT OR CORD
Cord is the standard unit of measurement used for pulp wood and fuel wood, pulp wood
are used in making papers. In cord, the standard measurement for stack of wood is 4 feet high by
4 feet wide, and 8 feet long, or simply as 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. it consist of 128 cubic feet of space,
wood, and bark. It does not generally conatains 128 cubic feet of wood due to its air space, the air
space has an average capacity of 25 percent that can reach as high as 40 percent capacity.
Species and geography of wood are things to consider when purchasing or selling by
weight per cord. For hardwood pulpwood cord, the weight usually ranges between 5,400 pounds
to 6,075 pounds. While in pine pulpwood cord, the wieght usually ranges from 4,700 pounds to
5,550 pounds. The formula for calculating the standard cord of an wood is Length x Width x
Height/ 128, all values are measured in feet.
𝐿(𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡) 𝑥 𝑊(𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡) 𝑥 𝐻(𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡)
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑑 =
128
Example: a stack wood with length of 10 feet, width of 6 feet, and height of 3 feet.
10′ 𝑥 6′ 𝑥 3′
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑑 = = 1.406 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠
128

B. LUMBER AND IT’S RELATED PRODUCTS

Wood is the world’s abundant resources. Wood can be manufactured into other products
for commercial and construction purposes. Lumber is actually the first material sawn from the
wood, they are considered as raw material as they can still be manufactured in other products.
Commercial lumber products includes paper, tissues, as well as furniture products such as tables,
chairs, sofas, beds, cabinets, shutters, and other furniture products. Construction lumber products
have distinct manufacturing process to be suited for building materials. Some of the common
examples are plywood, hardboard, particleboard, and insulation board. Those materials are
considered as engineered materials, as they are manufactured for an specific works.
Manufactured boards are made of wood but does not appear in their natural state. This type
of building materials can be classified as a type of lumber as they are the by-product in the
manufacture of lumber. The complete utilization of wood has led to an expanded field of
manufactured boards.
I. Veneer
Veneer is a thin sheet of wood with constant thickness produced by slicing, peeling or sawing logs,
flitches, and bolts. Below are types of manufacture veenered cuts:
Veneer thickness ranges between 1/110” to 3/8". Drying of veneers is important to avoid damage
through mold, fungi, and staining as soon and rapidly as possible after the cutting process due to
the high moisture content required during the cutting methods. Several methods are used
depending on the ultimate use of the stock and the facilities available.
Hardwood veneers are classified into three distinct products: the face veneer, commercial veneer,
and container veneer
1) Face-veneer manufacturers generally use the sawing, slicing, or stay-dog cutting methods
on selected logs, burls, crotches, and stumps to produce the fancy face veneers.
2) Commercial veneer, or known as utility veneers are used as cores, backs of plywood
panels, cross bands, and concealed parts of furniture. These veneers are usually cut by the
rotary method. Some commercial veneers are sold as furnitures and piano
3) Container veneer consists of a variety of cheap veneers suitable for crates, cheese boxes,
fruit and vegetable baskets, and some similar items.
For softwood veneers, they are mainly used by the softwood plywood industry, however, it is also
used by the hardwood plywood industry as centerstock in hardwood panels.

II. Plywood
Plywood is a type of glued wood constructions made up of veneer layers so that the each grain
layer is at a right angle to that of the adjacent layer in the assembly. Cross-banded construction is
the method used in assembling plywoods. The crossbanded construction differentiates plywood
from laminated wood. Plywood provides apparent advantages over solid wood. Some of the more
important advantages are: strength properties are modified, dimensional stability is improved, and
wood characteristics are reorganized to maximum advantage.
Manufacturing of plywood can be varies considerably. Softwood plywood plants differ from
hardwood plywood plants in lot of aspect, however, the basic methods are common to all plywood-
manufacturers. They consist essentially of preparing the stock for gluing, mixing and spreading
glue, pressing, and finishing.
Types of hardwood-plywood are:
a) Type I (Ext.) - provides fully waterproof bond
b) Type II(Int.) - provides water resistant bond
c) Type III (Int.) - profide s moisture-resistant bond
Softwood-plywood are manufactured into two types:
a) Exterior types has glue lines that are 100 percent waterproof. Exterior type are specified
for all exposed applications.
b) Interior types has highly moisture resistant glue lines. The inner plies of veneer are of lower
grade than exterior type.
III. Fiberboard
Fiberboards are from the family of composition boards, are essentially wood fibers refined into
pulp and pressed into sheets, then graded based from itsdensity, from insulating board to the
pressed hardboards. In this process, heat and pressure generates the felting of the fibers and the
binding of the natural lignin to form the board. Fiberboard is classified into the, hardboard and
insulation board.
A. Hardboard
Hardboard is an engineered wood product made from clean logs that have been converted to chips
and wood fibers. The mingling and interlocking of the fibers provides significant characteristics
of uniformity in appearance, density, grainless structure, strength against cracking, chipping,
splitting, checking, etc. Hardboard can be used both as interior and exterior applications. Some of
the interior applications that can be used for are doors, furnitures, wall panels, ceilings, cabinets,
and other more. For exterior applications, some of the examples are shutters, trailers, fences,
concrete forms, and other more. The standard thickness are 1/12, 1/10, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, and 3/8,
while the standard widths are 3, 49 and 5 feet, and for standard lengths are 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16 feet.
Types of Hardboards are:
1) Standard hardboard is made through the standard hardboard process without any extra
treatments. It can be used where there are absence of unusually hard wear or extreme
humidity
2) Tempered hardboard is similar to standard hardboard, however some chemicals are added.
After that it will heat -treated developing an extra hard surface and a high resistance to
weather and moisture.
3) Service hardboard is of moderate strength somewhat less than that of standard. It is suitable
for general use and is a typical board for interior paneling.

B. Insulation Board
Insulation boards are designed to minimize noise and serves as a thermal barrier. It is manufactured
from cane, fibers of wood, or other vegetable matter and is usually applied to various areas in
commercial buildings and homes. The raw materials are refined into pulp, then fibers are treated
chemically, water proofed, then formed for a felting method, and lastly dried and cut to the finished
size board. Insulation property is produced when tiny air cells generates between the fibers during
the felting process. Other insulation board is impregnated with asphalt to provide resistant to
moistures for distinct uses.
Types of Insulation boards are:
1) Building Board are general purpose insulation board, used in interior finishing of ceilings
and walls. Some boards have a factory finished surface that requires no other decorations,
 while other have bases which requires finishes. The standard thickness is 1/2", while
standard width is 4', and standard lengths are 8', 9', 10', or 12'.

2) Roof Insulation board provides efficient and persistent insulation for roof decks. The
finished board may be either single or multiple piles bind together throug stitching,
stapling, or cementing. The standard thickness vary from 1/2" to 3" by 1/2" increments.
23" x 47", 24" x 48".

3) Sheating board is used as an insulation fo wall sheating, they are considered as water
resistant. Sheating boards are used for all types of wood frame construction. Standard
thickness are 1/2”, 25/32”, while standard width is 4’, and standard lengths are 8’, 9’ ,10’,
or 12’.

IV. Particle Board

Particle boards are also from the family of composition board, they are engineered panel, board,
or sheet that is manufactured in many sizes and shapes from wood particles. Those particles are
consist of small discreet pieces of wood binded together through pressure and heat, and with a
synthetic resin adhesive, or other appropriate binder. The standard thickness ranges from 1/8 to 2
inches, while the width ranges from 3 to 8 feet, and length ranges up to 24 feet.
Particle boards are manufactured in two ways: through flat-pressing or extrusion process. Both
methods has differences, and the products generated have distinct properties. Flat-pressing is
processed through multiple-opening hot press. Extrusion process has the same method of hot press
but with an addition of blending method.

V. Sheetboard
Sheetboard is a sheathing product manufactured from lower grades of lumber to which is glued
kraft paper. Sheetboard combines the insulation advantages of lumber with the conveniences of
larger panels.
Types of Sheetboards are:
1) Sheetboards are used for wall sheating and subflooring construction. Sometimes are used
in cheaper grade furnitures. Size is 2/4” x 4’ x 8’.
2) Sheet decks are used for roofdecking and subflooring, also consist of two inch nominal
thickness. Size 2" x 4" and the length can be determined by the installation which permits
a definite length.
VI. Shingles
A shingle is a small thin piece of wood with parallel edges and grain that are thinner at one end
than at the other. They are commonly used in roofing and siding building material. Western Red
Cedar, Souther Pine, Sugar Pine, Yellow Pine, Spruce, and Hemlock, are commonly used wood
for shingles.
Standard length of shingles are 16”, 18”, 24”. They have random widths and ranges from 3” to
14”. For thickness, it is measured at the butt when the material is green and this number is given
in the number of butts needed to make a 2" thickness.