Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0080 - Department of Agriculture
Subtitle 0080-07 - Forestry
Chapter 0080-07-07 - Native Species Lumber
Section 0080-07-07-.05 - MOISTURE CONTENT, SURFACE CONDITIONS, STANDARD SIZES AND TALLY PRACTICES

Universal Citation: TN Comp Rules and Regs 0080-07-07-.05

Current through September 24, 2024

(1) Wood moisture content and drying

(a) Moisture content (MC) of wood is measured by weighing a sample of wood before and after drying it in a hot oven (103C/220F). The percent of MC is calculated as (wet weightdry weight)/dry weight x 100.

(b) Lumber shall be designated as green lumber or dry lumber.
1. Green lumber has a MC more than 19% including lumber that is graded just after sawing with a high moisture content and lumber that has been stickered and dried but still has moisture content above 19%.

2. Dry lumber is dried to a maximum moisture content of 19% MC. No more than 5% of the pieces in a shipment shall have a MC of 19%. Lumber sold as dry lumber may be either kiln dried or air dried.

3. Kiln dried (KD) means that lumber has been dried in a drying chamber. The designation of KD may be used as amplification to the dry lumber designation provided in the certification.

4. In the oven-dry method it is acceptable to use electrical meters to estimate the moisture content.

(c) Wood surface conditions
1. Lumber shall be designated as surfaced lumber, sawn-to-size lumber, or rough lumber.

2. Surfaced lumber, or dressed lumber, is lumber that has been surfaced by a machine to attain smoothness of surface and uniformity of size. Lumber grades refer to lumber that is surfaced four sides (S4S) and actual dressed sizes equal the minimum thicknesses and widths for surfaced lumber as shown in Table 3.

Table 3 Board Footage of Lumber

Board Foot Volume of 2" Nominal Thickness of Varying Width and Length

Length

Width in Inches

2

4

6

8

10

12

Feet

Board Feet per Piece (BF)

6

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

7

2.3

4.7

7.0

9.3

11.7

14.0

8

2.7

5.3

8.0

10.7

13.3

16.0

9

3.0

6.0

9.0

12.0

15.0

18.0

10

3.3

6.7

10.0

13.3

16.7

20.0

11

3.7

7.3

11.0

14.7

18.3

22.0

12

4.0

8.0

12.0

16.0

20.0

24.0

13

4.3

8.7

13.0

17.3

21.7

26.0

14

4.7

9.3

14.0

18.7

23.3

28.0

15

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

16

5.3

10.7

16.0

21.3

26.7

32.0

17

5.7

11.3

17.0

22.7

28.3

34.0

18

6.0

12.0

18.0

24.0

30.0

36.0

19

6.3

12.7

19.0

25.3

31.7

38.0

20

6.7

13.3

20.0

26.7

33.3

40.0

Board Foot Volume of 4" Nominal Thickness of Varying Width and Length

Length

Width in Inches

2

4

6

8

10

12

Feet

Board Feet per Piece (BF)

6

4.0

8.0

12.0

16.0

20.0

24.0

7

4.7

9.3

14.0

18.7

23.3

28.0

8

5.3

10.7

16.0

21.3

26.7

32.0

9

6.0

12.0

18.0

24.0

30.0

36.0

10

6.7

13.3

20.0

26.7

33.3

40.0

11

7.3

14.7

22.0

29.3

36.7

44.0

12

8.0

16.0

24.0

32.0

40.0

48.0

13

8.7

17.3

26.0

34.7

43.3

52.0

14

9.3

18.7

28.0

37.3

46.7

56.0

15

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

16

10.7

21.3

32.0

42.7

53.3

64.0

17

11.3

22.7

34.0

45.3

56.7

68.0

18

12.0

24.0

36.0

48.0

60.0

72.0

19

12.7

25.3

38.0

50.7

63.3

76.0

20

13.3

26.7

40.0

53.3

66.7

80.0

3. Sawn-to-size lumber is lumber uniformly sawn to the dressed size for surfaced lumber but not planed on the faces.

4. Rough lumber has not been surfaced. It differs from sawn-to-size lumber because rough lumber is oversized to allow for shrinkage or to allow surfacing.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-3-203 and 43-28-313.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Tennessee may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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