I know all the no 2 stuff and whatnot, but what are the actual 1×4’s and 1x8s and all that made of at the home stores. is it actually pine? i thought pine was supposed to take stain well, and that stuff just seems to let the stain roll off of it without it sinking in much. a friend thought it was spruce, not sure where he’s getting that.
thanks
Replies
It can be any of pine, spruce, or fir. You have to either read the tags at the store really well, or be into wood so much that you can tell wood by its grain pattern to know for sure what you are getting.
Define "take stain well"-if you mean it soaks it up like a sponge, the "stuff" at HD does just that once you get it sanded. In fact it takes it so well that it usually turns out blotchy and horrible looking. They call it No. 2 pine (the knot-free stuff is D-select). Could be anything from a pine-related tree.
Maybe someday I'll know a little something.
so be it, pine-spruce-fur, all of them sanded will take the stain better then unsanded/
i know to use a conditioner.
i made a cradle about 5 years ago with some "pine" 1x12 boards from HD and got the most awesome deep brown color and i cannot for the life of me remember how. i think it was stain and some danish oil. i haven't been able to get that dark since on anything from HD.
I heard alot of this stuff is being imported from South America, and it is inferior to what used to be offered. Another forum discussion stated that the molding is really bad. This from some contractors.
the depot sells alot of what is labeled as "Whitewood" sort of a mystery meat of wood, really sucks for every use. They are takeing advantage of average joes doing diy and looking for cheap wood.
I bought some 2 x 4 studs at HD the other day-had to sort through a whole pallet to find eight somewhat decent boards. Absolute junk. Won't be shopping for wood there again soon.
What you were probably sorting thru was "winter wood", i.e. lumber that is harvested, left outside, processed (this includes the milling), not very well dried lumber that is, unfortunately, what passes for framing materials in the winter. This stuff is notoriously unstable because of the conditions under which it is brought to market and how wet it usually is. I have been known to go to the Pro Desk at Homer's and make them open another bunk if the available stock is not acceptable.
It is easy to blame Homer's for this stuff. However the truth is that winter wood shows up pretty much everywhere this time of year.
Poplar is often called whitewood.Not sure if HD is calling the species properly or just a generic name for any wood that is light in color.
mike
thats good to know, I am not a fan of the depot so I couldnt resist a chance at a dig. I buy my wood at lumber yards.
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