Timber is a natural material, and as such, is affected by its surrounding environment – its climate, area vegetation, and wildlife. For instance:
As timbers go through the drying process, they shrink or swell until they reach equilibrium with the constantly changing level of moisture in the air of its environment.
Water is stored in wood in two forms: 1) as free water in the vessels and/or cells, used to move nutrients within the tree; 2) as cell (or bound) water, which is an integral part of the cell walls (about 30% of the water). As the tree seasons, or dries, it loses its free water first. Then, as the water in the bound cells near the surface is exposed it evaporates and the wood shrinks at a faster rate than the cells deep inside the wood. Because of the cell structure, wood shrinks primarily in width and thickness and very little in length. This uneven loss of moisture may result in twisting and cracks called “checks”. These checks typically do not extend through… (Read the rest of this article at the following article source link for the full story)
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