Lumber, Plywood, and Other Wood Products - Carpenter's and Builder's Math, Plans, and Specifications - page 84

Appearance Lumber
Completion of a construction project usually depends on a variety
of lumber items available in finished or semifinished form. The fol-
lowing items often may be stocked in only a few species, in only a
few finishes, or in limited sizes depending on the yards:
Finish —Finish boards usually are available in a local yard in
one or two species, principally in grade C&BTR. Redwood
and cedar have different grade designations. Grades such as
Clear Heart, A, or B are used in cedar; Clear All Heart, Clear,
and Select are typical redwood grades. Finish boards are usu-
ally a nominal 1-inch thick, dressed two sides to 3

/ 4 inch. The
widths usually stocked are nominal 2 to 12 inches in even-
numbered inches.
Siding —Siding, as the name implies, is intended specifically to
cover exterior walls. Beveled siding is ordinarily stocked only
in white pine, ponderosa pine, western red cedar, cypress, or
redwood. Drop siding (also known as rustic siding or barn
siding )isusually stocked in the same species as beveled sid-
ing. Siding may be stocked as B&BTR or C&BTR, except in
cedar (where Clear, A, and B may be available) and redwood
(where Clear All Heart and Clear will be found). Vertical grain
(VG) is sometimes a part of the grade designation. Drop siding
sometimes is stocked also in sound knotted C and D grades of
southern pine, Douglas fir, and hemlock. Drop siding may be
dressed, matched, or ship lapped.
Flooring —Flooring is made chiefly from hardwoods such
as oak and maple, and the harder softwood species, such
as Douglas fir, western larch, and southern pine. Often, at
least one softwood and one hardwood are stocked. Floor-
ing is usually nominal 1-inch thick dressed to 25

/ 32 inch, and
3- and 4-inch nominal width. Thicker flooring is available
for heavy-duty floors in hardwoods and softwoods. Thinner
flooring is available in hardwoods, especially for recovering
old floors. Vertical and flat grain (also called quartersawed
and plain-sawed) flooring is manufactured from both soft-
woods and hardwoods. Vertical-grained flooring shrinks and
swells less than flat-grained flooring, is more uniform in tex-
ture, wears more uniformly, and the joints do not open as
much.
Softwood flooring is usually available in B and Better grade,
C Select, or D Select. The chief grades in maple are Clear