Types of Wood & Finishing

¶ The wood finisher's ideal must necessarily be simply that of making the most of what he has to work with, producing the maximum of beauty and serviceability under the circumstances. For no two finishing jobs are alike in all respects and he is seldom consulted in the selection of the wood before building.

¶ In undertaking a job of interior wood finishing there are four factors which must be considered: the kind of wood, the color decorative plan for the room, the durability of the finish expected and the cost or investment of money to be made.

¶ The kind of wood to be finished determines broadly the character of the finishes to be employed. We may say that in common practice woods are finished as indicated by these groups:

Types of Wood

Stain	Natural	Paint or Enamel
Mahogany, Hickory, Chestnut, Oak, Ash, American Walnut, Butternut, Rosewood, Cherry, Birch, select, Gumwood, Cypress, Fir, select, Cedar, Redwood	Gumwood, Redwood, Cedar, Mahogany, American Walnut, Circassian Walnut, Oak, white and red, Cherry, Rosewood, Chestnut, Ebony, Satinwood	White Pine, Yellow Pine, Oregon Fir Pine, Spruce, Holly, Bass, Cottonwood, Cypress, Gumwood, Birch, Redwood

¶ In addition to the types of wood, the grade has much to do with the selection of the finish. The cheaper grades, and even the better grades which have not been selected for grain, figure and color by the mill, often leave one with no choice of finish except as between paint and enamel.

¶ Trim lumber which is not selected is apt to show great differences in color, contrast and size of the grain and figure. To finish such surfaces in natural or stained color to have anything like a uniform color tone is quite impractical, because of the cost of bleaching, touching-up and blending off-colored boards. So it pays to have the trim lumber carefully selected and matched at the mill. The increased cost there is less than to have the wood finisher do the matching.

The next page, wood finishes, deals with harmony of color in a room.