YABA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

ESTATE MANAGEMENT AND VALUATION

LEVEL:
ND 1/ FULL TIME

COURSE:
BUILDING SCIENCE AND PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

PROJECT WORK:
TIMBER

GROUP WORK MATRIC NO:

(001 -008)

LECTURERS NAME:
MRS AKERELE

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 NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS

NAMES MATRIC NO
EKEMU GLORIA .O F/ND/16/3550001
OBE PETER OLAITAN F/ND/16/3550002
SAMUEL ROTIMI EDET F/ND/16/3550003
ADEITAN MUBARAK F/ND/16/3550004
AJUEBOR ISRAEL F/ND/16/3550005
RAJI MUBARAK F/ND/16/3550006
ADESOYE TAIWO OMOTOLANI F/ND/16/3550007
AMUSA ADENIYI LAWAL F/ND/16/3550008

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 TIMBER
Timber is used to refer to wood has been pre-cut and is ready for use in construction. Timber is
also known as lumber. There are different species of timber namely: Oak, Mahogany, Maple,
Walnut, Cherry, Spruce, Opepe, Obeche, Pine, Ash, Birch, etc. These species are used to create
different types of Timber.

TYPES OF WOOD

1. Soft wood
2. Hard wood

PROPERTIES OF SOFT WOOD

Softwood form 80% of timber

1. They are called conifers ( cone-bearing seed plant with vascular tissue)
2. Thin needle like leaves
3. They are green all year round
4. Fruit carried in wooden cones e.g Fir, Pine, Spruce, Whitewood
5. They are less expensive compared to hardwood
6. Made up of tracheids (thin long cells, heavy long axis along the length of the trunkor
branch) giving softwood strength and texture
7. They grow tall, straight and in cold climate
8. They grow faster than hardwood
9. They belong to the botanical group Gymnopemal(plants that bear exposed seeds)

PROPERTIES OF HARD WOOD

1. They are found in temperate areas
2. They are generally hard, tough and dark coloured with acid, aromatic or poisonous
secretion.
3. They are more expensive than softwood
4. They have a slower growth rate
5. They are used in making high quality furniture, decks, flooring and construction that
needs to last
6. They have structures more complicated than softwood
7. Bulk of wood consists of long fibre, long cells that are vessels conduct water from the
root of the tree to its crown

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 8. They are deciduous and lose their leaves in winter
9. They belong to angiospemae or flowering plant
10. Have broad leaves

Examples of hardwood are oak, mahogany, peak,beech etc.

NOTE: some Hardwood are softer than softwood e.g. BALSA while YEW is an example
of a hard softwood.

Trees whose wood are used for building purposes are called exogens i.e growing outwards
annually new layers of wood annually under the bark.

SECTION THROUGH A GROWING TREE

Cambium: beneath the protective bark around tree trunk and branches

It is slimy light green skin

Layer of wood cells, begin each spring to divide several times to form a layer of
new wood

New woods are formed inside the cambium

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Medullary rays: consists specialized wood cells whose main purpose is to store food

Bark: consists of cells and woody fibres

Forms d outside protective layer of the tree

SEASONING/ PRESERVATION OF TIMBER

Wood before it can be used, has to be well dried so as to prevent it from being deformed or out
of shape. Seasoning or preservation of wood is the process of allowing newly cut wood to dry
out. Growing wood has about 2/3 of its weight comprising of water in the cell.

There are basically two methods of preserving wood; Natural seasoning and Artificial seasoning

NATURAL SEASONING

Water evaporates to the surrounding air. Shrinkage may occurs which cause the timber to loose
shape(warping of timber)

Green timber is stacked in lathsor stickers between timbers to allow the passage of air and assist
evaporation

Stacking room is roofed to protect timber from sun and rain. Moisture content will be equal to or
greater than 17% of the actual amount of water content in 2 years.

ARTIFICIAL SEASONING(KILN SEASONING)

This is an artificial drying of timber, it is carried out in a force draught compartment kiln, air is
heated heated by steam pipes and humidified by water sprays or steam jets. The temperature,
degree of humidity and rate of air flow is controlled.

DEFECTS IN TIMBER

Timber defects refer to imperfections that occur in timber boards. These defects affect its
appearance, durability and strength of the timber, it maybe caused due to natural growth, during
seasoning, manufacturing and by fungi attack or insects

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(A) DEFECTS FROM NATURAL CAUSES
Knots:- deviation of the grain may leave a hole
Types
Sound Knot:- free from decay, solid across its face an hard and surrounding wood
Dead Knot:- intergrown fiber of those of the surrounding wood.
Loose Knots:- dead knots not firmly held in place
Round Gall:- surface endorsed by the (3) growth of the tree.
Shake:- separation standing of fibre along the grain as a result of stressed developing in
the standing tree or felling or seasoning.
Types
Cross shake:- occurs in cross-grained timber following the grain
Heart Shake:- follows the line of a growth ring.
Star Shake:- consist of a number of heart shakes resembling a star.
1. Heart and star shakes (caused by too rapid drying after felling)
2. Cup and ring shakes. (caused by old age)
3. Frost shakes (wood splits inwards and is caused by very cold weather)
4. Radial shakes (a split along the outside of the wood caused by rapid drying of logs before
conversion)

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 Bark Pocket:- bark in a pocket associate to a knot that has been partially or wholly
enclosed by the growth of the tree.
Dead Wood:- timber from dead standing trees.
Resin Pocket:- lens shaped cavities in timber containing a resinous subs.

(B) DEFECT DUE TO SEASONING

Check
Ribbing
Spilt
Warp
(C) DEFECT DUE TO MANUFACTURE
Chipped Grain
Imperfect manufacture
Torn Grain
Waney Edge
(D) DEFECT DUE TO FUNGI ATTACK
Fungal Decay:- Brown Rot, White Rot
Dote/Doaty/Dovy/Dozy/Fozy
Dry rot
Coniphora puteama (Cellar Fungi)
Wet Rot
(E) DEFECT BY INSECT ATTACK
Furniture Beetle or Wood Worm
Death-watch Beetle
Powder-Root Beetle
Hse longhorn Beetle

PARTICLE BOARD

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Boards made from wood wste in the form of chips called chipboard or Particle Board. The chips
of wood are compressed together with a certain amount of adhesive to form a strong and rigid
board which can be used in place of boarding for floors, roofs etc provided it is well covered.

It does not present a finished abrasion-resistant face for flooring. Moreover, it must be kept dry
at all times since its dirtinently porous- the particles grading and compression is not sufficient to
remove all pores. Much ready-made shelved consist of particle board with wood veneer or
melanin face and back. There is a shift difficultly in use occasionally as screws of small fittings
do not always hold well in the edges as they do in plywood.

PLYWOOD:- This are board which are made from different ply. Examples of items made of
plywood are kitchen cabinet, roof board etc.

SELECTION STAGES

Thickness ranges from 1mm(veneer).

Selection and skimming

Peeling
Clipping
Drying
Grading:- this has to do with inspection of venners. The best are used at the face next at
the back while the last one
Repairing
Jointing :- when we join we use temporary tape to hold them for sometime
Pressing
Stacking
Finishing

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