archoverflow
LIBRARY › FINISH WOOD & CARPENTRY

Finish Wood & Carpentry

ARE 5.0 StudyTechnicalwoodcarpentryfinishspecificationslumbermember

Definitions

Finish Carpentry: Exposed, finished pieces of wood. Typically nonstructural. Built or cut on site mostly.

  • Examples: Window and door jambs, wall bases, paneling, etc.
  • Uses both softwood and hardwood; however, when appearance is more important, hardwoods are generally used because of the tighter growth rings and more uniform look.
  • The construction of wood stairs is considered ‘Finish Carpentry’ although most utilitarian and decorative stairs are prefabricated and brought to site.

Architectural Woodwork: Finished lumber items fabricated in a manufacturing plant and brought to the job site for installation.

  • Examples: Custom doors, cabinetry, etc.
  • Many times will be mostly constructed off-site, typically in a factory or business, then will be brought to the site and installed in-situ for tolerances, alignments, and finishing.

Finish Carpentry overlaps with Architectural Woodwork, as lots of the times some things are fabricated off site and installed/finished at the site with trim or other finish carpentry items. There is a gray area here and people use the terms fairly interchangeably in practice.

Wood Species And Grading

Finish carpentry is graded differently than architectural woodwork and structural lumber (which is really the reason to have a differentiation). The grading varies slightly from species to species.

In addition to the grades, finish lumber can be specified as HEARTWOOD or SAPWOOD

HEARTWOOD: come from the center of the tree

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR MEMBERS

A free ArchOverflow account unlocks the full article — and the rest of the member library with it. (Tools are separate and invitation-only; membership never includes them automatically.)

Join free Sign in

// ARCHOVERFLOW HAS RESET

We rebuilt ArchOverflow from the ground up on our own platform. Articles are back at their same addresses. Old accounts were retired — membership is new, free, and reopening shortly, and everyone signs up fresh. Thanks for your patience while the last pieces land.