All about sawn softwood

Softwood lumber differs from deciduous wood in one main parameter - the presence of natural resin in the composition of gum. Thanks to gum, the air in a room upholstered with planks or coniferous beams is cleared of bacteria that cause disease. There are other differences, but it is conifers that are considered the most beneficial to human health.

In our time, bad ecology is one of the main problems. I don't want to live in a house or wash in a bath made of non-ecological building materials. Wood is the most natural of them. If we talk about conifers, Siberian larch is most often used for construction (but pine, spruce, and cedar are also in demand).

The advantages of conifers over deciduous ones are:

• longer service life;
• due to the presence of resins in the composition, wood absorbs moisture less;
• for the same reason, it disinfects the air in the room;
• easy and convenient to work with;
• has high strength;
• has an original attractive texture;
• shows good resistance to deformation;
• perfectly soundproof the room;
• keeps warm.

The disadvantage of any wood (even deciduous, even coniferous) is its tendency to catch fire. You can reduce the likelihood of this by treating each element with a fire retardant. From coniferous sawn timber, frames are built and log houses are folded, they are good for interior and exterior decoration of buildings, they are used in load-bearing structures on roofs and partitions, that is, the field of application is extremely wide.

It should be said separately about finishing outside and inside - it is conifers that are most in demand for these works. This is due to both excellent performance properties and aesthetic qualities. The interior wood finish gives it a cozy and unique atmosphere. Terraces, verandas, gazebos decorated with a board also look beautiful. High-quality and attractive cabinet furniture is obtained from coniferous sawn timber. Of course, if first grade wood is used.

When choosing building materials, you need to take into account the requirements that are imposed on them by the current GOST. If you want a building or a product made of coniferous sawn timber to serve for a long time and throughout the entire service life does not lose its external attractive properties, it is better to choose wood of the first grade. What parameters characterize high-quality high-grade softwood lumber?

• The maximum allowable number of knots per 1 m of length is two, while the knot must be healthy.
• If the knot is rotten, such wood is not considered to be of high quality.
• Cracks are acceptable along the edge or along the faces, but of small depth. If the crack in the area of ​​the end is a poor quality material.
• There should be no roots in the material.
• The presence of a resin pocket is permissible, but only one per 1 m of length.
• If the lumber has a sprout, fungus, mold, foreign inclusions, then it is of low quality.

For softwood lumber, there are 5 types of assortment. The highest quality wood is considered to be of the first grade. It is also the most expensive. It is recommended to use only premium timber for finishing.

Timber products are formed as a result of sawing trunks along the direction. From what configuration the lumber has, it can be called core, center, side or slab.The material that is obtained from the center of the barrel is considered to be the strongest and most reliable. It will also support the supporting structure.

The classification of softwood lumber can also occur by the type of sawing.

An edged or unedged board is distinguished, and the edged board includes a bar, a strip or a small block, as well as a glued bar and a planed bar. The last category includes lining, platbands, floorboards, block house.

The difference in appearance and geometric shape gives rise to another classification.

• Board - there are several sizes, the most "popular" and standard - 200x100 mm. Boards are used in each of the construction areas, since there are a huge number of types of boards - flooring, edged, planed, etc.
• Beams - this is the name of the logs cut from each side. Log houses are folded from a bar or frames are erected. They are also used in the supports of buildings and structures. Each construction technology uses its own type of timber.
• Bars - the so-called boards that have been sawn lengthwise and processed using a special technology. A calibrated bar is suitable for interior decoration, and a planed bar is used to create furniture.
• Croaker the waste that remains after woodworking is called. They are used in rough work or in roofing.

When purchasing wood, you should always pay attention to its compliance with the declared variety. Sorting lumber immediately after the batch of goods is made. They are examined, the geometry is measured and humidity is obligatory. Defects are visible immediately, so there is no need to look for them. In detail, the criteria that should be followed when determining the grade of wood are enshrined in GOSTs.

There are specified the technical conditions for wood processing, and much more. Every domestic timber producer (it does not matter if it is intended for business or export) should be guided in its work by the provisions of this particular GOST. It is very convenient, since the tables in the text contain an exhaustive list of wood defects, on the basis of which the softwood sawn timber is sorted.

Despite the declared 5 varieties, only the first two are in demand in domestic construction. General purpose edged boards of grades 1 and 2 are enough to completely cover the population's need for such sawn timber as boards and beams. Their quality is high, and the price is relatively reasonable. As for the selected dry sawn timber, it is not so in demand among consumers due to the high price. If we talk about low types of wood (3.4), their quality makes the structures too short-lived, which again does not suit the consumer.

The moisture level of properly dried 1st grade sawn timber cannot be below 20 and above 22%. The planes should be parallel, rot, cracks, fungal infections should be absent. There should be no signs of rotting on existing knots.

If there is even the slightest deviation from the standard established by GOST, this indicates that the wood should be classified as a lower grade. You cannot build a house from second-class timber, but it is very suitable for temporary inexpensive structures. It makes cheap formwork, canopy, fencing, etc.

Buying lumber without knowing their exact weight and size is not only stupid, but also risky. Indeed, for each construction object, a project with an estimate must be drawn up, which indicates the exact amount of each of the materials required for construction. The volume of lumber is measured in cubic meters. You can sometimes hear the word "molded", but it is mainly applied to the length of the material.

Please note that the standard length of the board is 6 meters. It is this length that is easiest to transport and load. Longer items will not fit, for example, in a carriage. They can only be transported by road train, which is more expensive and more difficult. You can find out how many boards 6 m long in 1 m3 by the formula: 1 / (A x B x C) = N.

A, B, C in this formula are the thickness, width and length of the board (everything is indicated in meters), and N is the required amount of lumber (board, timber, bar, etc.). Using this formula, you can calculate not only the number of boards 6 m long. But the surface of all these lumber must be flat. The type of wood for calculations does not matter.

As for the mass of lumber, it is not constant. Depending on such characteristics as moisture content, structure and type of wood, at what stage of processing it is, the method and area of ​​obtaining the material, the specific gravity may differ. Therefore, the mass should only be determined by weighing.