1. Home

What type of wood should I use?

Submitted by jdlemmons on Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:33

I'm putting a plan together to build the farm house bed (with a few tweaks.) I've been using whitewood for my small projects (an ottoman and an entry table), but I want something thats a little nicer looking and not as knotty. I plan on staining it probably a dark espresso color... maybe a little lighter than that. I found 4x4 dried douglas fir posts at HD, so I plan on buying those as I've noticed after reading those are the ones to buy (I did also see a western red cedar rough timber??... wasn't familiar with that.) I've noticed a lot of people recommend pine. I'm not sure where there is a lumber yard near me, so I've been buying from Lowes and HD.

Thanks

Forums
Wood Species and Types

jdlemmons

Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:37

I don't want to spend a TON of money on this, but if I need to spend a little extra to get quality that will hold up over time... then I will. I don't plan on going super cheap on this, but I don't want to spend $20/board either.

sognoinunastella

Mon, 07/02/2012 - 15:44

I noticed a lot of people use pine. it's a soft wood... which means it wouldn't necessarily out last some stronger wood. but considering alot of furniture is made out of particleboard these days... and can last up to 4-5 years. I'm pretty sure pine can last years more.

Pine varies in price... i shop home depot too, i've seen pine that's $8/board up to $35/board...

claydowling

Wed, 07/04/2012 - 07:46

Pine is quite durable if you join it strongly. It's no big deal for pine furniture to last fifty to a hundred years if it's put together strongly. I don't know how long it holds up when put together with screws and nails, but we do have a set of pine book shelves that are at least thirty years old, have been carted around to at least four different houses, and are still holding up beautifully.

To find lumber yards in your area, google is your friend. Look for lumber yards near your city and it will pull them up. You almost certainly won't find them by cruising your local retail strip, because it's not where they build.

See also my standard link on buying lumber: http://claydowling.com/articles/01302012-2029/buying-lumber