outdoors lumber storage?

[Les Spencer]

I have over a thousand board feet of poplar I bought from a saw mill that was shutting down. I paid .40 b/f and it is all rough sawn. I moved to smaller place which allows no out building. :mad: So I had to put lumber along with other stuff in a storage building. Costs $80/month. I'd like to stop the rental and possibly store the lumber outside.

Can I store the lumber stickered under a tarp without ruining it? :eek: The moisture content is about 6-8% now.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.:)

[Ian Abraham]

Should be OK

2 things
- Keep the stack well clear of the ground. Lay down some wooden or concrete blocking and keep the bottom of the stack 8-12" off the gound. Let air circulate under the stack.

- The wood will probably absorb some moisture being outside. Depends on your climate but it may end up 10-12%. This wont hurt the wood, but you may need to acclimatise it for a while when you bring it back inside.

Cheers

Ian

[lou sansone]

I agree with ian.. I would add the under the tarp to put a tin roof of sorts so that the tarp is not sitting directly on the top of the wood. Tarps like to have snow accululate on top of them and then during the melting process dribble down slowly into the pile of wood.

lou

[CPeter James]

I would add that the tin roofing should be off the top layer of boards on stickers to allow air to circulate between the boards and the roofing. Cut the tarp about 2' wider than the board pile and screw on a piece of 1x2 to the sides as a weight and when you want to get a board out of the pile, you just roll up one side or the other or both and take the tarp off like a scroll.

CPeter

[Jim Becker]

Mine has been stacked outside for five years now...just getting down to the bottom of it with the 120 bd ft that Fred picked up on Saturday. DO NOT fully enclose the stack with a tarp...a tin roof as CPeter mentions on top is sufficient, although just used scrap wood tilted at an angle and covered by a blue tarp since I didn't have the metal lying about when the stack was, um...stacked. Definitely stickers are required for this to insure air flow.

[Tom Andersen]

I agree with ian.. I would add the under the tarp to put a tin roof of sorts so that the tarp is not sitting directly on the top of the wood. Tarps like to have snow accululate on top of them and then during the melting process dribble down slowly into the pile of wood.

lou

I have used a tarp without any other protection at a few occasions but it was not succesful. Not only does snow and rain tend to diffuse through the tarp but condensation on the lower side of the tarp ruins the wood. So I completely agree with Lou. I am now using first some protection, such as a thin mdf or other inexpensive sheet material, and then (with a little spacing) the tarp on top. Works great. If you fold the tarp to create many layers it's an advantage because it isolates a bit an reduces condensation. And yes, don't let the tarp go all the way down the sides, what you want is protection from rain and snow, yet allowing air to circulate. In fact, the best would be to build a small hard roof with an overhang.

[Fred Voorhees]

Mine has been stacked outside for five years now...just getting down to the bottom of it with the 120 bd ft that Fred picked up on Saturday. DO NOT fully enclose the stack with a tarp...a tin roof as CPeter mentions on top is sufficient, although just used scrap wood tilted at an angle and covered by a blue tarp since I didn't have the metal lying about when the stack was, um...stacked. Definitely stickers are required for this to insure air flow.

Yeah, by the way Jim, I did skim plane the wood and it is all pretty much still in really good condition. I did intend to take a moisture reading, but forgot. Maybe I will take care of that tomorrow. I'm expecting somewhere around 11%.

[Tom Sontag]

Why do you want to sticker it if it is already dry? I would dead stack it well off the ground and keep sun and rain off. We use corrugated sheet metal with a couple log chunks on top and it works fine.

[CPeter James]

I keep everything on stickers, evern in the shop where I use 1/4" ones. I have had bad luck with bugs getting into dead stacked stuff even in my dry barn. No problem with sticks.

CPeter