Find the Right Dimensional Lumber for All Your Home Projects

​Whether you’re a professional contractor or handy DIYer, you’ll need to use dimensional lumber for your projects. As the name suggests, dimensional lumber is available in a wide range of sizes for use in a wide variety of applications. This includes small projects like building shelves or furniture, to larger construction projects like framing new walls, roofs and floors. Spruce and fir are two of the most popular woods for dimensional lumber. Most of these are kiln-dried to increase strength, reduce shrinkage, and improve resistance to bugs and fungus. This makes it ideal for use in cabinets and other indoor projects. Spruce can also be partially air dried vs. kiln dried. Over time, this allows the moisture content in the wood to adjust to its environment, which can be a benefit when building decks, fences and outdoor furniture.  

Dimensional lumber sizing can be a bit confusing, as there is a difference between the actual lumber dimensions and nominal lumber dimensions (name only). For example, a 2x4’s dimensions are actually 1 ½ inches by 3 ½ inches. That’s because the nominal dimension represents the size before the wood is planed down to remove imperfections. This discrepancy may not make a difference for larger projects, but make sure you account for it when building cabinets or furniture.