This study investigated the effect of test zone selection for evaluating bending strength of visually graded lumber. This will contribute to the understanding of two different methods under different standards. In method I, the major defect was randomly placed in the test specimen. In method II, the major defect was randomly placed in the maximum moment zone (MMZ). The results showed that the method II is more accurate for reflecting the effect of defects governing the grade of lumber. Unless the maximum strength-reducing defect (MSRD) is placed in MMZ, the evaluated value would be higher than that of MSRD. For evaluating the modulus of rupture (MOR) of visually graded lumber in test set-up of Method I, the Eq. (5) needs to be considered.