Choose the perfect wood for your bespoke carpentry project

If you’re embarking on a bespoke carpentry project you will most likely be seeking advice on the most suitable material, and you’d be right to do so. Different types of wood lend themselves to particular project types and choosing the right one can ensure the right appearance and longevity of the finished piece.

Wood as a material offers a variety of features, including:

Toughness – Wood is hard-wearing, durable and able to take plenty of knocks

Versatility – With the right tools and skill it’s possible to turn pieces of wood into stunning items of furniture, staircases, floors, doors, window frames and much more

Attractiveness – Wood is available in a variety of natural colours and shades, and of course it can be painted as required. It also ages beautifully

Easy to repair – In the event that wooden features require repair, a skilled expert can soon restore its original look

Renewable – These days wood tends to be sourced from renewable forests, so its use isn’t damaging to the environment

Types of wood

Typically JLA Joinery tend to use eight varieties of mainly hardwoods and these are excellent for items like staircases because they are particularly hard-wearing, withstanding years of use.

Oak is a popular choice in homes, in part because it offers a warm, rich finish that’s aesthetically pleasing but also because it is dense providing strength, hardness and durability. Ideal for staircases and tables.

Walnut has plenty of character, offering a rich warm colour. It is strong, hard and durable without being excessively heavy. It features a tight, straight grain making it ideal for carvings and wood turnings.

Utile, a form of mahogany which comes from trees grown in tropical Africa, has an interlocked grain with a medium, uniform texture. It is commonly used for cabinetry and flooring.

Ash is excellent for bespoke carpentry projects because it has a lovey grain that’s perfect for highly visible parts of the home. It is paler in colour and ideal when strength and resilience is required.

Iroko is another form of mahogany hardwood, and it’s a good choice for table tops and worktops. It is a highly durable wood lending itself to the ideal material for furniture and and domestic flooring.

Beech is typically a pale cream colour with a straight grain. It turns well and responds well to steam bending making it ideal for boat building. It is commonly used for cabinetry and flooring.

Tulipwood has a lovely rich autumnal colour, typically grain is straight with a fine texture. It has a high density and is commonly used for fine furniture and marquetry.

Lastly for softwood applications we use pine, one of the more affordable building materials, which produces a lovely clean, smooth finish. It is a highly versatile wood making it popular in the industry.

 

 

One of the best things about selecting wood for a bespoke carpentry project is the variety that you have at your disposal. Some varieties are harder than others, there is a great range of colours to choose from as well as a wonderful selection of grains.

Here at JLA Joinery, we only use materials which are of the highest quality and we are always happy to discuss your options and to offer all the advice and guidance you need.

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