The Most Popular Timber Types for Home Building: A Complete Guide

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There are several different types of timber that are used for home building and home renovation. As with all things, it’s important to be aware of what these different types are and how they’re used to ensure that you can select the best types for you, whether that’s treated timber or composite boards.

Here, let’s break down the four main popular types of timber for home building: softwood, hardwood, engineered wood, and framing timber.

Softwood

Softwood is defined as the wood from any tree that produces seeds by way of a cone of some kind. The wood that these trees produce grows very quickly and is typically very light in color. It’s commonly used in Scandi-inspired decorating because traditional Scandinavian woodwork involves a lot of softwood.

Softwood is most commonly used for non-structural tasks, as it can have issues with mold and moisture damage. As such, it’s commonly used in DIY to make furniture or add decoration to items.

Hardwood

Hardwood is much denser than softwood, with more complex and intricate grain patterns throughout the wood. The reason for this is that the trees grow more slowly. This has a knock-on effect of making the wood itself more expensive: time is money, even the time that a tree spends growing into maturity.

Because of the heightened strength and durability of hardwood, it’s commonly used for flooring, inlay work, and high-traffic items like desks and cupboards. These high-traffic items need to be able to withstand use by several people, and hardwood can make that a reality.

Engineered wood

Engineered wood is a budget-friendly form of wood that is made in a factory rather than hewn from a tree. It is made by bonding or laminating several layers of wood together with some kind of adhesive, often plastic-based adhesives.

The most common kind of engineered wood is plywood. It’s used for a wide variety of projects, including those that may experience dampness and moisture. Engineered wood flooring is more resistant to water than other options are, making for an effective and resistant material.

Framing timber

Framing timber is also known as structural wood. Any of the above types of wood may be used as framing timber since they have different properties that are better for different jobs. Timber frames are typically constructed for houses overall, as well as for extensions and additions to homes and other buildings. The framing is constructed of sturdy wood, to which additional panels are fixed to create strong buildings.

Framing timber fell out of fashion for a while but has since seen a resurgence due to its sustainability. Timber can always be regrown, and stocks can, therefore, be replenished, making for a very efficient system.

Different types of timber have different roles in construction, and once you understand those different roles, you can better understand what timber you may need for your project. Take a little time to consider the needs of your project and the stresses it may be experiencing. Following that, you’ll likely find it easier to select a wood based on its relative strengths.