Storing Wood

[Jim Riseborough]

I have about 2000 board feet of wood that I will have to store in a storage unit for a while. I was wondering how I should store it. Currently its all stickered, uncovered in my basement. Should I do the same? Should I cover with plastic or anything?

[eugene thomas]

Years ago closed up my shop while moving. Put all my wood in storage unit with all my tools . Just stacked all wood in stack with my plywood, not remember if snickered. I didn't cover with plastic. 2 years later in new shop and back to work.

[Andrew Kertesz]

Depending on where you are it is going to change the MC unless the storage unit is climate controlled. You definitely want to stack and sticker as it is at home. You may want to add some weight to the top to help control warping. Can't speak to covering, I would guess not if it is indoors. Remember that most storage units are metal and get really hot in the summer sun.

[Bradley Gray]

If you don't have a moisture meter, this would be a good time to acquire one. If the MC is over 12% you could be starting a mushroom farm.

[Cody Colston]

Ditto the moisture meter suggestion. The General brand is about $30 and will be adequate for establishing a "general" MC. It's unlikely the wood is over 12% MC unless you are near the coast. It takes a minimum of 20% MC to support fungal growth so you won't be growing mushrooms but you could have wood movement problems later.

If the wood is at 12% or less, you can dead stack it indoors although stickering will help get it all down that final 3%-4% needed. It wouldn't surprise me if it is near the same MC or lower as when it was stored. As Andrew stated, those storage units can get pretty hot in summer and high heat = lower RH which will dry the wood.

[Jim Riseborough]

The wood was kiln dried, and in my basement (walk out) its pretty dry. I will check it and see what its at, and then during storage stop by and monitor it everyonce and a while.

[Shane Copps]

If all else fails, you could just send the wood my direction and buy new when you get your new shop!!!!!! JK :)

I really had nothing to add but to be a smart-@ss

Thanks
Shane

[Jeff Duncan]

If it's kiln dried your fine, no need for stickers but do put some good timbers under to keep off the floor. No need to check it either until your ready to use it. Even then as long as it has sufficient time to acclimate once you pull it out of storage you should be good to go.

good luck,
JeffD

[Howard Acheson]

Stickering is always a good idea. Covering dried wood is not necessary if it's being stored in a sheltered or indoor site.

[Gene Lair]

I got my own drying shed and after I remove and store it in a shed the moisture will go from 7 to 10 % but my shop is heated and air conditioned and I bring a few boards in for a couple of weeks and it comes right back down . In the summer of 2010 I stacked some wood outside with some tin on top and some burlap on the sides to keep it from drying to fast in March and by September it was down to 10% . If it dries to fast it causes stress cracks. I have been drying my own wood for 17 years .

[jim gossage]

This is part question part answer. I would think that once wood is dried, it no longer needs to be stickered. I thought stickering was to provide optimal air movement around the boards to allow for quicker and more even drying. Once acclimated, especially in a climate controlled shop, shouldn't dry stacking be adequate? I wonder if one of the woodworking mags has ever tested this.

[Jim Matthews]

Leaving stickers out saves 3-4" in a height?

What's the downside - mold, staining, instability of the stack?
It's a simple practice that doesn't really cost much.

It seems to work, so why change?

******

If you're storing in an enclosed space, a couple dessicant bags might help.

You would need to look in on the storage unit, every month to swap out depleted containers.
http://www.damprid.com/moisture-odor-control-center/how-damprid-works

FWIW - If there is some passive ventilation built into the storage facility, it should be no worse than air drying under a tarp.
I've purchased several lots from storage lockers, poorly stacked - flat pack (no stickers) and most of the lumber was fine.

[jim gossage]

I used to sticker my lumber but I found that the board I wanted was usually on the bottom of the pile. Taking off 6 boards and 2 dozen stickers, and then stacking it all back again was a PITA. I'd rather spend that extra 5 minutes surfing SMC! Now, I store all my lumber on edge, 1 row of lumber per shelf. When I want a board I just slide it out. Very easy. I've been doing this for a year now and haven't seen any problems with the method so far.

[Mike Wilkins]

If it is going into a storage unit, you will want to keep the lumber stack off the concrete floor. Get some pallets or concrete blocks, place them onto a layer of plastic on the floor, and stack/sticker your stash. You will be rewarded later with boards that have not absorbed several gallons of water from the concrete.

[Jeff Duncan]

This is part question part answer. I would think that once wood is dried, it no longer needs to be stickered. I thought stickering was to provide optimal air movement around the boards to allow for quicker and more even drying. Once acclimated, especially in a climate controlled shop, shouldn't dry stacking be adequate? I wonder if one of the woodworking mags has ever tested this.

Once lumber is dried stickers are not necessary. Look in any hardwood lumber supplier around and you will not find stickers in dried lumber. They'll stack the stuff 30' high with only blocks between individual lifts to allow the forklift to get in. As you mentioned they are for providing air circulation for the purpose of air drying lumber. Dried lumber will not develop mold in normal storage conditions. Now if you let it get completely soaking wet, (like submerged in a flood), and then stuff it inside….that's a different story;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> Look in any hardwood lumber supplier around and you will not find stickers in dried lumber.

That's a different situation. Sellers of lumber want to keep their lumber easily identifiable and easily accessed. I have been in a number of high end furniture makers such as Thos. Moser and they stacked and stickered their wood stock. In the large shop I was involved with for a number of years, we stored our lumber stacked and stickered in a outdoor, well ventilated building. The furniture makers would select the boards they needed and they would be brought into the shop, again stacked and stickered to acclimate them

[bill tindall]

I am astonished at some of the replies. Rather than tell you how to store it I will tell you how lumber yards store wood. Dead packed, level base for the pile, good circulation around pile, especially the bottom. Skip planed it will pile tighter if space is a problem. Cover top of pile if the environment is dirty- dusty . If bugs are a problem in your area and the lumber is something bugs like, for example ash, you may have a pile of worthless wood in a year or two. If piled outside where rain can get to the pile then it must be on sticks.

[Jim Matthews]

Rather than tell you how to store it I will tell you how lumber yards store wood.

The difference is turnover time.
For most lumberyards, things are stocked less than six months.

This will be in a dark, unconditioned space that will probably have a concrete slab.

The air circulation alone is vastly different.

[bill tindall]

We sold hardwood lumber for 35 years. I would have been ecstatic if our inventory turned over in 6 months! The reality is that a yard usually winds up with odds and ends for a variety of reasons and they may hang around for years, not months. For example, while visiting Ballie Lumber Company a few months ago I spied a dark pack of lumber amongst the million bdft of lighter oak and poplar they normally saw and inventory. I thought it was walnut. No, it was a 500 bdft pack of cherry that had been there many years to where it was nearly as dark as walnut. Tip, when hanging around a lumber yard look for odds and ends. They might be bought for a good price to be rid of them. We sold the remains of a 500 bdft pack of ribbon stripe Honduras mahogany in 1990 for $2 bdft to someone restoring a boat because there was no market for it in our area at the time. Wished I hadn't some years later when demand took off and supply vanished. BTW, it was stored dead packed and level, shed sheltered from elements, with good air circulation on all sides. Protected from insects it would be happy in this environment for centuries.