Want to learn more about Canadian lumber yards? Read on for facts and info on retail outlets that deal in standard sized lumber boards in Canada…
Lumber is the term used for wood cut from trees for use as building or construction material. Though this is the general term for wood from after a tree is pruned and felled to when its wood is processed into standard-sized boards, the lumber in the lumber yards refers specifically to the boards. The lumber yards are retail outlets where home builders and do-it-yourself home owners can buy the cut boards as well as construction hardware such as saws, hammers, nails, etc.
What is Available at a Lumber Yard?
Lumber yards also have on-site electric saws and planers to cut the boards into specific sizes or shapes required by the customer. There is usually no charge for simple cutting operations. Lumber yards can also be used to order custom-built construction projects and special-order items directly from the saw or lumber mills.
Lumber yards also sell wood plastic composites (WPCs) these days that are made from recycled plastic and wood normally wasted as saw dust or wood shavings. WPCs are not used for home construction but are widely used in deck floors, house cladding (sidings), fences, railings, frames, moldings, outside furniture such as benches, and even indoor furniture. The composites are an environmentally sound option to be used where the extreme strength and rigidity of traditional lumber are not required. They are resistant to the elements making them ideal for outside use and require much less preparation and maintenance than wood in these situations.
Normal home building and furniture making uses wooden boards (lumber) from soft woods such as cedar, pine, fir, and spruce. The heavier hard woods are used in flooring. The soft, spongy balsa wood is also a hardwood technically and this light-density material is used to build toy gliders as well as in other model making projects.
Oak, beech, ash, maple, and cherry are examples of the heavier hard woods. These are used in building expensive furniture as well as flooring, inserts, and parts of staircases. Teak, ebony, and mahogany are special tropical hard woods and are even more expensive. Mahogany, maple, walnut, and some of the other expensive hard woods are also prized for their beauty and used as trim in the more expensive luxury cars.
Lumber Yards throughout Canada
There are many privately-run lumber yards throughout Canada. With the wooded area and wonderful lumber logged throughout the country, there is no shortage of excellent woods and there are many stores in just about every city. The Canadian Home Depot chain stores also have very good lumber sections.
Lumber sizes are specified by width and thickness. The most popular size is the two-by-four (which is actually 1.5 inches thick by 3.5 inches wide despite its name) and when you order this at a lumber yard, you can just ask for so many feet (length) of two-by-four in whatever soft wood you need. Standard soft wood lumber ranges in size from one by two (0.75 inches thick by 1.5 inches wide) to eight by eight (actually 7.25 x 7.25).
Hard woods are sold by thickness alone and the width and length vary from board to board. The sale price is determined by the board-foot which is one-twelfth of a cubic foot.
