The Home Improvement industry is one of the biggest and fasting growing segments of the economy, totaling over $450 billion in the U.S. The most essential and common material used in home improvement is timber. Here are the basics you need to know.
What is the meaning of Timber?
Timber is a term describing any type of hardwood, cut into beams and planks. Generally, timber is used for the structure of buildings, but there are many other uses for it. In the U.S., the common word for timber is lumber.
What is Timber used for?
Timber is the most commonly used renewable resource in the world. Timber is used for building houses and commercial buildings. Not only is the structural frame of most buildings made of timber, so are the subfloors, floors, and the external siding. Inside the building doors, windows, furniture, and panels are made from timber.
What is C16 Timber and C24 Timber?
These are two of the most common grades of solid timber. The code is there to show the type of wood and its strength. These elements factor into the price of the product and help the buyer know what to use it for.
The C stands for Coniferous, which is also described as softwood. 80% of all timber comes from softwood. Other grades of wood are D and GL, for hardwood and glulam.
The numbers 24 and 16 are the strength grade for softwood.
What do the numbers 16 and 24 stand for?
The numbers stand for the bending strength of the wood.
- C16 Timber is the most commonly recommended type of timber. It is very cost-effective and is strong enough for most applications as long as the spans and loads are done right. This type of wood may have more or bigger knots.
- C24 Timber is wood that is the stronger type of timber. This wood can handle more demanding uses such as heavier loads or wider span applications. This type of wood has fewer or smaller knots and very few or no pin worm holes in them.
Why does it matter what grade timber I buy?
It is important to get good quality timber that is the proper grade for your home improvement project. Failure to get the right grade can cause the structure to fail. This can lead to injury or costly repairs and legal liability. Also, building codes and permit requirements in some areas specify the grade for each project.
How to choose timber?
All timber you buy at the store has been through an automatic selector that assures that it is structurally sound and clean enough to use. It has also been kiln dried to reduce the moisture content to below 20%.
Inspect all timber for defects. Be sure there are no defects. Although no piece of wood is perfectly straight, it is important to be sure that it is too warped.
Timber is one of the most commonly used products in the world. Now that you have the basics, go build something.
