One thing that often leaves me scratching my head is purchasing lumber whenever I take on a project that requires it.

You'd think lumber would be simple; it's just going and buying a piece of wood, right? But it's surprisingly complex. There are so many choices that, even with a supply list in hand, I often find myself wandering the lumber section at the home improvement store for 20 minutes trying to figure out which pieces of wood I should buy. Common board? Structural? C or D grade plywood? Pressure treated?

Whenever I've done research on lumber, I could find some of the information that I needed in one place, and some of it in another. But I could never find one comprehensive resource that offered all the nitty gritty in a single location. So to consolidate everything for my own purposes, and for our readers, I decided to write this article. I realize most of you won't be reading through this for enjoyment; what I hope is that you'll be able to file it away, and refer to it whenever you have a lumber-related question of any kind.

Strap on your tool belt, and let's do this.