Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [wood]

For questions involving wood as a construction material, either as lumber or finished features of a home.

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction. Woods are generally classified as hardwoods or softwoods and have different properties and applications.

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1711 questions
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5 answers

When pre-drilling for screws, how do you determine the correct bit diameter?

Suppose I want to pre-drill for, say, a 5/16 screw. How do I determine the correct drill bit diameter?
ageektrapped
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Should I use steel or wood studs for basement exterior walls?

Related: When should you use metal studs? I'm planning on finishing my basement. (assuming all water issues are resolved) I'll be putting up a water barrier (tar paper) on all exterior walls, Framing a stud wall, insulating, installing a vapour…
Chris Cudmore
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How much load can a (wood) board support, if it is supported only at the ends?

How much load can a board support, if it is supported only at the ends? At the moment my specific problem is hanging a tire swing between two trees, and depending on which trees I choose they could be 10, 12, or 14 feet apart (center to center). If…
evil otto
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12 answers

How do I make around-the-room shelves for a seriously skewed room?

I've been given the Christmas task of setting up an HO model train and rails around a child's room, so I researched a bit and found a shelf train would be the thing. So I go to measure the room in order to figure out how much wood I have to buy to…
QuestionerNo27
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What are cheap ways to build strong shelves with a large span?

I have removed several old and moisture damaged built in storage units from my house. I would like to replace them with shelving. There are a number of different sized gaps (width and depth to fill). I would like the shelves to hold quite alot of…
flamingpenguin
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26
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4 answers

What is the best tool for cutting up scrap wood?

I have some wood left over from building a patio, mainly some planks. Normally when I'm creating firewood, I just use an axe a split the wood, but these are too long for that. I really don't want to try and cut them with a wood saw or an Axe. The…
AidanO
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What grit sandpaper should I use between coats of polyurethane?

I'm planning on applying polyurethane to a pine bench I've finished staining. I decided on foam brushes for application, but I wasn't sure what grit sandpaper I should use between coats. Is 400 good enough? Or should I use 600? Or both? Also, if…
Doresoom
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Why are 2x4s really 1.5"x3.5"?

Just curious as to the reasoning. Is it a spec, or is it simply for backwards compatibility?
esac
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22
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3 answers

How can I remove material from this wood beam?

I am trying to mount a roller shade in between two wood beams on my porch. The problem is that the beams are a hair too close together to accommodate mounting the shade. I am trying to remove a small amount of material (~1/4") from the side of each…
Ian McClaskey
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5 answers

How would I go about turning a tree in to a tabletop?

My father-in-law is about to cut down a large Ash tree (on the insistence of a neighbour). At the same time, we need a dining table, and quite like the idea of a simple wooden slab on legs. Unfortunately I only have basic knowledge of woodwork, and…
UpTheCreek
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21
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What's the best way to account for saw blade width (kerf) when cutting boards?

In theory, to cut a 350mm piece out of a longer board, I would have to mark the line at 350mm + half of blade width. So if I have a 2mm hand saw, the line would be drawn at 351mm. How does that work in practice? Should blade wiggle be taken into…
Moshanator
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3 answers

How to calculate the maximum safe load on a horizontal wooden beam?

I am thinking of constructing a wooden bed/desk/roof/shed/ship/bridge/rocket How can I calculate the maximum load a rectangular horizontal wooden beam of dimensions L x H x W can safely support if the beam is adequately supported at both…
RedGrittyBrick
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12 answers

How can I repair a puncture in a hollow-core wooden door?

Someone punched my wooden door. Now it has a giant dent in it. The dent is similar to this one. Fortunately, it's a bit less severe than this. How can I "pop" the dent back out?
Shaun Wild
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3 answers

What are some tips for finishing wood?

I'm kind of embarrassed to ask, but I'm looking for a good how-to guide for finishing pine furniture. (Could also apply to baseboards and trim, so I'm hoping for an on-topic pass here.) I watched my dad do this dozens of time when I was a kid, but I…
Doresoom
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What's the difference between "Framing Lumber" and "Framing Studs"?

The Home Depot website has these two as categories under Dimensional Lumber. Why would one want to exclude items from one category during a search for wood to use in a project? What is the difference?
brentonstrine
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