The Correct Way To Inspect Lumber Quality Upon Delivery

While lumber selection is a careful process that requires assessing different lumber types and their best use cases, ensuring the quality of the wood that shows up on your site is par for the course is a different ballgame altogether. 

 

You cannot wait and wonder if the material delivered will behave once you start working. That is a counterproductive approach that more often than not leads to expensive callbacks. In fact, issues such as warped studs, twisted joists, popping fasteners, and uneven deck boards are the fastest way to frustrate your clients. The result? Demands for costly reworks. 

 

That is why you need to make sure that you do not take poor-quality lumber with you to your worksite. All you have to do is spend 10 minutes inspecting the delivery to save yourself from hours of rework and hundreds of dollars of wasted material. 

 

Fonthill Lumber Inc., one of the most trusted lumber yards in Ontario with 75 years of experience, is here to show you how!

 

 

A Ten-Minute Inspection Guide For Lumber Delivery

 

Trust us, we have spent 75 years in the industry to know that inspecting delivered lumber does not have to be a time-consuming process. So no matter how chaotic your construction site is, take a moment aside sometime and do the things we have mentioned below to ensure you have the highest quality materials with you. 

 

 

Step #1: Check the lumber’s moisture content

 

Do not underestimate the role of moisture content when it comes to lumber’s performance. It is the number one factor that influences how wood will behave once it acclimates to your construction site. 

 

For example, if the material is too wet, you can expect issues like:

 

• Shrinking
• Cupping
• Twisting
• Warping
• Splitting 
• Pulled fasteners

If you have ordered lumber for framing purposes, make sure it has a labelled moisture content of about 15% to 19%. Especially if it is either spruce, pine, or fir. The dryer lumber you get, the better it is if quick construction is on the cards.

 

As for pressure-treated lumber, bear in mind that its moisture content will be higher when compared to natural wood. However, make sure it is not dripping wet or spongy when it arrives at your site, as such a state can adversely impact its structural integrity. 

 

Some quick field checks you can conduct include:

 

• Weight test: If the lumber feels excessively heavy, it has significantly higher moisture content than it should
• Touch test: The surface of the wood should not feel damp or cool
• End-grain test: if you notice swollen and darker end grains, it means the wood is has an elevated moisture content

Having a moisture meter on-site can be greatly instrumental in understanding whether the lumber delivered is of optimal quality. 

 

 

Step #2: Examine its straightness

 

Ever notice the most problematic boards are slightly crooked? That is not a coincidence. A board that is delivered straight will stay straight even as you work with it. However, a slightly off board is bound to turn into a problem later. 

 

So before you start working, pick up the board and examine it from end to end to check for common defects such as:

 

• Crookedness along the edges in the form of a curve
• Bowing that takes the shape of a curve along the board’s face
• Twisting, which reveals rotated ends
• Cupping, in which the board’s edges are higher than its center 

If you notice any of these signs in the lumber delivered to you, you should reject it. Straight material is key to faster installations, while crooked lumber is a time and money waste. 

 

 

Step #3: Identify structural defects

 

While a couple of knots here and there are nothing to worry about, structural knots can be very problematic as they point to an inherent flaw that cannot be fixed. 

 

Reject lumber if you find it has:

 

• Large knots near its ends
• Loose or completely absent knots
• Splits along the ends that are longer than half the board’s entire width
• Deep checks on the boards
• Wanes that compromise the lumber’s bearing surface
• Stains from fungus or mold patterns as they are indicative of rot and decay
• Insect damage, whether it is from termites or ant colonies 

Defects are not easy to work with and can cost your project dearly. So if you find them, do not look for a workaround. Reject the material as the cost of defects is bound to add up. 

 

 

Step #4: Check the lumber’s grade stamps

 

Even if everything looks good, you cannot fully trust the quality of that pressure-treated lumber stack delivered to you unless it comes bearing the right stickers. Visible grade stamps are a marker of structural reliability. 

 

They should mention the following details clearly:

 

• The species of the wood used
• The grade number - for example, No. 1, No. 2
• The moisture status - KD, S-Dry, Green
• The mill its from or the grading agency 

 

If you find all of the above information, you can trust that you have gotten high-quality lumber. But if you notice any of the red flags we have listed below, you know what to do:

 

• Faded or unreadable stamps
• Missing stamps
• Mixing grades of lumber in a single stack

Each of these is solid grounds for rejection. Fortunately, this will never happen if you partner with a reliable lumber yard such as Fonthill Lumber Inc. 

 

 

Step #5: Confirm dimensional accuracy and milling quality

 

The major problem with poorly milled lumber is that it can lead to uneven framing, thus hampering the structure and aesthetics of your project. Plus, poor fastening grip is inevitable, and so are misaligned studs, joists, and deck boards. 

 

So before you start building, check the boards to ensure they have:

 

• An even grain pattern that feels smooth to the touch
• Consistent width and thickness all around 
• No tapered edges
• Clean, square edges that are easy to work with

Precision-milled lumber is key to ensuring efficiency on a jobsite. They guarantee lasting results. 

 

 

Step #6: Examine in-transit bundling and storage conditions

 

Truth be told, the performance of the lumber you get largely depends on the condition it arrives in. So once unloading begins, check if the entire bundle has been wrapped properly and features all the stickers and labels it should. The banding should be intact, and the boards should not be dirty, iced or waterlogged to be considered usable. 

 

A quality lumber yard, such as Fonthill Lumber Inc., for example, ensures all material delivered to you is properly protected from the elements – be it rain, snow, or the harsh rays of the sun. You can trust that road dirt will not make its way inside the packaging, and there will be no compression damage. 

 

 

Step #7: Store your lumber right

 

If the materials delivered to you pass every check, the onus of ensuring the lumber remains usable falls on you now. Poorly stored wood can turn into waste material pretty quickly if stored incorrectly. 

 

Here’s how you should store wooden boards to preserve their integrity: 

 

• Ensure the bundle does not come in contact with the ground
• Store the entire stack on a levelled block
• Keep it covered to safeguard against the elements, but make room for ventilation 
• Store pressure-treated lumber in a shaded spot, away from the sun
• Keep all decking material flat and supported to prevent damage
• Avoid long-term storage on uneven surfaces, as it can permanently alter the structure of the boards 

Proper storage helps in the maintenance of lumber’s core properties, which in turn, enhances its usability. 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Do not take inspecting lumber quality lightly, as the success of your entire project hinges on it. The more careful you are, the easier it will become to prevent mid-project mishaps such as misaligned frames, expensive callbacks, and unhappy clients. Need another safe and surefire way you avoid these situations? Partner with a reliable lumber yard. 

 

Fonthill Lumber Inc. has been the go-to lumber yard for contractors and builders in Ontario for the last 75 years. Known for delivering straight and stable material of consistent quality with accurate grading, our lumber has been a part of several key projects in and around the province. Contact us to get premium materials reliably delivered to your worksite. 

 

 

FAQs

 

Can lumber defects be cut out to make the wood usable?

 

Yes, but only if the defects are small enough that the remaining board meets the dimensional and structural requirements of your project. 

 

Are slight twists allowed while framing lumber?

 

While you can work with minor twists and still maintain the integrity of your structure, lumber with excessive twists can be problematic and should be discarded. 

 

What is the best moisture range for lumber used for interior framing?

 

A range of 15% to 19% is considered ideal. However, the exact number will vary based on the climate and code requirements of your project’s location.