Timber Handy Tip

Protect your timber
If you intend to allow your weatherboard or decking to grey naturally why not give it an initial coat of oil to protect it as it acclimatises to the shock of the Australian sun and wind.
It will take a little longer to go grey but the oil will reduce warping or surface check and leave you with a lovely natural look. A number of different timber protections are available through North Eden Timber.

Select your timber floor
Take the confusion out of selection your timber floor. Before you even think about what species you want, ask yourself "What colours do I like?"
Flooring, despite the species can easily be broken into reds, browns and yellows. Once you have established a basic idea of what colours you do and don't want then talk to us at North Eden Timber. We can tell what is available and give you prices and samples to compare.

Placing timber order
When placing an order for timber with a merchant it is a good idea to let them know what lengths you are going to actually use even if you want to dock them yourself.

Too often orders are delayed, sometimes for weeks while merchants endeavour to buy in specially requested lengths when the order could have been filled from existing stock. Eg: a customer requiring 2.0 or 3.0 m lengths of timber may order several 6.0 m lengths of that end selection only to be disappointed to find there will be a 3 week wait before they can complete their project when all the time the merchant could have filled the order from existing shorter length stock. It is also worth noting that often the shorter timber lengths can be quite significantly cheaper than the longer set length ones

How to keep your floor clean
Timber floors are an investment well worth protecting and should be looked after by fitting protective pads to the legs of chairs and tables so they can be moved without the risk of scuffing or scratching. Vacuum or sweep your floor regularly. If you prefer to use a damp mop then add a little methylated spirits to the water approximate half a cup per bucket of water. Do not flood and wet mop your floor and do not use water based cleaners.

Correct storage of timber
Correct storage of any timber, particularly kiln dried timber on site is critical. Don’t allow your flooring or lining board to be delivered until it can be stored inside and away from sun, wind or rain. Just because a pack of timber is delivered to site well wrapped in plastic does not mean it can be stored outside for any length of time. Sun on plastic can create extremely high temperatures and also increase condensation thus defeating the purpose of the covering in the first place.

Your timber needs as best possible to be stored in conditions that are similar to those in which it will be stored and although this is at times difficult it must be remembered that it is a natural product and will react according to the environment around it. Expansion and contraction in timber is to be expected. It is up to you to minimise the effect it has on your project or end product.

Having trouble with timber splitting when you nail it?
Just tap the sharp end of your nail with your hammer and bingo; the blunt nail does the trick.

Using oversized timber for your posts, beams?
Building a deck or an outdoor entertaining area and want to use oversized timber for your posts, beams etc? Go for it. The look of oversized timber is sensational.
A word of warning though, timber thicker than 50mm cannot be kiln dried with any real success and the timbers that look the best can be anything up to 300x300mm or even bigger.
What do you do:
1. Try to source timber that has been seasoned outside by the merchant.
2. Always ask for high durability species such as Ironbark, Bloodwood, Spotted Gum, and Blackbutt (Ironbark and Bloodwood being the pick of them all).
3. Don' t ask for dressed timber. Dressing timber that has been air dried can cause surface cracks that look unsightly. These timbers look so much better if you just arris the edges and give the rest a light belt sand. Not only will you protect the surface of your timber but you will also highlight the fine saw cuts left from milling. This is a great look.
4. Even if you intend to allow your timber to "grey off" for that weatherboard look, still apply a coat of an oil based finish to slow the drying process and protect the newly exposed surface areas. This process dramatically reduces the chances of surface checking.  We find Cabots "Bar-D-K" as good as any.