Hello,
I’m an amateur, if not avid, woodworker. I have researched hardwood lumber for 8+ projects and have lined – up a retail wood company. Unfortunately, the best deal I could find is on the East coast and I am in California. Since it is, by far, much less expensive to pay for one large shipment, rather than several small ones, I’ve decided to go for one, large truck full.
My concern is whether some of the 1,000+ board feet of kiln dried lumber (95% of it rough) could be stored in my shop for three to six or more years without warping due to extremes in humidity. I live in the high desert where the humidity ranges from 50% RH to 4% or 5% annually, and the temperature from 22degrees to 108degrees F. My converted two garage is insulated but has no heat and no AC. Right now we are winding down from the most humid time of year. As of today, the moisture content of wood that has been in my shop for 3 to 4 years is:
Red Oak, White Oak and Birch 8%-9%; Hard Maple 7%-8%; Doug Fir 8% and a large block of old-growth Red Wood 6%-7%.
The species of lumber I will be buying are:
Red and White Oak, Soft and Hard Maple, African Mahogany, Black Walnut, Poplar, Aromatic Cedar, Bloodwood and Purple Heart.
This amount of wood will cost me more than I can really afford. My question is, can my investment be safely stored for 6+ years in this environment and, if so, what’s the best way of doing so. Horizontally? If so, do I sticker the lot? If stickered, should I weight it all as if it’s being kiln or air dried?
For a number of reasons, I must call in my order within a week, so I would greatly appreciate your assistance at your very earliest convenience.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Guy Fabre
[email protected]
Edited 3/16/2006 1:25 pm ET by Spalted53
Replies
Hi Guy,
I've asked around the FW offices and we all think that you should have no problems storing the wood in your shop for a few years if you sticker it and store it appropriately. We've published a few articles on lumber storage that you can find on this site that can help you.
The one thing about your post that concerns me slightly is the fact that the lumber will be coming from the east coast to your home in the high desert of California. You want to take precautions not to have the lumber shipped at a time when it will experience a wide variety of humidity conditions in a short period of time. This could cause the wood to crack or warp severely.
I have a real work example of this. I made a nice jewellery box for my mom, who at the time lived in Nevada about two hours across the border from Lake Tahoe. It was summer, and when I shipped the box from steamy Connecticut it arrived at her house cracked and warped because it was so dry where she lived.
If you think this might be a problem for you, ask the supplier to seal the ends of the lumber with a paraffin wax or even a primer paint.
Good luck with it and I'll chime in again if I come across any more useful information.
Matt Berger
Fine Woodworking
Thank you for your quick response on this. Yes, I have considered that a quick climate change during and after shipping may have an adverse effect. To counter this, I am purchasing only kiln dried wood and am going to order it now - hence the need to jump on it this week, while the average relative humidity here is around 30%. It will all be coming from North Carolina and which, hopefully, has a similar RH. I'm hoping this will eliminate any horror stories that I could add to yours. Right now the wood in my shop is between 6% - 8% EMC and it's my understanding that, except for exotic hardwood which may be dried to a higher MC, kiln dried material has about the same MC. Am I correct in my thinking of this all of this? Also; When you say "stored appropriately" and "stickered" does that mean that storing it in insulated but non-heated/non-air conditioned rooms is "appropriate" and that stickering the lumber loosely on racks, that is, stickered UNweighted, is ok?And one other thing; when you say "a few years" does 6 to 8 years qualify as "a few?"Thanks again for your thoughts and time.Edited 3/15/2006 8:08 pm ET by Spalted53Edited 3/15/2006 8:35 pm ET by Spalted53
Edited 3/16/2006 6:20 pm ET by Spalted53
You are fine on the 6 to 8 years. And an unheated/noncooled storage facility is okay as long as there's airflow and circulation. As for how you orient the wood, I'd suggest you find an article published in the magazine for tips on proper wood storage (search this site for "lumber storage"). I've seen lumber stored so many ways sucessfully, whether its laid horizontally on racks, stacked and stickered (with and without weight), and leaned up against the wall. I'd compare a few methods in the articles we've published to see which method is best for your shop conditions.
Thank you once again Matt. I've put in my order (around 1,015bf) and will be preparing my shop for it over the weekend.Guy (Spalted)
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