This probably can’t simply be answered in a forumn withouth looking at my workshop, but here it goes. I have I’m guessing several hundred board feet of lumber that I need stored. Basically about 3 pickup truck loads.
I just bought a house that came with an detatched structure/woodshop. Its a new structure, seems pretty solid. A typical woodshop with some storage space above. I was going to store the lumber in the “attic” of the structure. It’s not that easy to get up & down but it’s managable.
The question is, if structurally this is a good idea. Would it be too much weight. I meausured and the storage space has 2×4 joists 24″ on center. The span is about 20′ with a decent support beam (girder?) going down the middle perpendicular to the joists, and has good support from the ground floor with some posts.
The other option is to store the lumber outside. I have two different lean tos that are connected to the shed. If that’s a better choice, any one have links to store lumber outside.
Replies
From what you've described I'd be inclined to store it in the lean-to(s) as long as you can keep it dry AND allow for air movement (stacked and stickered) within the stack(s).
If the floor in the lean-to is the ground I would level it and put a tarp down, then make a platform so the stack is at least 6" above the tarp. Bring material into the woodshop ahead of time for acclimation before milling it.
I store my wood upstairs over the garage in 4' x 8' platforms I make out of 2 x 4s. I put 2 x 4 ribs 16" OC across the short dimension. Stack the boards and place stickers on each end and vertically over each rib. You could place these platforms on 8" cinder blocks and Bobs your uncle.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
The lean to has 3 walls. I'm thinking I can level, add more gravel if needed to help leveling. Then add tarp, cinder blocks, the put pallet on the cinder blocks, and stack/sticker from there.I'm concerned with snow/rain blowing into the lean to, so I'm tempted to hang a tarp in opening. How does that plan sound.
t,
One thing we haven't talked about is whether the wood is dried or green, I suspect it's dried, then a tarp would work. A friend of mine did something similar and he hanged the tarp using the gromets. On the other end he wrapped/affixed a 2 x 4 that spanned the opening. The weight of the 2 x 4 kept the tarp from blowing around and he was able to roll it up when he wanted to get inside.
Worked quite well but remember to roll it up so the rolled part of the tarp is on the inside, like those greenhouse kits. DAMHIKT...........
Oh and you'll want cinder blocks every 2' around the perimeter, especially where the frame members meet, maybe a couple in the middle on both short ends.
The thing is if there's an opening, wind blown snow will find a way into the lean-to but that usually isn't the problem cause the wood is cold anyway. The problem is when the snow melts. If the wood is dry then I'd be inclined to tarp the stack(s) for the winter and forget closing in the opening, unless you get snow like we git up here in Cow Hampshire. :-)
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Thanks for all of the feedback. One thing that I didn't mention is one of the lean tos has a barn door directly to the wood shop. So it makes it a no-brainer. Its air dried, and is completely dried (2 1/2 years old). Does it make sense to still sticker?
Does it make sense to still sticker?
By many standards I'm a fanatic about stickering, absolutely YES. One of the worst things is moisture trapped between two boards. You really won't like yourself if your prized collection gets wet, and stays that way.
Unless of course you are fascinated with potatoe chips and have an intense desire for your wood to resemble same. :-) Sorry, gettin old methinks. Dang I can't figgur who to blame, oh well.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
For what it's worth FWW had did a job bout 5-7 years back on a fancy Oregon wood shop in converted barn and the wood and ply storage was outside in a lean to portion of a converted barn -- it also had direct access into the shop. One side was open. The ply was stored in 3 -4 layer concrete block coffers located to the inboard side of the lean to with tarps sealing against weather. Try to search for Oregon shops, great shops or sumtin like that. Might have a little trouble finding it -- FWW search isn't what it used to be.BB
tmet,
Your question brings to mind the conversation I had with the company that built the roof trusses when I built my shop.
We had a long involved talk about roof truss design. Common trusses are designed to handle loads from above-- eg, snow on top of the roof--not loads on the "inside". The guy I was dealing with suggested anything heavier than the average home attic contents--he referred to Christmas tree ornaments- would overload "regular" trusses, and invite failure. (You ever see those little bitty prongs on the metal plates that join truss members together?)I mentioned a girder down the middle of the underside, and he rejected that, too, saying they were engineered to be self supporting, and interior walls ought to be held below the underside of the trusses. A load-bearing support underneath (except on the exterior walls, of course), he claimed, would just transfer the stress in the trusses somewhere else, somewhere that they weren't engineered to be stressed.
In discussing the weight of the lumber I intended to store, his design tables didn't have "green hardwood" as an item which translated to a lbs/ sq ft load figure, so we settled on "refrigerators".
My shop's trusses are 24' span, with 2x6 yellow pine bottom members.
Ray
tmetcalf,
No go on the attic. A quick look at a span table for spf lumber shows that the "attic floor" has not been built to support anything.....except maybe christmass tress as stated before.
The following google search and click on the first link:
spf floor joist table
2 x 4 is not even in the table. Of course that is just a quick number table and is speced for residential floor loads but that's good enough. Perhaps you should consider upgrading the floor up there and make it suitable.
Rob Kress
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