What is Checking?
Checks are the grain separations that appear on the surface of the timbers. They are caused as the timbers dry and shrink. When wood begins to lose the water that can account for over seventy-five percent of its live weight, it shrinks in size. As the shrinkage occurs, the timber pulls itself apart in isolated areas along the grain lines. Occasionally, they can even produce a loud bang. It’s nothing to worry about, the timbers are just making themselves at home, acclimating to their new environment. While timbers will not shrink significantly in length, their cross-grain dimensions (width and depth) can shrink noticeably. This usually begins to appear in the first and second year after construction. For example, beams that were tightly butted against posts at the time of the frame raising might show gaps a year or two later. This shrinkage is taken into account in our engineering of timber sizes and joinery, and does not significantly affect structural integrity. Evidence of shrinkage
All wood, used in outdoor projects, is subject to the natural process of “checking”. As the wood ages, tension develops in the wood due to shrinkage and the wood splits to relieve tension. These splits or cracks are known as “checks”. . The checks will not go deeper than the heart and consequently do not affect the structural performance or integrity of the wood. In fact, we believe these characteristics only add to the natural beauty of your wood project.
Wood appears to be solid , but actually it expands and contracts when the temperature and humidity change–which is a constant in every environment. Sometimes during that process a section that contains a hitherto hidden weakness will develop a “check,” or split. There’s no way of predicting where it will happen, and no way to prevent it. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it happens rarely with my pieces–but it can happen with any piece of wood. The further good news is that in almost every case a careful and judicious application of wood putty of the appropriate hue will make the split invisible. And once it has split in that spot, it’s all over. It can’t do anything more.
