Post Contents
Different Types of Wood and Their Uses
Wood is one of the few renewable natural resources. It is an important product utilized in our day-to-day life and the economy.
There are Different Wood Types used in house making and furniture; newspapers, books, and magazines.
It is also used in railway sleepers, bridge making, fence posts and utility poles, fuelwood, textile fabrics, and organic chemicals.
Wood is an important raw material for making lumber, plywood, and wood pallets, and the fiber for paper, paperboard, fiberboard panels, rayon, and acetate.
Today, building “green” is a good choice. Wood as a building material offers many environmental benefits that matter to communities across the country. Wood is one of the few building materials that are renewable and sustainable.
Wood products help to increase a building’s energy efficiency compared to concrete, and steel and minimize the energy consumed throughout the life of the product.
Wood also helps in removing carbon from the atmosphere, helping to mitigate climate change. As we know the trees use carbon dioxide as they grow. These benefits extended further when the wood is utilized for making a product.
Wood consumption is significantly increased in the United States, which has 5 percent of the Earth’s population and consumes an estimated 28 percent of the Earth’s industrial wood product.
Moreover, the US domestic timber inventory is only 10 percent of the Earth’s total, 96 percent of U.S. consumption of industrial wood comes from domestic supplies.
Read More: Which Is Best Wood For Furniture | 8 Types of Wood For Funiture | Types of Wood Furniture
What Is Wood?
“Wood is a material brought from the tree. Different types of trees produce different qualities and Wood that is utilized for various purposes in our life”
Advantages of Wood
- Wood is a better choice to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, air and water pollution, and other impacts. Steel and concrete as the most consumed building materials use 12% and 20% more energy and emit 15% and 29% more greenhouse gases. Their use also releases 10% and 12% more pollutants into the air and generates 300% and 225% more water pollutants than wood, respectively.
- It helps in reducing the consumption of energyacross the life cycle of growth, harvest, transport, manufacture, and construction compared to other structural building products according to life cycle assessment (LCA).
- It can improve energy efficiency, as wood is an excellent insulator, wood has a cellular structure that allows for air pockets, helping to slow the conductivity of heat.
- Product manufactured from wood is able to store carbon,helping to mitigate climate change while also providing a good alternative for materials that require large amounts of fossil fuels to produce.
- Using wood helps give rise to growing more trees and increases our carbon storage potentialby helping to ensure that it is affordable for forest owners to continue sustainably managing their forestland.
Read More: Types of Timber used in House Construction
Types of Wood
The following are different types of wood,
1. Akasa Wood

Its types of heartwood and sapwood. Which is straight-grained grey–brown color. It is mainly utilized in interior joinery, light structural work, flooring, utility furniture, veneer for plywood, and turnery. An Akasa wood is general utility interior wood.
2. Ash Wood

Ashwood is one type of light wood and it offers distinctive luster when polished. Its structure is almost open grain and is reasonably hard-wearing. This type of wood can be stained to almost any color.
3. Balsa Wood

However, balsa wood is one of the softest and lightest weight timbers, it is a hardwood. Balsa is mainly used for heat, sound, and vibration insulation and for model making.
4. Bamboo Wood

It generally has a rich golden color that’s very hard–wearing. As bamboo is impervious to moisture, it can be used in conjunction with the ornamental part of a water feature or for flooring in bathrooms, conservatories, and other wet areas.
5. Beech Wood

Beechwood is one of the hard durable wood that is found in its natural form and comes in a variety of warm, soft honey tones. Sometimes, beech has been treated at high temperatures to create a unique red color.
Read More: How To Remove Mold From Wood | How To Clean Mold Off Wood | How To Kill Mold On Wood | How To Get Rid Of Mold On Wood | Best Wat To Remove Mold From Wood
6. Brazilian Mahogany Wood

Brazilian mahogany is denser than many African mahoganies. It can be used for making boats and different construction work utilization.
7. Cedar Wood

It is one of the major used lightweight softwood. It can be useful in construction work. Cedarwood is proven durable with straight gain.
8. Celtis Wood

Celtis wood is a straight–grained but sometimes interlocked wood. It comes up with yellowish–grey heartwood and sapwood and a fine texture with a slightly lustrous look.
It is majorly utilized for interior joinery and trims, flooring, moldings, veneer, plywood, handles, and some furniture.
9. Conifer Wood

- Wood cut out from Coniferous or cone–bearing trees is known as conifers. Generally, these trees are evergreen, the trees have needle-like leaves and produce softwood timber. This term generally covers and includes:
- Araucaria
- Cedar
- Cypress
- Douglas fir
- Fir
- Hemlock
- Juniper
- Larche
- Pine
- Podocarpus
- Redwood
- Spruce
- Yew
Read More: Difference Between Wood and Timber | What Is Wood | What Is Timber | What Is Lumber
10. Cherry Wood

Cherry wood has the color reddish–brown and it comes up with straight–grained wood that may contain pith flecks and small gum pockets that create random patterning.
Many people believe that cherry wood is the best wood for carving because it is soft enough to be carved easily but is also hard enough to hold its shape.
Cherry wood also has a beautiful, rich color that makes it a popular choice for furniture, carvings, and other decorative items.
11. Dahoma Wood

Dahoma wood generally has coarse interlocked grain, yellowish–brown streaky heartwood, and pale sapwood. It is one of hard timber mostly for exterior use, such as exterior structural timbers, mining timbers, marine work, sleepers, outdoor furniture, decking, and so on.
12. Danta Wood

The danta wood comes up with fine grain mostly interlocked with mahogany red heartwood and lighter sapwood. It’s a hard and strong wearing surface. It is mostly used for high-quality joinery, cabinetwork, benchtops, boat components, decking, and interior and exterior applications.
13. Douglas fir Wood

Douglas fir wood is grown in North America and the UK. It generally has a light reddish-brown color with softwood, used for construction, interior, and exterior joinery, and plywood. It is very strong compared to weight.
14. European Beech

European Beech is a very Important type of wood. It is generally grown in Europe and is a white to pale brown color hardwood, used for furniture, interior joinery, and flooring. It can be used for plywood.
15. Elm Wood

It is one of hardwood and grain similar to or even exceeding that of oak. It is found in a variety of colors and tones from cream to dark brown and its grain is equally diverse, ranging from straight to wavy. Characteristically, the elm comes up and incorporates knots and burrs.
16. Greenheart Wood

The Greenheart is grown and found in Guyana. It has color dense yellow or olive green to brown hardwood used for heavy construction such as bridges, marine, and freshwater construction.
17. Iroko Wood

Iroko wood trees mostly grew in West Africa. It has the color yellow-brown hardwood with a grain that’s irregular and interlocked.
Iroko wood is mostly utilized for interior and exterior joinery and for construction work. A cheaper alternative to teak.
18. Khaya Wood

Khaya wood is also known as West African mahogany, it’s slightly lighter in weight than Brazilian mahogany but normally has a coarser texture.
19. Ligneous Wood

The ligneous wood materials are bagasse, bamboo, cereal straw, and flax or hemp shives.
20. Maple Wood

It is generally straight–grained and is characterized by irregular patterning, which can include fiddle back and bird’s eye patterns.
It comes up with light brown heartwood color and thin white sapwood that can be tinged with reddish–brown.
Maple wood is very strong, heavy, and has a high resistance to knocks. After being stained, it has a light, almost translucent appearance. maple is found in Canada and is one of the hardest species.
Read More:
21. Meranti Wood

This is a mixed–species grouping of the Shorea genus that’s grown in South East Asia. Commercially, meranti woods are grouped according to their color and density:
- Dark red meranti and red lauan are medium to dark–red brown hardwoods used for interior and exterior joinery and for plywood
- Yellow meranti or are yellow-brown hardwoods, used for interior joinery and plywood
- Light red meranti and white lauan, are pale pink to mid-red hardwoods, used for interior joinery and plywood
22. Oak Wood

This is traditionally used as first-choiceconstruction timber. It is mainly straight–grained and its Colors range from light to medium brown.
Sometimes, it is called red oak because its autumnal foliage has more flecks and a defined grained finish. Oakwood is heavy, hard–wearing, and very strong.
23. Oak, European Wood

It is majorly grown in Europe and is a yellowish-brown hardwood used for furniture, interior, and exterior joinery, flooring, barrels, and fencing.
24. Opepe Wood

Opepe wood is found in West Africa. It has the color yellow to orange–yellow hardwood, used for heavy construction, marine, and freshwater construction, and for exterior joinery and flooring.
25. Okoume Wood

This is only found in the forests of Gabon. Okoume wood is softwood and has color salmon pink in color with a fibrous texture and an irregular grain that looks like light mahogany. Okoume trees mainly produce cylindrical logs, which are suitable for slicing and peeling and is mainly used to make veneer sheet.
26. Pine Wood

Pinewood is a cheaper and more readily available alternative to traditional hardwoods. It is one type of pale wood that can range from yellow to almost red in appearance. Pinewood is highly susceptible to wear and denting, especially in high–traffic areas.
27. Pitch Pine Wood

A Central American softwood pine has better strength and durability compared to most pines. The commercial graded pitch pine is used for constructional work.
28. Poplar Wood

Poplar wood’s color is pale, light, and very soft. It is mostly used in joinery, furniture interiors, packing cases, and for making plywood. It second most prior source after conifers for cellulose for pulp paper.
29. Redwood, European

Pinus sylvestris is generally found in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and the Russian Commonwealth. It is also available in the UK, where it’s known as Scots pine or British pine.
It has colored a pale yellowish–brown to red-brown softwood, commonly used for construction, joinery, and furniture.
30. Sapele Wood

This is mostly found and grown in South East Asia and is a medium reddish–brown hardwood with a marked stripe figure, used for interior joinery, furniture, and flooring.
31. Sitka Spruce Wood

This wood comes up with a close and straight–grained wood with a high strength–to–weight ratio.
32. Southern Yellow Pine

It is generally southern yellow pine used for interior and exterior construction as it’s easy to work and finishes well. It has very few defects.
33. Teak Wood

Teak wood is found in Burma and Thailand and has been extensively planted elsewhere. It has the major color of golden–brown hardwood, sometimes with dark markings that are used for furniture, interior, and exterior joinery.
34. Utile Wood

Utile woods are majorly grown in West Africa. It has color reddish-brown hardwood, used for interior and exterior joinery, furniture, and cabinetwork.
35. Walnut Wood

Walnut wood has occasional waves and curls and rich dark tones that are created through a combination of rich dark heartwood and creamy brown sapwood. It comes up with varying grain patterns.
36. Western Hemlock

Western Hemlock wood is mainly found in North America and is pale brown softwood, used for construction and joinery.
37. Western Red Cedar

Western Red Cedar is mostly found in North America and is a reddish–brown softwood, used for roofing shingles, exterior cladding, and greenhouses.
38. Whitewood, European

Whitewood is found in Europe, the Baltic states, and the Russian commonwealth It’s a commercial grouping of white to pale yellowish–brown softwoods, commonly used for construction, joinery, and flooring.
Watch Video: Types of Hardwood and Softwood
FAQs:
What are the 4 major types of wood?
For wood to be divided into four classes, it is classified as hardwood, softwood, plywood, and MDF as the major classes of bricks. Later it can be classified as subclasses of the above classes or can be separated on different classification criteria.
Which is the best wood for furniture?
Furniture made of the following category is of the best kind:
1. CherryWood: CherryWood has a reddish-brown color and it comes up with straight-grained wood that may contain pith flecks.
2. PineWood: Pinewood is highly susceptible to wear and denting, especially in high-traffic areas.
3. MapleWood: MapleWoodis very strong, heavy, and has a high resistance to knocks.
4. OakWood: Oakwood is heavy, hard-wearing, and very strong.
What is the most expensive wood?
Woods having the tag of most expensive wood are;
1. Sandalwood
2. Amaranth
3. AgarWood
4. Blackwood(Ebony)
5. Dalbergia
6. Bocote Cordia
Different Types of Wood
The most popular wood types are as follows,
1. Akasa Wood
2. Ash Wood
3. Balsa Wood
4. Bamboo Wood
5. Beech Wood
6. Brazilian mahogany Wood
7. Cedar Wood
8. Celtis Wood
9. Conifer Wood
10. Cherry Wood
You May Also Like:
- Which Is Best Wood For Furniture | 8 Types of Wood For Funiture | Types of Wood Furniture
- Types of Timber used in House Construction
- How To Remove Mold From Wood | How To Clean Mold Off Wood | How To Kill Mold On Wood | How To Get Rid Of Mold On Wood | Best Wat To Remove Mold From Wood
- Difference Between Wood and Timber | What Is Wood | What Is Timber | What Is Lumber