Ar266 – bldng.

tech 02
Arch.Cedeño
Introduction to Wood & Lumber
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 Wood

 Wood is that fibrous substance which compose the

trunk and branches of the tree that lies between the
pith and the bark.

 Even with the introduction of and acceptance of

new materials and methods of construction, wood is
evidently much in use. Bec of its strength, light in
weight, durability and ease of fastening has become
one of the most important building material.

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 Wood used in architecture
 The physical properties of wood that attracts us are:
1. Natural warmth- to touch, wood insulates
2. Workability; easily shaped with simple tools
3. Infinite variety: no two trees even pieces from the same tree are
alike
4. Strength-to-weight ratio for bridges, boats, homes, furniture.
5. Flexibility: watch even huge trees bend before the wind.
6. Fire protection: wood chars and therefore burns slowly, doesn't
melt or crumble.
7. Color: natural, through woods ability to receive many types of
stains and finishes. 3
 Definition of terms

 Lumber- is the term applied to wood after it is

sawed or sliced into boards,planks & timber.

 Rough lumber- is the term applied to unplaned or

undressed lumber.

 Surface or Dressed Lumber is a planed lumber

having at least one smooth side.

 S2S, S4S are dressed lumber wherein the number

connotes the number of smooth side such as s2s
means smooth on two sides s4s on 4 sides.
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 Definition of terms

 Slab – is a kind of rough lumber which is cut

tangent to the annual rings running the full length
of the log and containing at least one flat surface

 Timber- is a piece of lumber five inches or 13cm or

larger in its smallest dimension.

 Plank-is a wide piece of lumber from 4 to 13cm.

Thk.

 Board- is a piece of lumber less than 4 cm thick with

at least 10cm wide.
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 Definition of terms

 Flitch – is a thick piece of lumber

 Fine grained- when the annual rings are small the

grain or the marking which separates the adjacent
rings is said to be fine grained. When large, it is
called coarse Grained.

 Straight grained- when the direction of the fibers are

nearly parallel with the side and edges of the board
, it is said to be straight grained.

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 Classification of wood
 wood are classified according to:
Density
 A. Soft- come from conifers(evergreens) which have needles instead
of leaves ex. Pine
- Grows in temperate forest
 B. Hard- come from the broad-leaved or deciduous trees , most
Philippine timber are of this latter kind.
 - Grows in temperate forest or tropical
 The term “ hardwood “ and softwood are often misleading bec.
They have no direct relation to the actual hardness or softness of
the wood, so that a hardwood may actually be softer than a
softwood. 7
 Grain

 A. straight, b. Cross c. Fine d. coarse

 Nature of the surface when sawed

 A. plain. B grained c. Figured or marked

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 Structure of wood

 A. Sap wood- is the softer, younger outer portion of

a tree that lies between the cambium( formative
layer just underneath the bark) and the heartwood.

 More permeable , less durable and usually lighter in

color than the heartwood.

 Lighter in color and is most susceptible to blueing

fungi and wood-boring insects and is not durable.

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 Structure of wood

 B. Heartwood- is the older harder,central portion of

a tree. It usually contains deposits of various
materials that frequently give it a darker color than
sapwood.

 Denser and less permeable and more durable

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 Properties of wood

 A. Hardness- this is measured by the compression

which a piece of timber undergoes when a weight
is applied to it.

 B. Flexibilty- The amount of piece will bend before

breaking . Softwoods are generally brittle while
most hardwoods are flexible.

 C. Strength

 D. Durabilty

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 Defects in wood
Defects are irregularities found in wood. The most common defects in wood
are:

1.caused by abnormal growth

A.shakes- these are cracks bet. and parallel to the annual rings of the growth.

1.Heart shake- are radial cracks originating at the heart of the logs
commonly found in old trees.

2. wind shakes or Cup shakes- are cracks or breaks across the annual rings of
the wood during its growth caused by excessive bending of the tree due to
strong wind

3. star shakes- are composed of several heart shakes which radiate from the
center of the log in star-like manner
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 Defects in wood

C.Checks – Cracks or lengthwise separation across the

annual rings of growth caused by irregular shrinkage
during drying. Checks are formed when the
circumference shrinks more than the interior section of
the log.

D.Wane- this is the lack of wood on the edge or corner

of a piece.

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 Defects in lumber

 Warping- any variation with the plane surface of the piece

caused by unequal shrinkage of the board.

There are several forms of warp:

1.Crook- it is a distortion of the board in which the long edge is

convex or concave.

2.Bow – it is a distortion of the board in which the face is convex

or concave.

3.Cup- it is a distortion of the board in which the face is convex or

concave across the board.

4. Twist- It is a distortion of the board in which one corner is

rised.
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 Defects in wood

2. Due to deterioration & decay

 1. dry rot- is caused by fungi in a seasoned lumber

due to the presence of moisture

 2. wet rot- takes place sometime in the growth of the

tree by water saturation.

 3. pitch pockets-these are well defined openings bet

annual rings containing solid or liquid pitch.

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 Methods of sawing wood
 A log of wood can be cut in two different ways to make timber.

 1.Plain sawing

- refers to lumber cut tangent to the annual rings or growth in

commercial practice, cut with annual rings at an angle 0deg to
45deg. Plain sawn timber is preferable when a pleasing pattern
is required, as in wall paneling

 2.Quarter sawing-

-Refers to wood cut radially to the annual rings of growth parallel

to the rays or in, commercial practice, cut with the annual
growth rings at an angle 45deg to 90 deg
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Methods & Manner of log
sawing

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 lumbering

 Lumbering is the term applied to the operations

performed in preparing the wood for commercial
purposes.

 Logging is the process of operation from cutting of

tress, hauling and delivering of wood to the sawmill
for sawing.

 Sawing is the operation of cutting the logs into

commercial sizes of lumber.

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 Lumber
 Wood that is used in construction is called LUMBER.

 Lumber sizes are indicated by a series of numbers.

 Thickness″ × Width″ × Length′
 For example, 1″ × 10″–12′
(One inch thick × 10 inches wide and 12 feet long)

Lumber is sold in lengths form 6’ up to 20’ in increments of 2’.

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 Unit of measurement
 Board foot- is the unit of measure used in computing
volume of lumber despite the introduction of the metric
measure.

 Board foot is found by dividing the product of the thickness

times the width and length by 12

 I bd. Ft = 1 square ft x 1” thick

 Ex. Find the board foot of 5 pieces 2”x6”14’ lumber.

 Solution 5x2x6x14/ 12 = 70 bd. Ft.

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 How to determine the number of board foot in a log

 Bd.ft volume= (d-4)2 x L / 16

 Note :2 means squared

 Where d= is the smallest diameter of log

 L=the length of log

 4=slab reduction allowance

 Ex. Find the board foot of a lumber that could be derived from a 28” dia
log x 20’ long

 Sol. (28-4)2x20’/16 =720 bd.ft

* In computing the number of board feet, fractions of an inch are taken as 1.

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 Lumber size

 It is important to realize that the stated size

of lumber is not its actual finished size.
Nominal size is the size of lumber when it is
cut from the log. After cutting ,the lumber is
dried and then planed on all four sides to
achieve smoothness. The finished size is
therefore smaller.

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 Actual vs. Nominal

 Actual dimensions of lumber are smaller than the

name implies.

 For example:
A nominal 2x6
Is actually
1 ½″

1 ½″ × 5 ½″ 2x6
2″

5 ½″
6″

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 Actual vs. Nominal
Nominal Actual Nominal Actual
1x4 ¾″ x 3 ½″ 2x4 1 ½″ x 3 ½″
1x6 ¾″ x 5 ½″ 2x6 1 ½″ x 5 ½″
1x8 ¾″ x 7 ¼″ 2x8 1 ½″ x 7 ¼″
1x10 ¾″ x 9 ¼″ 2x10 1 ½″ x 9 ¼″
1x12 ¾″ x 11 ¼″ 2x12 1 ½″ x 11 ¼″

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 Lumber Volume

 Lumber may be purchased by the piece.

 e.g., 36 – 2”x8”–16′

 Large quantities of lumber are often purchased by

the board foot (bdft).
 e.g., 750 bdft of 2”x4”x12’
 This is typically done at the wholesale level.
 Also allows for varying board lengths.

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 Seasoning of lumber

 Moisture has a big influence on the behavior

and properties of wood. While water has been
in wood since its formation, yet after the tree is
cut. Water becomes detrimental to it. It makes
wood liable to the attack of insects and fungi
and unfit to use.
 The process of removing moisture from green
wood( wood from freshly-cut logs) is called
seasoning.
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 Drying of wood in the log
 Water occurs in wood as free water found in cell cavities and
intercellular spaces of wood. When surface moisture comes in
contact with that air it evaporates, the water equilibrium in the log
is upset and moisture from the interior travels towards the surface.
 When all free water is removed but all absorbed water remains,
the so called “ fiber-saturation point” ( approximately 30%
moisture content (M.C) for all species) is reached.
 Shrinkage of wood occurs at moisture content percentages below
the fiber –saturation point.
 The condition of dryness of the wood of the wood is called
equilibrium moisture content (E.M.C) and in the philippines this is
equivalent to from 12 to 16 % moisture content.
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 Seasoning of lumber

 By nature, trees contain moisture in their cell layers.

These moisture has to be expelled thoroughly in
order to preserve the wood from shrinkage or
decay.

 Old method:

 Soaking of wood into liquid after cutting into

flitches is less subject to splitting & decay, it reduces
warping but becomes brittle and less elastic.

 Used by ancient roman builders.

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 Methods of seasoning
lumber
 1. Natural or air seasoning – is considered as one of
the best method of seasoning lumber, although the
period period involved is relatively longer.

 Artificial seasoning ( Kiln Dried)-is a process

wherein the lumber is stacked in a drying kiln and
then exposed to steam and hot air. Wood from this
process undergoes quick drying and is classified as
quite inferior in quality compared to the first
process.

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 The ideal conditioning in seasoning is for the moisture from the interior of
the wood to replace the surface moisture which vaporizes.

 Season lumber has many advantages over green lumber.

 a. it lessens the liability of the wood to be attacked by the fungi causing

blueing and decay and by some wood-boring insects.

 b.Reduction of weight

 c. Increased strength

 e. Reduce checking and warping

 f. increased nail-holding power of the woods

 G. improvement of the wood for the application of paint and to receive

wood preservatives, fire retardants.
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 Advantages of kiln-drying over air drying.

 A. Greater reduction in weight

 B. Control of moisture content to any desired value

 C. Reduction in drying time

 D. Killing of any fungi or insects

 E. Less degrade ( Degrade is the loss in quality

during seasoning of the lumber through unequal
shrinkage which causes checks and loosening of
knota, warping)

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 Wood deterioration
 A. decay-molds, stains and fungi in wood are caused by
fungi. Most decay occurs in wood with a moisture content
above the fiber saturation point. Usually wood maintained at
20% M.C or less is safe from fungus damage.

 Wood that is under water or continuously dry will not

decay.

 B. insects and marine organism

 Subterranean termites, ants

 mollusk and crustaceans in salt water or brackish water is

best arrested by heavy, thorough treatment with coal tar
creosote or creosote-coal tar solutions.
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Preservative treatment of wood in marine environment
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Decay in a poorly constructed building envelope
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 The process of preserving
wood
 1. external- the wood is coated with
preservation ( as paint ) which
penetrates the fiber
 2.Internal-a chemical compound is
impregnated at a pressure to permeate
the wood thoroughly.

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 General groups of Wood
preservatives
 A. Oil type preservatives
 1. coal-tar creosotes- black or brownish oil made from
distilling coal tar.
 2.petachlorophenol-mixture of petroleum oils and 5%
pentachlorophenol. Use for the treatment of utility post
 B. Water-borne wood preservatives
 1. Chromated cooper arsenate( CCA)
 2.Ammoniacal Copper Arsenate (ACA)
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Methods of applying wood
preservative
 A. pressure treatment- consist in
placing the wood in cylinders into
which the preservative is pumped
under pressure.
 B. hot and cold bath method- used for
creosote preservative.
 C. brushing
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 Treatment of wood:
2 methods of treating wood to increase its fire
resistance

 A. Covering the wood with compound or material

 -coating

 B. Impregnating the wood with a chemical- zinc

chloride

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end

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