The Moisture Content Of Hardwood And Softwood

In short the more humidity that is present in the air the more moisture wood building materials such as flooring will absorb.

The moisture content of hardwood and softwood.

Wood is a hygroscopic material constantly absorbing and giving off moisture until it reaches an equilibrium moisture content with its surroundings. Softwood is known for burning. If a board reads 100 difficult to measure accurately then the weight of the water equals the weight of that wood. When fully dried in an oven this means that a total of 30 lbs.

As every wood flooring professional knows wood species fall into two main categories. Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods. Of water was lost in the drying process. This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a.

Percent moisture content in wood is the ratio of the weight of water compared to the overall weight of a piece of wood. Every species of wood has its own unique moisture content mc properties as well as grain patterns colors density or hardness ratings workability and chemical makeup that. A 10 moisture content reading means that 10 of a wood sample s weight is due to water in the wood. How humidity influences ideal wood moisture.

In its initial green state and ended up weighing only 20 lbs.