17 Types of Wood and Lumber For Building (With Pictures)

Wooden and lumber are important for creating residences, and there are three primary wooden kind categories—softwood, hardwood, and engineered wooden. Each wood has its traits and attributes, so it’s needed to know which variety to use for your up coming project.

The different wooden and lumber possibilities you go for will count on the venture and what you want to attain. We have designed this checklist of 17 kinds of wooden and lumber for building to help you get common with various wood and lumber varieties.

The 17 Types of Wood and Lumber for Building

1. Cedar

There are in excess of fifteen cedar species used for constructing. Cedar is unique because of to its pleasurable scent and attractive visual appeal. It falls into the softwood category, and it’s a extremely tough wooden species. Cedar is not prone to warping and twisting, so it’s best for development use. This wood is outstanding for humid regions since it has self-protective values from mildew and insects and it’s wonderful for residence siding because it does not alter its proportions or dimensions regardless of the climate and humidity.

Making use of Cedar to construct is eco-welcoming, so it’s a fantastic alternative when creating sustainable homes. This wooden sort calls for upkeep if utilized outside, so make sure to treat it to preserve its lovely visual appeal.

2. Cherry

Cherry is a hardwood wooden variety that’s quite prized in the United States. It’s amongst softer versions of hardwood and it’s typically employed for interior building fairly than the residence exterior. Most men and women use it for flooring, paneling, furnishings, doorways, and cabinetry. This wood kind is effortless to perform with and you can shape it and carve it to your preference. Cherry wooden typically lightens when uncovered to sunlight, so preserve that in thoughts when using this wood sort for creating.

3. Spruce

Spruce is a wood kind comparable to Pine. It is among the softest sorts of softwood, and it can be difficult to operate with. Processing Spruce is complex simply because it is susceptible to cracking, even though it is among the most widespread sorts of wooden utilised for constructing residences. That’s due to the fact it has a minimal density, making it ideal structural and constructing timber. Still, it requirements to be chemically dealt with for outdoor use simply because it can rot quickly when in contact with the floor or in damp weather conditions.

4. Redwood

Redwood is a lovely, lengthy-long lasting softwood with several traits that distinguish it from other wooden kinds. It is resistant to warping, decay, cracking, and shrinking, generating it popular to operate with. Redwood is employed for structural beams, trims, posts, and decking. It’s is really tough and minimal-servicing and because of to its stunning color, something created with Redwood will seem sophisticated and timeless. It is pretty high-priced, but it is nicely worth the cost due to the fact of these qualities.

5. Oak

Oak is between the most well-liked kinds of wooden utilised for creating homes. There are two Oak varieties, Purple Oak and White Oak.  This timber is durable and desirable, making it usable for many various purposes, despite the fact that Oak is really weighty. It’s h2o and fungi-resistant, so it is best for exterior usage. Oak is one more environmentally friendly wood variety appropriate for sustainable houses. It is quite adaptable, and individuals mainly use it for exterior cladding and hardwood floors.

6. Maple

Maple is a wooden species divided into delicate and difficult Maple. As the title implies, tough Maple is a lot more resilient than gentle Maple. Below the tough Maple category, we count just a single Maple species known as Acer Saccharum. On the other hand, multiple Maple species tumble into that classification for the delicate Maple.  Both kinds are used for creating, mainly for indoor employs such as creating hardwood flooring, cabinetry, or household furniture. It is reduced maintenance, reasonably priced, and can be a beautiful all-natural component of any home.  Maple is not as resilient as other wood varieties, so folks do not use it for out of doors or structural function.

7. Pine

Pine is a softwood species that tends to make an excellent building materials. That’s why we classify it into varieties of wood utilised for constructing houses. Irrespective of it currently being a softwood, it is very resilient and stiff. Owing to its all-natural gentle coloration, individuals select it to improve their property aesthetics on the inside, although they use it for its acknowledged durability outside the house. Pine is shock-resistant and lightweight, producing it best for use in development. This lumber is an additional eco-pleasant selection.

8. Ash

Ash is a resilient hardwood which is shock-resistant and comparatively lightweight in contrast to other hardwood species. It can very easily bend so it is not tough to perform with. It is not as pricey as other hardwoods with similar characteristics, so which is why several folks go for ash rather than other hardwoods. Ash is much more workable for upkeep than other hardwoods, and you can use it for hardwood flooring, cabinetry, and furniture.

Regardless of Ash currently being resilient, it is not a single of the very best varieties of wood used for developing properties, so Ash ought to be utilised in the inside only. When processed, this wooden sort has a slightly unpleasant odor, so it’s very good to put on a mask when processing Ash.

9. Hemlock

Hemlock is a lightweight, strong softwood, and it is generally employed for house building and other creating assignments. Hemlock’s primary utilization in building is sub-flooring, framing, sheathing, and roofing. Folks use it for stairs, fences, or shutters in inside layout. This lumber sort is quite related to hardwood due to the fact it’s powerful and not vulnerable to warping. It’s pretty cost-effective and retains stains and paints properly. Even though it has many excellent attributes, like every other wood, Hemlock has some negatives. It’s not the most resilient wood on the market, it can be susceptible to splinters, in addition, it’s relatively difficult to work with.

10. Beechwood

Beechwood is a non-durable hardwood with great workability and is typically easy to procedure. Its standard use is for developing household furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and door building.  It’s rather tough and doesn’t very easily scratch, so this variety of hardwood floor is really popular with home owners. Beechwood is fairly a hefty wood species, and it absorbs drinking water fast. That is why you ought to use it just for the inside. It has to be stained and polished so that it doesn’t crack if used outdoor.

11. Teakwood

Teakwood is a large-good quality hardwood that has different employs. It has a stunning golden-honey brown colour, and is fashionable owing to its longevity and exclusive physical appearance. Teakwood is employed for furniture, decking, boat constructing, and exterior construction. When thinking about sorts of wood employed for creating homes, teakwood must be on your record.

It is drinking water and decay-resistant but is an high-priced hardwood that demands a great deal of upkeep, so have that in brain ahead of commencing your building undertaking.  Also, this lumber is fairly tough to work with owing to its higher density.

12. Balsa

Though regarded a hardwood, Balsa is a quite comfortable wooden species with a Janka Hardness Score of only a hundred, which is amid the least expensive on the scale. People use Balsa for insulation, design building, furnishings, and carving. It’s simple to work with owing to its minimal density. This is another reasonably priced hardwood, but it does have negatives. The main kinds are that it’s extremely flammable, not extremely resilient, and it is inclined to insect and water damage.

13. Poplar

Poplar is a funds-welcoming hardwood with appealing colours and a number of usages. It’s pretty strong, so its daily use is to create household furniture, cabinets, trims, ornamental molding, and pallets. Regardless of Poplar being a hardwood, it is very delicate and not as durable as other hardwoods are. It is effortless to work with since it is lightweight, but it is vulnerable to scratches and dents. Poplar is a hardwood alternative that you can use for a variety of things, but hold in mind that it is more vulnerable to hurt than other hardwoods.

14. Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir is a hugely sturdy softwood that is resilient, robust, and can bear inclement climate, producing it best for developing properties. It is largely utilised in flooring, trim, joinery, furniture producing, and decking.

Engineered Woods

15. OSB (Oriented Strand Board)

OSB is a constructing material typically produced from poplar, pine, and combined hardwood species.  OSB’s are engineered wood panels, and they are a single of the most common materials utilized for structural development. It is really affordable, and because it’s less expensive than hardwoods, individuals use it for various Do-it-yourself assignments. OSB is very robust, has high density, and can be used for indoor and out of doors employs. It is also water-resistant, so you won’t have to fear about damages from poor weather conditions. It’s pliable, so we do not recommend utilizing it for flooring owing to feasible squeaking.

Related Read through: seven Distinct Varieties of Engineered Wooden (with Images)

16. Hardboard

Hardboard is one more engineered wood type which is 1 of the frequent varieties of wood utilized for constructing houses. Hardboard is mostly utilised for roofs and partitions, but you can also make household furniture or doors. It is really minimal-upkeep, extremely resilient, and seems wonderful. It is not the most stunning item out there, but people usually use it thanks to its affordable cost and excellent attributes. Hardboard is an eco-pleasant material that is fairly weighty and doesn’t have a all-natural appear. It is also not water-resistant with out added treatment, so bear in mind that ahead of you determine to use it for your tasks.

17. Plywood

Plywood is an engineered wooden alternative produced from thin sheets of veneer peeled from debarked wood. It has an attractive look and it’s strong, so it’s generally utilised for developing. Plywood is also resilient and arrives in various measurements. It is versatile and affordable, so numerous folks pick it when building or doing Do it yourself projects. You often need to have to include Plywood with a laminate complete, although, simply because you can see levels of veneers at the edges.

Conclusion

There are numerous varieties of wood utilised for building homes and other tasks. You can choose anything from hardwoods, softwoods, or engineered wood.  Just before you commence, familiarize oneself with all the species and their rewards/negatives. Contemplate all the particulars, such as workability, toughness, and price tag, and then make your selection. If you need to have a reminder, you can often appear back to this article and examine out the execs and negatives of each and every wood sort we described.

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Showcased Image Credit: Ralphs_Fotos, Pixabay