Storing wood vertical vs horizontal
- Thread starter seebee
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If you go vertical here are my suggestions:
Square off the ends of your boards.
Connect a safety chain/rope/strap to keep the boards from falling toward you as you flip through the stack. (Don't ask Jeremy how he knows about this:gar-La;.)
If you're on a concrete floor don't feed the termites and keep your boards dry...use PT 2X's to get the boards up off the floor.
I'm using 3/4" pipe flanges lagged into the edge of the studs and 18" and 24" threaded black pipe wrapped with packing tape screwed into the flanges to lean the boards on in my shed extension.
Square off the ends of your boards.
Connect a safety chain/rope/strap to keep the boards from falling toward you as you flip through the stack. (Don't ask Jeremy how he knows about this:gar-La;.)
If you're on a concrete floor don't feed the termites and keep your boards dry...use PT 2X's to get the boards up off the floor.
I'm using 3/4" pipe flanges lagged into the edge of the studs and 18" and 24" threaded black pipe wrapped with packing tape screwed into the flanges to lean the boards on in my shed extension.
I agre with all that Mark said, but I have a different set up for keeping the boards in place. I bolted 2x6's horizontally every 2' in height then made seperators out of plywood, these can be adjusted as needed. I thought that you might like another idea. here are some pictures:
Lots of great info on this string. I'd like to make one slight "correction" to comments that DaveO and Alan made (and this is a very, very rare opportunity!).
In terms of degrade that occurs during the drying process, most drying-related degrade occurs when wood dries from green to 35%MC. HOWEVER, the degrade (that has already occured) is not revealed until the wood is below 25%.
Thus, if you see checks, warping, cupping, etc when your wood is around 20%, it isn't due to anything that happened recently, but rather much earlier during the initial stages of the drying process. (On a side note, that's one of the biggest benefits of Kiln dried wood versus air dried wood - the ability to control the rate of moisture loss while the wood is above 35%MC. This is critical for slow drying species such as oak, sycamore, or any 8/4 or thicker wood.)
If you store wood (either horizontal or verticle) and the MC% is below 25% but above 16%, be sure to leave a 3/4" to 1" gap between the boards so that you can get some airflow.
I also second the idea of putting some type of spacer between your vertically stacked boards and the floor, for the purpose of preventing moisture from wicking up through the concrete and into your boards.
I like vertically stacked boards - not only do they take up less floor space they also are much easier to pick through when selecting a specific board. Alan's photos cleary depict why.
Scott
In terms of degrade that occurs during the drying process, most drying-related degrade occurs when wood dries from green to 35%MC. HOWEVER, the degrade (that has already occured) is not revealed until the wood is below 25%.
Thus, if you see checks, warping, cupping, etc when your wood is around 20%, it isn't due to anything that happened recently, but rather much earlier during the initial stages of the drying process. (On a side note, that's one of the biggest benefits of Kiln dried wood versus air dried wood - the ability to control the rate of moisture loss while the wood is above 35%MC. This is critical for slow drying species such as oak, sycamore, or any 8/4 or thicker wood.)
If you store wood (either horizontal or verticle) and the MC% is below 25% but above 16%, be sure to leave a 3/4" to 1" gap between the boards so that you can get some airflow.
I also second the idea of putting some type of spacer between your vertically stacked boards and the floor, for the purpose of preventing moisture from wicking up through the concrete and into your boards.
I like vertically stacked boards - not only do they take up less floor space they also are much easier to pick through when selecting a specific board. Alan's photos cleary depict why.
Scott
R
rickc
Great suggestions. Especially about the safety chain! I can only hope for rain this weekend so I can rearrange my lumber. If it is nice - leaves! :tinysmile_tongue_t:
I am contemplating adding a second row of pipes and safety chains since my one set is a bit high. My chains won't catch shorter boards.
The other reason to choose horizontal is if you have limited floor space. Sounds contrary to FredP's logic but... Even tho it is more efficient mathematically to store vertical, it takes up less floor space (none) if you use a wall mounted rack. From previous shop incarnations I've found that my vertical stacks almost always have something sitting in the way that has to be moved to get at the wood. (maybe it's just me and my disorganized behavioural traits?). If it's on the wall the floor space below is still usable.
The math is the same for all options - wood is 3 dimensional and the dimensions don't change. It's all a matter of what sort of space is most available in your shop, the size of stock you are dealing with, the ceiling height and options for supporting a rack. In my case, the overhead rack works as I am dealing with small amounts (I wouldn't want 100 BF of oak up there :nah
, have a steel beam to attach to and both floor and wall space are severely limited. Actually there is one case where the math is different and then it works in favor of horizontal storage - shorts. You can lay shorts end to end but standing them end to end would be a bit tricky...
On the other hand, a zero-floor-space horizontal rack (one that is up high on the wall) has problems of its own. As I was standing on the ladder by my first rack, trying to figure how I was going to sort or inspect boards, or even take down a piece of 8/4 without busting my butt, I realized this geezer needs a vertical rack.
Tomato, tomahto . . . . .
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