Back Relieved:
Channels milled into the back or bottom face of the material to help reduce nail damage during installation and cupping after installation.
Bow:
Wood is measured in a straight line drawn from end to end of a piece. A curvature from end to end such as on the rails of a rocking chair.
Brine Staining:
Coloration and/or staining from the olive or pickle production process.
Bevel:
When the edges of the material are milled at an angle. Most commonly associated with pre-finished flooring, siding and paneling.
Character Grade:
Material that can include occasional to frequent character from prior use. This character may include nail holes, bolt holes, mortises, checking, etc.
Checking:
Cracks or fissures that appear on the surfaces of lumber during drying. These checks can sometimes deepen and intersect the full thickness of the material. Surface checks do not significantly degrade the wood's structural integrity. Through checks can affect the structure.
Circle-Sawn:
Surface texture created by a circular saw blade. Often associated with material that was originally milled in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Color Tones:
The range of colors inherent in a given wood product. All wood ranges in color, e.g. "tans and cinnamon with a range of browns, with contrasting black fill".
Crook:
A 'lengthwise deviation' in a straight line drawn from one end of a piece to the other. A curvature from end to end.
Cup:
A flatwise deviation in a straight line drawn from one edge of a piece to the other. A curvature from edge to edge.
Deep Checking:
More than 1/4" wide and/or 10" long.
E4E:
Eased Four Edges. Material with eased/rounded edges on all four sides.
End-Matched:
Material with a tongue & groove profile on the ends so that the ends of the material slot into place.
Fastener, Nail &:
Spike Holes: Holes produced by extracted or missing nails, spikes, screws, bolts and other fasteners used
during the wood's prior life.
Fill:
An epoxy or paste compound used to fill checks, nail holes, insect bore holes and other holes and voids.
Insect Bore Holes:
Holes or trails left by insects in the previous life of the wood (either as a tree or in a structure). (Kiln drying kills any living insects that may exist in the wood prior to milling).
Loose Knots:
Knots which are not firmly fixed in place.
Micro-Bevel:
When the edges of the material are milled at a very slight angle. Most commonly associated with prefinished flooring where the surface of the material is not able to be sanded smooth in place after installation.
Missing Knots:
Voids created by loose knots dropping out of the wood.
Mixed Grain:
Material that includes both flat and vertical grain.
Moisture Content:
The amount of moisture in a piece of lumber. Expressed as a percentage of the material's weight.
Mortise Pockets:
A square or rectangular hole cut into a timber to receive a tenon. This can be left unfilled or filled with wood and glued in place.
Naturally Distressed:
An “as-is” surface, characterized by
heavy surface texture, color variation, checking and other signs of prior use and age created during the material's previous existence.
Oxide Stains:
Dark, usually black, coloration or streaking created by rusting nails, screws or bolts. May express as streaks, patches or stained irregular areas.
Prefilled:
Products with fastener holes, checks and other voids that are filled with epoxy, wood and/or other material.
Profile:
The milled pattern along the edges of a piece such as, “shiplap” or “tongue-and- groove”.
Reveal:
An exposed channel or trough giving the appearance of a gap between boards created by overlapping material. Typically used in siding applications.
RS3S:
Rough-Sawn Three Sides. Material that is rough sawn on both edges and one wide face with the other wide face left intact to show the wood's naturally weathered character.
RS4S:
Rough-Sawn Four Sides. Material that is rough sawn on all four sides.
S3S:
Surfaced Three Sides. Material that is surfaced smooth on the edges and one wide face with the other wide face left intact to show the wood's naturally weathered character.
S4S:
Surfaced Four Sides. Material that is surfaced smooth on all four sides.
Sapwood:
The outer layers wood in a tree between the bark and heartwood that contain the sap. Typically lighter in color than the heartwood and usually softer and not as structurally sound or durable as the heartwood.
Saw Marks:
Marks left from original milling of lumber or marks from previous use.
Seasoning Checks :
A separation of the wood across the grain normally occurring as a result of seasoning or drying.
Shake:
A lengthwise separation of the wood which occurs between or through the rings of annual growth.
Surface Checking:
Fine, shallow cracks appearing on the surface of a piece of wood.
T&G Profile:
A tongue-and- grooved piece of lumber.
Tight Knots:
Knots fixed by growth, shape or position so that they retain their place in the piece.
Twist:
A combination of flatwise and/or lengthwise and/or edgewise deviation from one end of a piece to the other. Like a corkscrew.
Vertical Grain:
Material that was milled at approximately right angles to the annual growth rings of the wood, so that the rings
form an angle of 45 degrees or more with the surface of the piece. The surface grain of this material appears as narrow, straight lines.
V-Groove:
A shallow, V-shaped channel created by adjoining two pieces with beveled edges. Typical with paneling
applications.