The Wood Guide
Wood species99 Wood species →

Our wood species

Wood groups

European hardwoods

Softwoods

Tropical hardwoods

Treated wood

Sheet materials

Construction timber

Other materials

Comparisons

Which wood for what

Understanding wood17 Understanding wood →

Properties and movement

Calculations and sizes

Pests and decay

Identifying, quality and trade

Wood in our world

Care & finishing28 Care & finishing →

The complete guide

Treating and finishing

By wood species

By furniture and place

Problems and repair

Seasons

Choosing & buying16 Choosing & buying →

Picnic tables

Beer tables

Garden benches

Garden furniture

Garden and atmosphere

Indoors

Build it yourself51 Build it yourself →

In the garden

In and around the house

Making furniture

Techniques

Tools and glue

Getting started

Trees & forests31 Trees & forests →

Tree portraits

Forests

From forest to plank

To the Wood Guide home page →

Building with wood: projects, techniques and tools

Hand with hammer and chisel carving letters into a wooden plank

The Wood Guide · Build it yourself

The Wood Guide · section

Build it yourself

From a shed and a pergola to joints, gluing and tools. Building, working and repairing with wood, step by step.

  • 51 guides
  • 6 topics
  • Written in our workshop in Lebbeke
Start here

The core guides of this section

Building a wooden garden shedTools, bikes and firewood kept dry and in their place. Seven steps, and one decision that sets how long it lasts.Read the guide → How do you build a wooden terrace on different types of ground?Read the guide → How do you restore antique furniture?Read the guide → Wood jointsJoining pieces of wood firmly without a single nail or screw. The three classics, and what to do when one breaks.Read the guide →
About this section

Build it yourself

Building with wood yourself starts with the right species and ends with a good joint. In this section you'll find projects for the garden and the house, techniques from sawing to dovetails, and the tools you need for them — with the pitfalls included.

From knowledge to garden

Ready to choose? Here is what we make from it.

Garden storage cabinets Restol wood oil
The Wood Guide

The other sections

Wood species99 guides → Understanding wood17 guides → Care & finishing28 guides → Choosing & buying16 guides → Trees & forests31 guides →

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Hand with hammer and chisel carving letters into a wooden plank — Frédérique Voisin-Demery, CC BY 2.0 · Planed Douglas fir boards with clearly visible growth rings — Philipp Zinger, CC BY-SA 3.0 · End grain of an oak trunk showing growth rings, heartwood and sapwood — Friedrich Böhringer, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT · Wooden table and benches on a patio among potted plants — Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Beech (Fagus sylvatica) in full leaf — Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 3.0