Types

• Bamboo
  Fast-growing grass with hollow, jointed culms of strength similar to timber, used for scaffolding, woven walls, bridges, and structure.
• Cellulose
  Loose-fill or sprayed insulation of recycled paper fiber treated with borate fire retardant, used in wall and attic cavities.
• Cork
  Light, compressible bark of the cork oak, used for flooring, acoustic and thermal insulation, and expansion joints.
• Cross-Laminated Timber
  Mass timber panel of at least three layers of sawn lumber glued at right angles, used for walls, floors, and roofs.
• Glulam
  Structural beam of dimensional lumber layers glued with the grain parallel, used for long-span beams, arches, and columns.
• Hardboard
  Dense fiberboard of compressed wood fibers bound by lignin, used for siding, underlayment, pegboard, and panels.
• Hardwood
  Wood from broadleaf (angiosperm) trees such as oak, maple, ash, walnut, and teak, used for flooring, trim, cabinetry, and decking.
• Laminated Veneer Lumber
  Engineered lumber of bonded thin veneers, used for headers, beams, rim board, and I-joist-depth framing.
• Medium-Density Fiberboard
  Smooth, knot-free panel of wood fibers, wax, and resin, used for painted trim, cabinetry, and millwork in dry interiors.
• Oriented Strand Board
  Panel of cross-oriented wood strands bonded with resin, used for wall, roof, and floor sheathing.
• Particleboard
  Panel of wood chips and formaldehyde-based resin pressed under heat, used for underlayment, cabinetry, and low-cost furniture.
• Plywood
  Cross-laminated veneer panel with an odd number of plies, used for sheathing, subfloors, forms, and cabinetry.
• Softwood
  Wood from conifer (gymnosperm) trees such as Douglas fir, southern pine, cedar, and spruce, used for framing, sheathing, siding, and decking.
• Wood
  Renewable cellulose-lignin material sawn into lumber and engineered into panels and beams, used for framing, floors, doors, windows, and trim.

Code reference

Always verify the adopted code edition and local amendments for the project jurisdiction.

Governing editions

Wood products and design

• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.1: lumber graded per DOC PS 20
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.2: wood I-joists per ASTM D5055
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.3: glulam per ANSI/APA A190.1 and ASTM D3737
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.4: cross-laminated timber per ANSI/APA PRG 320
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.5: wood structural panels per DOC PS 1, DOC PS 2, and ANSI/APA PRP 210 (plywood, oriented strand board)
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.6: fiberboard per ASTM C208
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.7: hardboard per ANSI A135.4, A135.5, and A135.6
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.8: particleboard per ANSI A208.1
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.9: preservative-treated wood per AWPA U1 and M4
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.10: structural composite lumber per ASTM D5456
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.1.13: rim boards per PRR 410 or ASTM D7672
• IBC 2024, Sections 2306 and 2307: design per AWC NDS (lateral per SDPWS)
• IBC 2024, Section 2304.12: decay protection: wood 8 in. from earth; 18 in. clearance under joists in crawlspaces

Referenced standards

Sources

• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 23 wood, https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/23/wood