Are you going to work with timber?
When you are creating any product, then you could choose to build with stone, concrete, brick or wood. The choice you make will depend on a lot of factors including the nature of the product and how you will use it. One of the reasons that timber is so widely used by both professionals and hobbyists is that timber products can often be shaped or modified without expensive equipment.
If you choose to work with concrete or brick, then you may need to bring in heavy machinery or purchase tools to carry out your work. By contrast, timber products can normally be cut to size and shaped using readily available hand tools. If you decide to work with wood, then there are plenty of advantages that come with creating timber products, but there are also some things that you must think through before you go to buy your timber.
What are you building?
There are plenty of different timber products available at your local timber yard, and not all timber products are suitable for every use. You must consider whether what you are creating will be situated indoors and can be made of softwood timber products or whether the resilience of hardwood timber products is required. If there is a particular softwood that you want to use but you know that it will never survive the rigours of outdoor life, then you could think about treating the softwood to stop it from decaying too soon or suffering from an insect attack.
Do you need structural timber products?
If you are designing a garden bench or repairing a fence, then you won't have to think about structural timber, but if you are using timber products as a part of your home, then you must be confident that it can bear the weight you need to impose upon it. Weight-bearing timber products are known as structural timber, and you must look for timber that meets the Australian Standard AS 1684 whenever you want to use such timber in your property.
Are there other environmental factors?
In some parts of Australia, the threat of flood or fire is never far away. If you are building with timber products, then the prospect of fire will, naturally, be a cause for concern. If you are creating something in an area where bushfires are common, then look for timber products that are marked as compliant with the relevant Australian Standards and will not burn easily.