What is Sapwood and
Heartwood? Back to Home Page
Sapwood is the area of wood
just underneath the bark. Heartwood is
the area inside this.
In the photo above you can
clearly see the ring of sapwood surrounding the heartwood. In many trees sapwood is a different colour
and has quite different properties. For
instance with oak it is a slightly lighter colour (when dry) and will rot if
allowed to stay wet. So if you are
constructing something that will be exposed to the elements such as a garden
structure, you should not use any sapwood.
On the other hand most beams used inside buildings where they will not
get wet do include sapwood.
Some woods do not have the
same distinction between heartwood and sapwood.
For instance ash is pretty much all sapwood and it is this wood that is
a useful wood.
Beware!!!
Much oak that is available
contains a lot of sapwood. If a piece of
oak is described as having waney edge, or only two or three square edges it
will contain much sapwood as there is always a ring of sapwood below the
bark. At Boatbuilding Timber Supplies we
always find out whether a customer wishes to allow sapwood.