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Wood

Both the physical characteristics of wood and its widespread availability have accounted for its dominance in the stucture, finishing, and cladding or buildings over the centuries - as basic frameworks, floors, roofs, window frames, interior trim and panelling - not to mention the use in furniture. Relatively light, wood can be shaped and jointed to create a wide range of different types of structure, from simple huts or log cabins to more ellaborate post-and-beam constructions.

Wood is a blanket term that encompasses a vast range of different species, both hardwoods and softwoods, each with their own unique characteristics. For centuries, hardwoods, notably oak, teak and mahogany have been amongast the most prized of all woods, due to their strength, density and resistance to decay. Softwoods, which are less durable but quicker growing, have long been widely used as basic constructional materials and as surfaces for subsequent treatment, for example, in the form of painting, varnishing or staining.

Wood Types

Wood products come in varying degrees of authenticity. Solid boards or chunks of timber are self-evidntly the real thing, at the other end of the spectrum, some manufactued wood effect floors or panels may actually contain very little wood at all. They are simply a thin veneer laminated onto base. In the most synthetic versions of all, paper printed with a wood-like pattern replaces the veneer.

Solid timber si worked in various ways which determines its appearance and occasionally its durability. Timber which has been cut in a parallel fashion along the length of the log is called plain sawn. This method of working reveals the full rustic character of wood, with knots, marks and other variations of color and pattern. End-grain, where timber is cut across the grain, is the hardest and most durable of all. Timber supplies often grade wood according to appearance, with the best or most select grades being those which are largely free of defects. These come mainly from hearthwood, or central portion.

1-plain ash, 2-quilted ash veneer, 3-white beech, 4-cedar of Lebanon, 5-American cherry, 6-Europeean cherry, 7-chestnut

• Manufactured Woods

• Softwood and Hardwood

• Common Commercial Woods Usage and Characteristics