Building with Construction Lumbar

Building furniture with construction lumber is a contentious topic in the woodworking community. However, it has been repeatedly proven by both DIYers and Pro's that you can achieve excellent results

Why the controversy?

The controversy around using construction lumber for building furniture arises from several factors:

1. Quality: Construction lumber often has more knots, warping, and inconsistent grain compared to furniture-grade wood. It is usually plain sawn while high quality wood is often quarter sawn.

2. Moisture: Higher moisture content can cause shrinkage, cracking, and warping over time.

3. Aesthetics: Construction lumber can be considered less visually appealing due to blemishes, knots and grain. However beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

4. Durability: The structural integrity and longevity of furniture might be compromised.

5. Perception: Traditionalists believe that high-quality, furniture-grade wood is necessary for durable, beautiful furniture.

Benefits

While you wont find fine furniutre made from construction lumber, there are some benefits to note:

1. Cost: even higher grades of wood are significantly cheaper than any kiln dried hard woods.

2. Easy to work with: softer woods are natually eaiser to work with when it comes to cutting and sanding.

3. Rustic charm: The majority of projects using this type of timber are going for a rustic style. That means being accepting of knots, cracks and other imperfections that go with this material. If you are looking for an easy DIY project in more of a modern/scandi style then check out the guide on Building A Plywood Table.

Top Tips

Choose Higher Grade Timber

For indoor use, choosing a kiln dried lumbar will produce the best results. This is because it will be closest matching the final moisture content once acclimatised within your room. Something like a C24 Kiln Dried Timber is a good starting point.

Acclimate Your Wood

While expensive kiln dried hardwoods might be ready to build with straight away, construction lumbar may not be. Trying to match the woods moisture content as close as possible to its final living space is a great way to reduce risk of warping or cracking.

Wood Acclimation in Furniture Building

Allow for Wood Movement

Fixing your timber together and attaching hardware in a way that can deal with some level of wood movement will ensure your project does not rip itself apart as it shrinks and grows over time.

Dealing with Wood Movement

Finish with Care

Construction timber is not designed with final finish in mind. Going over it with a hand or power sander will remove most of the rough areas. There may well be some low spots that will need some finessing to get into. Generally these styles of tables are more rustic so do not worry about absolute perfection. Sanding off rough edges and protecting the top with a wax and/or stain should be enough in most cases.

For a less rustic, more modern look, consider building with something like plywood.