Lumber

In Part 1, we looked at some of the ways that the lumber industry truly gives back to us, on a global level, largely because of the biosequestration process. Here in Part 2, we’re going to continue to unpack the dynamics of how not only trees, but also the lumber industry in particular, benefits the ecosystem.

The Significance of Economics

Without monetary value, forests will not continue — which is precisely why cattle ranching is a major factor in deforestation. And by major, we’re talking 65-70% of global deforestation! Small scale agriculture accounts for the next-biggest slice of the pie at 20-25%, followed by large-scale agriculture at 10-15%, for a total of 95% or more due to repurposing of forest covered land for alternative means of revenue.

Regardless of the environmental significance of forests, if the lumber has no economic value, land owners are essentially forced to transform the land into some other form of revenue-producing aim. Like the Yasuni-ITT initiative in Ecuador proved, with no means of revenue, even the most gorgeous, untouched areas cannot be sustained.

The Benefits of Sustainable, Renewable Resources

In addition to the lumber industry’s offering value to rain forests, along with the benefits of forestry management, it has every incentive to keep forests going. As a renewable resource, replanting is a major aspect of the forestry management associated with lumber industry. Not only does replanting offer more potential for lumber in the future, it also impacts the environment.

The more lumber is harvested, the more trees are planted, and the more sequestering of Carbon takes place. Yes, even more than if the original trees were left standing. Why? More Carbon is sequestered by growing trees than by mature trees; in fact, as valuable as they are in other ways, old growth forests actually offer a net loss of Carbon. When you consider the fact that harvested trees that make way for new growth continue to give back to the environment, you realize that the cycle of cutting down trees and planting new ones is quite beneficial.

The Recurring Benefits of Reclaimed Lumber

It’s not just live trees standing in forests that promote a healthy ecosystem: Lumber gives back to its environment until it completely decays. The trend toward reclaimed lumber allows lumber that’s already hundreds of years old to continue its legacy of generosity that goes beyond aesthetics and cost savings. Re-purposed lumber continues to offer the same contribution to the environment as it did during its original use. Unlike manufactured or composite materials, every board foot of lumber will eventually naturally decay and return to the soil, instead of indefinitely taking up landfill space.

So here’s the bottom line: If you’re looking for truly green building materials that continually give back to all living things around the globe, look no further than your local lumber yard.

Read the Entire Series

• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 2

J. Gibson McIlvain Company

Since 1798, when Hugh McIlvain established a lumber business near Philadelphia, the McIlvain family has been immersed in the premium import and domestic lumber industry. With its headquarters located just outside of Baltimore, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company (www.mcilvain.com) is one of the largest U.S. importers of exotic woods.

As an active supporter of sustainable lumber practices, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company has provided fine lumber for notable projects throughout the world, including the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and the Smithsonian museums.

Contact a representative at J. Gibson McIlvain today by calling (800) 638-9100.

As we discussed the positive aspects of wood movement, we compared its predictable, constant movement with that of composite decking. Unpredictable and problem movement isn’t the only problem with manufactured building products: None of them are quite as green as natural lumber is. The resurgence of appreciation of real wood isn’t just a victory for the lumber industry: It’s actually a positive for all people — and, really, all living things — in the world. Why? Lumber continually gives back to the ecosystem in ways that manufactured materials never can.

The Beauty of Biosequestration

Biosequestration is a beautiful thing! This separation of carbon from the atmosphere occurs naturally with all organic matter. We humans, of course, capture Oxygen and breathe out Carbon Dioxide, while plants breathe in Carbon Dioxide and exhale Oxygen.

The Carbon Sink principle is something to which many attribute Global Warming. Basically, the more Carbon we can retain from entering the atmosphere, the less greenhouse gases there will be. Because Carbon remains locked into organic matter forever, even when a tree naturally dies and rots back into the soil, it keeps Carbon from being released. By contrast, when a tree is burned, Carbon is released.

The Continuation of Rainforests

The more trees that exist across the globe, the more they collectively capture the Carbon in the atmosphere. This situation makes deforestation a hot topic for environmentalists — and we completely understand and concur with their frustrations, with one notable exception: They tend to vilify the lumber industry, when it’s truly not to blame for the majority of deforestation. (It’s actually responsible for only 2-3%!)

Despite all the media and celebrity hoopla surrounding the logging industry and its impact on deforestation, the numbers tell a different story: Sustainable forestry is largely made possible by the lumber industry. In fact, it’s precisely when governmental bans on logging are in place — supposedly to protect endangered species — that mass deforestation occurs!

The Impact of Forest Fires

Even without replanting and more direct benefits to the logging and lumber industries, forestry management benefits the environment by reducing forest fires. The much higher incidence of forest fires among unmanaged forests is significant in that when wood is burned, it releases large volumes of Carbon back into the air. Since the lumber industry is largely responsible for forestry management, it can be thanked for the many forest fires (and accompanying losses of Carbon) that don’t occur. (Since modern regulatory controls have helped the lumber industry become more aware of the significance of proper forestry management, they can be thanked in part, as well.)

Hopefully you’re beginning to see how the lumber industry impacts the environment in positive ways. We’ll look at a few more ways it impacts the global ecosystem in Part 2.

Read the Entire Series

• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 2

J. Gibson McIlvain Company

Since 1798, when Hugh McIlvain established a lumber business near Philadelphia, the McIlvain family has been immersed in the premium import and domestic lumber industry. With its headquarters located just outside of Baltimore, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company (www.mcilvain.com) is one of the largest U.S. importers of exotic woods.

As an active supporter of sustainable lumber practices, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company has provided fine lumber for notable projects throughout the world, including the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and the Smithsonian museums.

Contact a representative at J. Gibson McIlvain today by calling (800) 638-9100.

As we discussed in Part 1, lumber movement cannot be completely stopped. As part of the same natural design that provided nutrients to the tree while it was living, the medullary rays once used to deliver nutrients throughout the tree serve a purpose in milled lumber, as well, continually allowing it to come into equilibrium with the moisture levels of its surroundings.

While this process actually provides for stability, it can also produce warping. While you can’t stop moisture, you can take measures to decrease or slow the wide swings that lead to disfigurement of lumber.

Wood Movement Reduction

First, you’ll want to avoid leaving lumber in direct sunlight; instead, always stack lumber in shaded, well-ventilated areas. Ideally, you should also insert small pieces of lumber between boards to allow air flow throughout the pack (which is called “stickering”). If you take the time to sticker the wood, you’ll be allowing each board to evenly absorb and shed moisture, giving it the best opportunity to acclimate to its environment.

After you have the lumber stacked at your job site, you’ll want to give it at least a few days to arrive at an equilibrium with environmental moisture levels before installation.

If you’re using kiln-dried lumber, the lumber you’re receiving will already have ideal levels of stability.

But depending on the difference between the climate of the lumber yard from which the boards have been purchased and the local climate at your job site, the wood may still need a little time.

If you’re planning to cut the wood before installation, you’ll want to give those fresh cuts some time after cutting the lumber and before building it into a fixed position.

Wood Movement Comparison

As much as you may think you do, you really don’t want to stop all movement, or you’ll also be compromising the wood’s stability. Instead, we can be thankful for the predictable movement of wood, which is quite unlike the kind of movement demonstrated by composite decking, as a result of the plastics and wood flour cores from it is made. Without grain, the wood flour expands in unpredictable ways throughout the “boards.”

With composite decking, the plastic outer shell is stretched, as a result of the expansion, but when the wood flour sheds moisture and shrinks, the plastic shell does not. That separation between the shell and wood flour core leads to uneven warping along each board. The uneven swelling also means that each joint and cut end swells more than the remainder of the deck or boardwalk.

Kiln drying, proper ventilation and air drying, end-sealing, and treating can all reduce wood movement, but at the end of the day, nothing can stop it. But at least we can predict wood movement and even count on it — something we can’t say with such confidence about manufactured materials.

Read the Entire Series

• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 2

J. Gibson McIlvain Company

Since 1798, when Hugh McIlvain established a lumber business near Philadelphia, the McIlvain family has been immersed in the premium import and domestic lumber industry. With its headquarters located just outside of Baltimore, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company (www.mcilvain.com) is one of the largest U.S. importers of exotic woods.

As an active supporter of sustainable lumber practices, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company has provided fine lumber for notable projects throughout the world, including the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and the Smithsonian museums.

Contact a representative at J. Gibson McIlvain today by calling (800) 638-9100.

While technically, a tree is no longer living once it’s cut down, it continues to move and give to its environment, as long as it remains in solid form. We can restrain its movement in various ways, yet the very fibers of its being continue to move. Instead of trying to keep it from moving, we do best when we study how and why it moves and respond to its movement by careful installation that allows for necessary movement. The more we understand about this important topic, the more equipped we’ll be to harness the natural strength and beauty which lumber offers us.

Basic Wood Movement

Acting like a bundle of straws, wood fibers constantly absorb and shed moisture from the ground, transporting water and minerals throughout the tree. When a tree is cut down and lumber is milled, the straws continue to act as conduits for moisture. At first, they shed water from their ends, resulting in shrinkage and narrowing of the boards. If they’re in an area where they’re subjected to rain or the climate becomes more humid, they suck in more water, causing them to grow.

Essentially, the wood will always be trying to come into equilibrium with its environment. This constant shedding-and-absorbing-moisture process can be slowed through many methods, including Kiln Drying, End Sealing, and various Finishing techniques. However, nothing can completely stop wood from expanding and contracting. The best we can do is to anticipate this movement as we build.

Two Kinds of Wood Movement

Two key terms related to wood movement refer to the direction of movement: tangential and radial shrinkage. In the above discussion of wood as a bundle of straws, Tangential shrinkage refers to wood movement along growth rings, or the swelling of the straws. Radial shrinkage is the movement of wood along the medullary rays, or perpendicular to growth rings.

As you have probably already guessed, tangential shrinkage is more significant than radial shrinkage; however, both are still significant. The ratio of tangential movement to radial movement, or T/R ratio, will reflect the stability of a given species. The more closely the numbers match one another, the less the chance of warping and cupping. So you’ll want to find out the T/R ratio of the species you’re using and make the appropriate allowances.

Allowing for Wood Movement

While we know that wood moves predictably, it does not do so uniformly. The cut ends, in particular, will dry out more quickly than the middle — which is precisely why wood tends to twist, cup, bow, and warp. Enough time must be allotted for the middle to dry out as much as the ends—not just after the lumber has been milled, but each time it’s moved.

Whether the change in locale is from one climate to another or from one end of the lumber yard or job site to the other, any adjustment can become an opportunity for warping. While the moisture-exchange process will never completely stop, it will slow significantly once the board reaches a point of equilibrium with the environment and itself.

To learn more about wood movement, continue to Part 2.

Read the Entire Series

• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continues To Move, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Large Timbers Will Have Cracks, Part 2
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 1
• Imperfect, Perfect Lumber: Lumber Continually Gives, Part 2

J. Gibson McIlvain Company

Since 1798, when Hugh McIlvain established a lumber business near Philadelphia, the McIlvain family has been immersed in the premium import and domestic lumber industry. With its headquarters located just outside of Baltimore, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company (www.mcilvain.com) is one of the largest U.S. importers of exotic woods.

As an active supporter of sustainable lumber practices, the J. Gibson McIlvain Company has provided fine lumber for notable projects throughout the world, including the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and the Smithsonian museums.

Contact a representative at J. Gibson McIlvain today by calling (800) 638-9100.