Lumber Defects - Building Material Problems

A lumber defect is a crack, split, twist, warp, bow or knot. These defects come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes and can easily be spotted by someone who works with lumber on a regular basis. The picture below provides you with a knot that circled and the black arrow is pointing to a crack at the edge board.

Lumber Selecting Tip: If I could only provide you with one piece of advice, when selecting lumber, it would be that you never really know what you're going to end up with. This doesn't mean that you don't need to take your time and select the best rate of lumber possible.

I've seen a perfect specimen of lumber, more than once, twist, bow and split within a short period of time, once it was exposed to the sun. I personally witnessed a 2 x 12 floor joist, in my house, shrink 3/8 of an inch, in less than three months.

However, if you start with a Straight piece of lumber that has a limited amount of lumber defects, you're probably going to be better off, than you would have been, starting off with something in worse shape.

You're going to be looking for a Straight board with a limited number of lumber defects.

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