Finding the Right Lumber
Not sure whether you need hardwood or softwood, heavy or light wood, a dark grain with a light finish or a light grain with a dark finish? Let The Home Depot Lumber Buying Guide help. No matter what you're building, we have the lumber you need.
Hardwood Lumber
Hardwoods are derived from deciduous trees and come in either closed or open grains. The beautiful grain and hue of hardwood lumber makes it suitable for many projects from furniture and cabinetry to flooring and decorative mouldings.
Species availability varies by store.
Red Oak
Colour: Pink/reddish brown to blonde.
Widely popular, Red Oak is used in furniture, flooring, cabinets, mouldings, panelling, doors and fence posts. This wood features medium bending strength and great endwise compression resistance. Due to its consistent colour it matches existing profiles and other Oak products well. Red Oak soaks up stains due to its porous nature and offers a wide variety of finish tones.
Maple
Colour: Sapwood is creamy white to off white; heartwood may be slightly red/brown.
Valued for its light colour, dense grain and resistance to abrasive wear, Maple is a crowd favourite. It is a very hard, heavy and strong wood. This wood is used for furniture, flooring, cabinets, mouldings, stairs, handrails, panelling and doors. Maple has an excellent natural finish and accepts stains very well.
Poplar
Colour: Sapwood is white to yellow; heartwood is straw brown to green.
Due to its high resistance to splitting, Poplar is an ideal material for children's playground structures. This lower cost alternative to other hardwoods is used in light construction, furniture, cabinets, doors, siding, panelling and mouldings. Poplar will accept stain but darker stains are recommended due to the heartwood's repelling absorption.
Mixed Grain Fir
Colour: Brown and golden
The unique appearance of Mixed Grain Fir is ideal for stain grade projects that highlight the natural grain in the wood, as each piece has its own distinct pattern.
Birch
Colour: Sapwood is creamy white to yellow; heartwood is light reddish brown to pink.
Birch is hard, strong and heavy, and used most commonly for cabinets, furniture, flooring, millwork and interior doors. It has good bending and crushing strength, and its fine uniform texture and straight-grain accepts stain well.
Softwood Lumber
Softwoods typically come from coniferous or evergreen trees. They are harvested mainly for construction. Softwood lumber has a closed grain, which makes it less likely to absorb water. Grain is determined by the size and amount of pores in a tree; the straighter the grain, the stronger the wood.
Western Red Cedar
Colour: Sapwood is straw-coloured; heartwood may be pink/reddish-brown to dark chocolate brown.
Western Red Cedar is noted for its beauty, versatility, aroma and durability. Its natural resistance to moisture, decay, and insect damage makes it perfect for outdoor environments. It is dimensionally stable and its straight grain resists twisting, warping, cupping, deforming, and shrinking. Cedar easily accepts a range of finishes from fine oils and stains, to solid coatings and paint, or it can be left untreated to weather naturally. This lightweight wood is easy to use and install.
Pine
Colour: Sapwood is creamy white; heartwood is pale reddish brown.
The aroma and numerous knots of pine are unmistakable. The knots are generally small and remain intact. This straight-grain wood is even in texture, lightweight, soft and strong. Pine is most commonly used for cabinets, furniture, moulding and doors.
SPF (Spruce, Pine and Fir)
Colour: Sapwood is blonde; heartwood is yellowish- to reddish-brown.
Also known as white woods, SPF are the most common western softwoods used in construction. They are abundant and possess excellent qualities for building. Light and natural stains are recommended for these species as dark stains produce a wild grain for uneven colouring. Since Spruce Pine and Douglas Fir have similar characteristics they have been combined into one grade for buying and selling.
Pressure Treated Lumber
Pressure treated lumber is the most economical means of building your deck or fence. It is designed for long-term performance in outdoor applications and therefore requires high quality corrosion-resistant nails, screws, other fasteners, hardware and any metal product.
The preservative on pressure treated lumber resists the wood against fungal and insect decay, as well as moisture from exposure. ProGuard™ preserved wood products undergo strict quality standards to ensure the wood is treated properly to provide maximum protection; they are available exclusively at The Home Depot.
When building your outdoor project with pressure treated lumber, it is important to protect the cut ends of boards. All cuts and holes that expose untreated wood should be liberally brush-coated with an end-cut preservative (copper naphthenate in ground contact or zinc naphthenate above ground) before the wood is installed.
Dimensional Framing Lumber
Dimensional framing lumber is used for building wood structures such as: wall, floor and roof systems; load-bearing construction; framing and structural support. Its nominal thickness is at least 2" and its nominal width is at least 2". Different sizes of dimensional lumber are used for different parts of a structure. Lumber used to support a portion of a structure's weight must be the right size and grade to bear that load.
Dimensional lumber is classified as: joist, post, beam and stud.
Joist
A joist is one of a series of parallel beams used to support a floor or ceiling. Joists are in turn supported by larger beams, girders or load-bearing walls.
Post
A post is an upright column that carries a load placed on its end. Posts are placed under beams and are available most commonly in 4" x 4" or 6" x 6" sizes.
Beam
A beam is a structural member that is at least 5" in width and 2" in thickness and is placed horizontally to carry a load along its length.
Stud
A stud is a vertical framing member used to construct walls and is no smaller than 2" x 2" and no larger than 2" x 6".
Our Millstead dimensional framing lumber meets the highest grading standards for strength and appearance. It is straighter and smoother, with virtually no bark, warp or twist.
Grades of Lumber
After lumber is planed, it is graded for quality according to natural growth characteristics. Some common names of characteristics include:
Check
- Small wood separation along the length of grain
- No impact on strength, although not visually desirable on structures such as decks and railings
Decay
- Rotting of the wood usually caused by fungi and/or moisture
- Rarely occurs, but pieces with decay may not be structurally sound
Knot
- Many kinds of knots classified by size from pin knots to large knots over 1-1/2" in diameter
- Larger knots may limit the strength of the lumber
Pitch
- Resin accumulated in the wood cells making a patchy appearance
- No impact on strength, but does not accept paint or stain well
Split
- Wood separated lengthwise completely through from one face to the other
- No impact on strength, although not visually desirable on structures such as decks and railings
Wane
- Bark, or no wood at the corner or edge of lumber
- If the proportion of wane present is within tolerances, strength would not be impacted, only the appearance
Warp
- Twisting or uneven shape of lumber. Lumber can warp in four ways.
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Bow
The wide surface is true across the face but is curved along the length
Crook/Crown
The narrow face is true across the face but is curved along the length
Cup
The wide surface is curved across the face
Twist
All four planes are curved in a spiral like way
- No impact on strength, but impact on usage; ideal for use as plate material
Grades are designated by numbers, letters and words. Lumber is stamped with a grade mark that quickly identifies its quality.
- No. 2 and better is used for general construction
- Economy is excellent for non-code construction
- Select is best for exposed framing and where high structural integrity is important
Images of lumber characteristics have been taken from the Canadian Lumber Grading Manual, published by National Lumber Grades Authority.
Glossary of Lumber Terms
Closed Grain
Lumber with small pores that resist dents well and is harder than open-grain wood, but less stable.
Density
Refers to how compact the wood particles are. This is determined by the tightness of the grain pattern and the wood's ability to resist water. The denser the wood, the less likely it is to dent or scratch.
Defects
Refers to the unique markings inherent to any piece of wood.
Durability
Refers to the wood's ability to withstand environmental elements like water, snow, wind, etc.
Girder
A beam used as a main horizontal support in a house.
Grade
A grade is assigned to each piece of harvested lumber; the higher the grade, the fewer the defects.
Grain
Refers to the natural patterns found in wood. Grains vary in size, tightness and colour, based on the species of the wood.
Heartwood
Refers to the inner part of the tree trunk that is denser and darker than sapwood.
Nominal
In lumber, nominal thickness and nominal width are industry-standard size designations, and are generally greater than the actual thickness and actual width.
Open Grain
Lumber with large pores that are more stable than closed-grain wood, although not as hard.
Sapwood
Refers to the outer layer of the tree between the bark and the heartwood.
Stability
Refers to the wood's ability to maintain its size and shape. A wood that shrinks or expands depending on the weather would be classified as less stable.
Texture
Refers to the visual and tactile qualities of the surface of a piece of wood.
