15 Popular Types Of Woods Used In Construction

While working in the construction industry is all exciting and at the same time, stressful, you might not want to have an add-on when it comes to selecting a wood type for your work. Having said that, with the endless types of wood available in the market space, choosing amongst them could be a task on its own.

But why take the extra trouble when you could have all the analysis in one place? Propertygeek has tried to take the load off you and help you in our own way. This article is all about the different types of woods and their highlights to help you choose your best pick, in a much easier fashion.

So, take a break, sit back, and take a glance at this quick round-up of the top best types of woods that will help uplift your construction project.

Top 15 Best Types of Woods to Choose From-

Here is our list of the top 15 best types of wood options that are common and best for our creative DIYers;

1. Cedar – Types of Woods

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• Is an excellent option for fences, closet lining, decks, and dresser/chest building. On the flip side, it might not be the best pick for the ground.

This is an aromatic and natural bug-resistant wood that is well-known for its durability. It features a variety of coniferous trees, is lightweight, and can be used for a variety of indoor and outdoor projects.

2. Fir – Different Types of Woods

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• It is best used to fill walls, floors, ceilings, and is quite strong, has a good length, and is durable.

Fir, also known as Douglas fir, is a durable and hard kind of wood that comes from the same tree species as its name. Fir is rot- and insect-resistant,  it has a reddish-tan coloring, and is stain-resistant inexpensive wood.

3. Pine – Types of Woods

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• It naturally has a high moisture content, twist as they dry, and depending on the variant, is an excellent choice for rustic furniture.

Pine is one of the softwood options that are incredibly easy to work with, and come from a variety of pine trees that, in most cases, are grown all over the United States. Its common types include sugar, ponderosa, white, and southern yellow pine.

Adding on, it is rather less dense when compared to the other options on the list, is easy to work, and offers bug or rot resistance. It has a pale appearance (depending on the species), comes in a “knotty pine” piece, and could also be susceptible to warping or cupping.

4. Redwood- Types of Woods

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• Redwood is very popular and is best used to frame lumber, fences, decks, exterior furniture, veneers, large beams, etc. These are also suitable for ground contact if they are treated with pressure.

In case you are not aware or familiar with the term redwood, you might know it by its romanticized moniker: Sequoia. The trees are best known for their height (the tallest in the world), that is, a growth of up to 400 feet. Although, these softwoods grow in a small area of the Pacific Northwest in the United States.

It features a soft and workable make, is lightweight, is available in a wide range of colors – from pale white to reddish-brown, and with old-growth redwood grain very tight. Redwood has a rough texture, is rot-resistant, insect-resistant, and is best for outdoor projects.

5. Ash – Different Types of Woods

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• All due to the weight-to-strength ratio, this wood kind is second to hickory for tool handle production and is a popular choice for wood for wooden baseball bats, cabinets, furniture, pool cues, and flooring

This is a hardwood option that comes in a variety of options in the market, including black ash, white ash, green ash, and blue ash. Fun fact – if given the space, these can grow up to 80 feet wide and 60 feet tall.

Speaking of the Ash lumber wood itself, it comes in a light color that can vary anywhere between white and gold – gray streaks being the most common. Its shades are very similar to maple, have an oak-like texture, have a rougher surface, and are hard yet lightweight as compared to the stiffness and strength.

6. Birch- Types of Woods

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• The characteristic of Birch makes it the best and durable option for furniture, millwork, flooring, toy making, and cabinetry

This is a popular and economical choice amongst the other types of woods on the list. Common in the eastern United States, these trees can grow up to 70 feet, however, tend to stay thinly trunked and it is commonly in white birch, black birch, and yellow birch.

It features to be smooth, tightly grained, has a uniform appearance, varies in color from yellow to black birch, and has a strong and heavy quality. Furthermore, it responds very well to sharp tools and could possibly shrink a bit if dried.

7. Cherry- Types of Wood Flooring

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• All thanks to its luxurious finishing quality, this cherry wood option is popular for its high-end furniture, cabinetry, use in musical instruments, flooring, paneling, and carvings.

Digging deeper than the fruits, these cherry trees have more to offer. They produce the most sought-after types of woods, are very common throughout the eastern and the midwest of the United States, and have a commercial production from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York.

They are available from creamy white to reddish-brown color, darkens as it ages or dries, has a grainy texture, is tight, has a uniform look, and is great for mills. If stained and sealed the wood option produces the smoothest finishes and a high-end classy look.

8. Mahogany- Different Types of Woods

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• No surprise here, Mahogany is popularly used in fine furniture, built-ins, custom cabinetry, high-end flooring, used for boatbuilding for centuries.

Mahogany is one luxury-grade hardwood that grows in the US, West Africa, and West Indies. These grow very tall, reaching up to the height of around 150 feet.

They feature the best hardwood luxury finishes, are very attractive, have a rich red or brown-red combination, are super smooth, come in a tight grain, are strong and resilient. Adding on, it is quite dense, is rot- and insect-resistant, stable, and resists swelling, shrinking, and warping.

9. Maple- Types of Woods

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• This type of wood is best used for flooring, paper, veneers, musical instruments, workbenches, butcher blocks, and baseball bats.

Amongst all the available options in the market, the red maple is the most common tree species in the United States, however, despite it all, it is the less popular sugar maple or rock from which the majority of maple wood comes from. As for its height, it reaches up to 115 feet with equally or vast canopies.

The hardwood produced by the rock is very dense and tough, it has a lightly-colored appearance that could vary anywhere between white, yellow, and golden. Adding on, the grain is relatively straight and tight, is also available in curly maple with an interesting wavy grain pattern, and has a smooth and fine texture with a great finish.

10. Oak – Types of Wood Flooring

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• The best part about oak is its durability and bendability that makes it an excellent pick for boatbuilding, wine or whiskey barrels, flooring, cabinetry, furniture, and millwork.

As for the oak trees, these are either available in red or white variants, are commonly found in the United States, produce two kinds of hardwood, and can easily grow up to a height of approximately 85 feet tall.

As mentioned above, these are available in two kinds: white and red, both are dense, tough, are straight-grained, have a rough texture, and are rot-and bug-resistant. The red oak has a redder hue, whereas the white oak is lighter in color – from white to a pale yellow. On the other hand, the white oak is quite famous for its “fleck” that is wavy, has a contrasting pattern that is revealed during the sawing process, both very durable, bends well with all kinds, and takes stain very well, although shows grain through several coats of paint.

11. Poplar- Different Types of Woods

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• The best part about poplar wood is its utility that makes it the best choice of wood for most painting projects, such as – painted cabinet face frames, shelves, doors, plywood layers, upholstered frames of furniture, and other hidden uses.

Comes from a variety of poplar trees, the poplar wood is straight and uniform. It can reach a towering height of anywhere up to 160 feet, they are widely spread across the eastern United States and are beloved by DIYers and amateur woodworkers – all thanks to its utility.

The wood comes in a light color, can vary anywhere between a cream and yellowish-brown, has streaks of green or gray, and only gets darker with time. It has a softer feel, is best for both handwork and power tools, leaves no fuzzy edges behind, and is capable of taking paint quite well.

12. Teak – Types of Woods

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• Teak is the most common wood which is widely used in the boating industry, small wood projects, furniture, and carvings.

If bendability, durability, and looks are your preference, then teak is your choice to pick in the hardwood market. Produced from the teak tree, it is a native of southern Asia, as well as, in the farms of Latin America, Africa, and certain other tropical regions.

It generally has straight-grained wood with coarse, uneven texture, and is unmistakably brown. It consists of natural oils, is very rot- and insect-resistant is easy to work with, and is best for both gluing and finishing nicely.

13. Walnut – Different Types of Woods

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• These are available from medium- to high-end furniture and are best used in gunstocks, cabinetry, and turned items.

Walnut lumber is produced from the black walnut tree that is quite common across the eastern United States. The walnut tree has the caliber to grow to be up to 120 feet tall and also produces rich chocolatey wood sought after by most woodworking enthusiasts.

These are straight-grained types of wood but could nearly feature a few waves and irregularities. It has a medium-smooth texture, varies from pale brown to a deep chocolate color, is extremely rot-resistant, is not insect-resistant, stable, and shrinks and warps when dried.

14. Pressure Treated- Types of Woods

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• These are best used for ground contact projects, standing framing lumber, sill plates between concrete, fences, decks, and other outdoor projects where moisture is no longer an issue.

As the title gives it away, ‘pressure treated’ wood does not come from a tree of the same name. This wood is generally made available from southern yellow pine and douglas fir, both make a good choice and are naturally rot and insect resistant.

As soon as these are cut, the boards are impregnated through pressure and water-borne chemicals or treatments that are designed to help the wood last longer to resist rot and insects from it, as long as possible. The quality is well-maintained with a sealer every few years that help it last for up to 40 years. These are heavy and are best for home store shelves while still soaked with the treatment.

15. FSC Certified- Different Types of Woods

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• This kind of wood is the best to use for flooring, framing, cabinetry, and nearly every other use.

Likewise, pressure-treated wood, FSC is not produced by the trees of the same name. FSC or Forest Stewardship Council is a nonprofit which sets high standards for the forestry industry and the council standards help ensure the companies harvest lumber safely and responsibly.

The FSC certified wood option is available in different kinds in the market, including softwoods and hardwoods. Although the cost might not be higher than the standard lumber, it is FSC certified that is a must for those looking for wood for the most responsible lumber production.

To Conclude:

Selecting one kind of wood is surely a task, however, we hope that the article above has helped you make the choice between the various options available in the market, considering the different types of wood.

However, make sure to pick a kind that is suitable for the task in question and is best considering the need and duration.

FAQs : Popular Types Of Woods Used In The Construction