Knowing Your Timber and How They Are Treated To Ensure Its Quality
We all delight on seeing beautiful timber floors and furniture, but how much do we really know about them. There are many kinds of timber with different colors and shading. Some are thin or thick, which chiefly affects its pricing. Some are so durable that your high heels will not be able to inflict that much damage. The reason for this variety is that timber can be sourced from a hundred different kind of wood species.
The many species can be categorized in two major groupings, the hardwoods and softwoods. The classification is in fact a botanical term to serve as a guide based on the hardness of the wood. For example, Balsa is most likely the softest wood in the market, but it is classified as a hardwood while the yew belongs to the softwood group although it may have similar properties with hardwoods.
Hardwood timber as the name implies are usually harder to handle, but they last longer. This makes hardwoods a lot more expensive. This particular species come from trees with broad leaves like the oak, ash, elm and lime. Hardwoods are typically used as furniture, where its natural grain and texture are highlighted to make them more attractive. Softwoods, on the other hand, are coniferous trees or cone-bearing trees, which are mostly evergreens like the Norway spruce. Since they are soft, they are much more pliant and easy to worked on. These are popularly used in floorings, joints, doors and even windows.
Fairly recently, however, the timber varieties from the Far East, Africa, North and South America have taken the place long held by the British and other European hardwoods. The emerging trend us the use of red hardwoods, which are mostly mahogany and the yellow ramin. Many timber merchants now offer a variety of timber species from all over the world, meeting all kinds of timber needs.
Moreover, many consumers now have a host of alternatives of the pricey hardwood. Many do-it-yourself stores offer artificial boards with a thin coating of hardwood like teak and mahogany. These are usually used in furniture or shelves. You can easily pick either a hardwood or softwood moldings for your homes. The usual sizes of softwood as well as certain kinds of hardwood are also extensively marketed by big stores, but a timber merchant is still the best option since they have more good choices of timber.
The manner in which the timber from the tree goes to our home is worth knowing so that you may be aware of how timber fares in some site conditions. A tree that has just been chopped down will still have a lot of moisture in it. To make it into timber for use, it needs to be cut or sawn and made to dry. This is what is known as the conversions and seasoning process. Some softwood may require certain preservatives so that is still good to use.
 Timber is usually sawn in two ways. The first one is called the “through and through” or the plain-sawn, which is also called the slash sawn. The log is basically cut into big planks by making a slice right through the tree, The growth rings or markings on the inside of a tree, which are tell-tale signs of a tree’s age, create a 45 degree angle or less with the surface. This type of slicing tend to wrinkle because the moisture content is nor even, with less in the center and more in the outer area. When the timber is dried, they do not dry out evenly, which accounts for the warping. To remedy this, the timber must be flattened just after drying towards the surface of the board. The second type of cut is called the “quarter-sawn.” This type slices the growth rings to create a 45 degree or more angle. This is often more costly than the first manner of cutting since there is a relatively less possibility of wrinkling.
When drying timber, it is typically utilizing the outdoor air or baking it in an oven. This process makes the timber stronger since it will ward away the growth of fungi. Dried timber is also easy to paint and varnish. However, even if the timber is dried, it can still be affected by the humidity or presence of moisture. It can either absorb or further loses moisture, making the planks expand and shrink respectively. In some instances, open air dried timber can shrink when brought into a heated house. The manner of how the timber is sawn has a big impact on the quality of the timber. For sure, quarter-sawn timber will shrink evenly.
Acclimatizing the timber is also important especially when you constantly move and transport it. For mall timber, a few days will do while a week or more may be required for big ones. For a longer life, a number of timber is treated with preservatives especially the sliced ends.
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