TIMBER GLOSSARY .
Wood & Timber Glossary
There are many terms that are unique to the timber and woodworking industry. A lot of this industry specific jargon can be confusing. To help you understand timber terms and definitions we put together this timber glossary.
If you have any questions about the definitions in this glossary, or if you’d like to learn more about the timber and building supplies we have for sale, you can call Versace Timbers on 07 3266 9000 or you can get in touch online. You can also visit us at 33 Vauxhall St, Virginia.
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A-M
- ACQ - This stands for alkaline copper quaternay. This is used as a wood preservative in pressure treated lumber, and it helps to protect the wood from insects and decay.
- Air Dried - This is a process used to remove the moisture from freshly cut timber. Air drying wood can take up to 16 months. Air drying wood is also the most affordable way to remove moisture.
- Along the Grain - Wood that has been cut along the grain is considered the most beautiful cuts of wood and is therefore the most desirable for decorative wood.
- Balustrade - This is a group vertical shafts used to support a handrailing. A single vertical shaft from a balustrade is known as a baluster.
- Beam - A wood beam is a piece of solid or laminated wood that has been cut into uniform dimensions. These pieces of wood are commonly used as structure wood.
- Bearer - A bearer is a piece of structural timber that supports the majority of the weight of a structure. An example of a bearer beam is the central beam that runs along the peak of a vaulted roof. Small support beams called joists often sit on top of bearer beams.
- Blue Board - Blue board is a kind of plasterboard used in indoor construction due to its lack of water resistance. Its biggest advantage is that it is often more durable than standard plasterboard.
- Borers - A borer is a kind of beetle that is destructive to wood products. They bore into wood damaging it. Wood is often pressure treated with insecticides that protect it from borers and other insects.
- Bowing - Bowing is a kind of warping or bending in wood beams or boards caused by exposure to moisture.
- Burl - In wood grain terminology, burl refers to a kind of rare and unique grain characteristic that is highly sought after due to its beauty.
- CCA - Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is a kind of wood preservative used in pressure treated wood to protect the wood from insects and fungus.
- Cement Cladding - Fibre cement cladding is a durable decorative cladding material that is used as an alternative to timber cladding.
- Chain of Custody - In timber terminology, chain of custody refers to the record of the steps taken for the wood to come from the forest to the timber mill and ultimately to the timber dealer. The chain of custody record is used to ensure that the wood had been harvested in a responsible and sustainable way.
- Chamferboard - This is form of structural cladding that consistes of long thin overlapping horizontal boards that run along the outside of a house or other building.
- Cladding - Cladding is the exterior material of a house that serves the primary purpose of protecting the structure from the elements. Cladding can also be beautiful and decorative.
- Composite Timber - This is a kind of man-made wood substitute that contains real wood fibres, glues and other materials. Composite timber is often a cheaper alternative to natural timber and is usualy made to look like real wood.
- Compressed Fibre Cement - This kind of sheeting is made of cement and natural fibres. It is used in areas where there will be considerable moisture, such as showers and bathrooms.
- Coniferous - A kind of evergreen tree with needle or scale like leaves.
- Cubic Meters - This is the unit of measurement often used to describe the volume of large quantities of wood.
- DAR - Dressed All Round (DAR) timber has been smoothed on all sides through a machining process.
- Decking - Decking refers to material used in the construction of decks.
- Dressed Timber - Dressed timber has been exactly machined to custom specifications.
- Dressing - Dressing timber is the process of preparing timber to be used by machining it to the exact specifications required for a project.
- Drying - Freshly cut wood contains a lot of moisture. Drying is the process of removing that moisture from the wood.
- Durability - In wood terminology, durability refers to a wood’s ability to resist decay.
- End Grain - The end grain is the grain pattern visible at the end of a beam or board. The end grain will often show the rings of the tree the timber came from.
- End Splits - End splits are slits or cracks that sometimes form in the end of pieces of timber during the process of drying.
- Engineered Timber Flooring - These kinds of wood flooring boards are made of composite timber with thin sheets of real wood glued to it. This is a cheaper alternative to hardwood flooring.
- F Grades - This is a grading system used to designate the characteristic design strengths for structural timber.
- Fascia - These boards are used to cap the end of rafters and are usually long and thin.
- Fastenings - Fastening refers to connecting and securing beans or boards. This is often done through the use of screws or nails.
- Fence Posts - This is the vertical structural support beams used in fence construction that are embedded in the ground.
- Fence Railing - These are long horizontal beams that connect two fence posts. Sometimes a fence will only consist of fence posts and fence railings, while other times vertical fence boards will be attached to the fence railings.
- Fibreboard - This is a kind of man-made board available in different densities and it is made up of wood fibres or wood chips held together with resins.
- Finger Joint - This is a joining method to connect two pieces of wood together. A finger joint is made by cutting interlocking notches into the parts of the pieces of wood that will be connected together.
- Finished Size - This is the size the lumber will be when the customer receives it.
- FJ - This is finger jointed wood. Finger joints are used to connect shorted lengths of wood to make longer pieces of wood.
- Floor Joist - Floor joist are the structural wood beams that are beneath and support wood flooring.
- Flooring - This refers to wood used in the construction of a house or building’s floor.
- Framing Timber - This kind of timber is used when building the frame of a house or building.
- Green Timber - When timber has been freshly cut and still contains a lot of moisture before drying, it is referred to as green timber.
- H1 - Wood that has received a chemical hazard treatment level of H1 is suitable for above ground uses that are dry and protected from the weather.
- H2 - Wood that has received a chemical hazard treatment level of H2 is similar to H1 treated wood but has received additional insecticide treatment.
- H3 - Wood that has received a chemical hazard treatment level of H3 can be exposed to wet weather but should not be in constant contact with the ground.
- H4 - Wood that has received a chemical hazard treatment level of H4 can be in constant contact with the ground with occasional wetting and is suitable for fence posts.
- H5 - Wood that has received a chemical hazard treatment level of H5 is suitable for constant contact with the ground in areas that will receive a lot of water and moisture.
- H6 - Wood that has received a chemical hazard treatment level of H6 is suitable for marine use and can be regularly submerged in water.
- Hardwood - In wood terminology, hardwood refers to wood that is harder and denser than softer wood varieties. The strength of hardwoods makes them desirable for furniture and flooring uses.
- Heartwood - Looking at the rings of a newly fallen tree, the wood that is closer to the centre rings tends to be denser and is referred to as heartwood. The wood that the outer rings are made up of is called sapwood.
- Joint - This refers to connecting to pieces of wood together, usually at a right angle. This connection method is the joint.
- Kiln - A kiln is a large heated chamber used to dry wood. Kiln drying wood is significantly faster than air drying wood.
- Knot - This is a visible imperfection in a piece of timber. A knot is where the base of a branch connected to the tree trunk.
- Kwila - Also known as Merbau, this is a type of wood known for its durability and dark colour. It is commonly used in furniture, flooring and decking.
- Laminated Timber - This is an engineered wood product that is made by gluing together many strips of wood to form large wood beams or boards. Laminated timber is often used as structural wood due to its strength.
- Linear Metres - Square metre is used for area and cubic metre is used for volume. Linear metre is used for distance, and for wood it is used to describe the length of a beam or board.
- LVL - Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is a kind of high strength laminated timber commonly used as a structural wood.
- MDF - Medium density fibreboard (MDF) is a kind of engineered wood made by compressing wood fibres with resin. It is an affordable product that is commonly used in furniture.
- Merbau - Also known as Kwila, this is popular hardwood from northern Queensland, Papua New Guinea and South East Asia.
- Moisture Content - This is a measurement of how much moisture wood contains. The moisture content of the wood is used to determine if the wood is suitable for using or if it needs additional drying time.
- Movement - This refers to the way that wood expands when it absorbs moisture and shrinks as it loses moisture.
N-Z
- Oil Based FInish - There are two types of protecting finishes that can be applied to wood – oil based and water based. Oil based tends to leave a deeper colour to the wood but dries slower than water-based finish.
- Open Grain - Open grain wood tends to have large pores that can be easily seen with the naked eye.
- Overcut - When cutting wood to required measurements, overcutting refers to cutting off too much wood.
- Palings - Palings are the non-structural fence board portion of a fence used to increase privacy or to increase the enclosing properties of the fence.
- Particle Board - This kind of board is made of wood chips or wood particles that have been glued together.
- Pencil Round - This kind of wood profiling involves machining the wood to round some or all of the corners.
- Permeability - In timber terminology, permeability refers to a wood’s ability or tendency to absorb or repel moisture.
- Pre Primed - Pre-primed wood has had a protective finish applied to it.
- Prefabricated Framing - When building a home or building, prefabricated framing involved portions of the structural frame being assembled offsite before being transported to the construction site and erected into the frame structure.
- Quarter-Sawing - This is a process of cutting raw lumber into boards.
- Reeded Decking - These are decking boards that have grooves or ridges cut into them.
- Rough Sawn - This is timber that has been cut into beams and boards of different sizes.
- S&B - Standard & Better - This is a grade of wood that is usually used for furniture. It tends to have a consistent appearance and is easy to work with.
- Sapwood - Looking at the rings of a newly fallen tree, the wood that is closer to the centre rings tends to be denser and is referred to as heartwood. The wood that the outer rings are made up of is called sapwood.
- Seasoned Timber - Seasoned timber is timber that has been dried to reduce the moisture content to a desirable level.
- Select Grade - This is a grade of timber that has few natural marks and characteristics.
- Shrinkage - This refers to wood shrinking as it loses moisture through drying.
- Softwood - This is wood that has been obtained from evergreen trees.
- Species - Species refers to the kind of tree that the timber is obtained from.
- Standard Grade - This is a grade of timber that indicates the wood will have some natural marks and other characteristics, such as grain effects and burls. These imperfections can be desirable, as they give the wood a unique look.
- Strength Groups - This is a classification system that represents the strength of a timber species. The ranking goes from S7, the weakest, to S1, the strongest.
- Stress Grades - This is a grading system that corresponds to how much force a given area of timber can withstand.
- Structural Timber - This is a kind of timber that is used for loadbearing and other structural applications.
- T&G - Tongue and Groove wood flooring is made up of floor boards that fit together with special inter-locking grooves that have been cut into them.
- Tile Underlay - This is the wall board or floor board that tile is installed on.
- Timber Cladding - This timber is used as cladding for a house or building.
- Timber Frames - Structural frames are usually made of timber frames, but are sometimes made of metal frames.
- Timber Grades - This is the grading system used to indicate the strength and appearance of timber.
- Timber Grain - This term is used to describe the spacing and look of the wood cellular fibres in timber. The timber grain can also give some indication as to the strength of the timber.
- Timber Truss - This is a method of building roofs by using a load bearing beam that is suspended between two structural supports.
- Treated Pine - This is pine timber that has been chemically treated to protect it from insects, fungus and decay.
- Treated Timber - This is timber that has been chemically treated to protect it from insects, fungus and decay.
- Unseasoned Timber - This is timber that has not been chemically treated in any way.
- Veneer - This is a very thin sheet of wood that is usually glued to a piece of composite timber to give it the look of natural wood.
- VJ Board - Vee-joint (VJ) boards are a kind of board often used for walls and ceilings that fit together with special V-shaped grooved that have been cut into them.
- Warping - This is bending in lumber that can occur due to moisture being absorbed or because the lumber was not properly dried.
- Water-Based Finish - There are two types of protecting finish that can be applied to wood – oil based and water based. Water based finish tends to leave a lighter colour to the wood and it dries quicker than oil-based finish.
- Weatherboard - This is a type of building cladding that’s primary purpose is to protect the building from rain.
- Weathering - Weathering refers to the way wood ages and changed as it is exposed to the weather over an extended period of time.
- Workability - The workability of timber refers to how easy or difficult it is to cut and work with.
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