Carpentry

WOOD IN CONSTRUCTION

The Trade Perspective

Now that we know some things about different materials, let's take a look at how all of this goes together to build houses, starting with codes and permits.

Function of Codes

Building codes keep people safe and buildings standing. In BC, the BC Building Code (based on the National Building Code) regulates everything from the size of a stair tread to the type of fastener used in framing.

According to the BC Codes site: "The BC Building Codes 2024 (BCBC) is the authoritative provincial regulation that governs new construction, building alterations, repairs, and demolitions, ensuring the highest standards of safety, health, accessibility, fire, and structural protection of buildings, as well as energy and water efficiency. Reflecting the latest advancements and best practices in building science and technology, the BCBC 2024 applies across British Columbia, with the exception of some federal lands and the City of Vancouver."

Let's watch a quick video to see these best practices in action:

Basic Terms

This is the bigger term in carpentry: the process by which two pieces of wood come together and are connected.

Before you put things together, you have to plan; when you are building more than one, you keep that plan and even reproduce it. Ikea instructions are an example of this.

A table specially designed to get different pieces of a project and assemble them into one piece. Usually comes with clamps on the side.

Clamps are very versatile. They apply pressure to hold two or more pieces of wood together firmly and securely while glue dries, or to hold a workpiece in place during other woodworking operations like cutting or drilling.

a pre-drilled hole that is slightly smaller than the screw's shank, used to guide the screw, prevent wood from splitting, especially near edges or ends, and make it easier to drive the screw into dense materials

Wood glue is different from regular adhesives because it is formulated to bond specifically with the porous, fibrous structure of wood. It creates a joint that is much stronger than the wood fibers themselves, providing exceptional durability for carpentry, furniture-making, and structural woodworking.

This is product used to fill cosmetic imperfections in wood, such as nail holes, cracks, and dents, rather than to create a strong, structural bond like wood glue. So, no strength, but beauty.

Wood screws are different from general-purpose screws primarily in their design, which creates strong, long-lasting joints in wood. The main features that distinguish wood screws are their thread pattern, material properties, and head style.

Power Tools

Good for creating trims and moulding, but also for quick, small straight cuts, like trimming down wood dowels. It is able to make angled cuts by adjusting the blade.

The belt sander has a belt of sandpaper that runs in a continuous loop making sanding and smoothing wood extremely easy and quick.

When a project is too long for the mitre saw, the circular saw comes in handy; however, it is a handheld saw, so it is more difficult to create a straight cut without a cutting guide.

The cordless drill is perfect for drilling holes, attaching screws, adjoining two pieces of wood or other material. Unlike the corded ones, you do have to charge pretty often for big projects.

Routers are mainly used for hollowing out inside areas (non-edges) on materials such as wood or plastic.

The jig saw has a small upright blade that makes it fantastic for making both straight and curved intricate cuts in a variety of materials. Specifically, the jigsaw is great for creating impressive wood shapes!

The biscuit joinet cuts matching slots in two pieces of wood so a compressed, football-shaped wooden biscuit can be glued in place, creating a hidden joint.

This is an example of biscuit joint; this is not the strongest way to join two pieces of wood, but it works for joints which must be invisible in items that will not receive a lot of stress.

Types of Joint

A technique to join two pieces of wood end-to-end, creating a longer piece than the individual timbers, often used for beams, posts, and other structural elements.

A woodworking and construction technique that joins short pieces of wood into longer pieces by cutting matching, interlocking "fingers" into the ends of each piece, then gluing them together.

This may look like the finger joints, but in this case, the pieces that interlock are shaped like trapezoids. So, even if the glue completely wears off, the joint would still stay. They are called dovetail joint because of their shape which looks a little like a tail.

A simple woodworking connection where two pieces of material overlap, fastened together with nails, screws, glue, or dowels to form a strong bond.

The most basic wood joint, where the end of one piece of wood is placed directly against another piece without any overlapping or interlocking, and then secured with fasteners like nails, screws, or glue.

This technique used to create strong, concealed joints by drilling an angled hole into one workpiece and connecting it to another with a specialized screw.

This is a strong woodworking technique where a protruding piece (the tenon) on one wood piece fits into a hole or slot (the mortise) on another, creating a robust, mechanically interlocking connection.

This is a fundamental carpentry joint created by cutting an L-shaped recess into a piece of wood, allowing another piece to fit snugly into it.

A miter joint in carpentry joins two boards by cutting each piece at a 45-degree angle, forming a 90-degree corner when assembled, and concealing the end grain for a seamless look.

As mentioned before, it uses a disc or biscuit to connect two pieces of wood.

A dowel joint in carpentry joins two pieces of wood by drilling corresponding holes in each and inserting cylindrical wooden dowels, along with wood glue.

A glue joint refers to joining two or more pieces of wood by using adhesive to create a strong, surface-fixed connection, often to reinforce other joint types.