wood storage

[Brandon Speaks]

Hi Guys,

I am wanting to build up a supply of wood, not huge, but enough that I dont have to run out and but for every project. This is partly because I live kind of in the middle of nowhere and its a decent drive to anywhere I can buy decent wood and that is compounded with traveling a lot for work and also generally working 12 hr days even when I am home.

I plan to store in my basement shop to have better climate control than my garage or shed, and have a decent amount of room to work with. My thinking was that storing horizontally would be best and that the easiest solution would be to get a heavy duly steel frame shelf with wire shelving. Another option would be to stack it on the floor with stickers, although this makes it less convenient to find what you are looking for. Vertical storage opens up other options but I would assume it would invite more warping etc.

[Matthew Hills]

General advice seems to be:
- all lumber should be stored up off the ground (including concrete floors) to avoid introducing moisture
- wood tends to be stable once fully dried -- so no need for stickers or horizontal storage at that point.

I keep my small lumber supply on the top two shelves of gorilla racks. These are 12' feet long. It's was reasonable when I had one or two sets of wood and they were long boards. I'd pull down my cherry boards and sort through to decide which to use for a top, etc.
However, it has gradually gotten more awkward as the boards get more irregular.
Also, I'm starting to eye the space for other things, so may be looking at shed options (was thinking it would be ideal if I could have a chopsaw there, with a setup similar to Gochnour's lumber station (http://www.finewoodworking.com/2001/02/01/stack-and-saw-lumber-on-the-same-rack) -- although I observe that he also seems to be overrun a bit, too)


Matt

[Stanley Covington]

Hi Guys,

I am wanting to build up a supply of wood, not huge, but enough that I dont have to run out and but for every project. This is partly because I live kind of in the middle of nowhere and its a decent drive to anywhere I can buy decent wood and that is compounded with traveling a lot for work and also generally working 12 hr days even when I am home.

I plan to store in my basement shop to have better climate control than my garage or shed, and have a decent amount of room to work with. My thinking was that storing horizontally would be best and that the easiest solution would be to get a heavy duly steel frame shelf with wire shelving. Another option would be to stack it on the floor with stickers, although this makes it less convenient to find what you are looking for. Vertical storage opens up other options but I would assume it would invite more warping etc.

Brandon

Horizontal is best if you have the space. Assuming it is in your basement with a concrete floor, here is what I would recommend, assuming you plan to rest the lumber on the floor, not shelves. If you do use shelves, you still need plastic sheeting on the concrete/block wall, and the shelves must be level and planar. No. 3 is not applicable, but all else applies.

1. Choose an area that is dry. If against the wall, that too must be dry;
2. Lay down 2 layers of plastic sheeting on the slab. If close to the wall, run the plastic up the wall as well. Water vapor migrates through concrete even if it is not cracked. Seriously. It might look fine now, but things change;
3. Lay down stickers, 3.5" high, spaced 2~3 feet apart, on top of the plastic sheeting. The end ones should be located 1ft from each board's ends. Level these with shims, and make their top surfaces planar (in the same plane). This is not always easy to do, but it is important if you intend to use the boards in longer lengths, and don't want them to develop wind. A level, two framing squares, and a helper are needed;
4. Allow space between each board for air to circulate;
5. Place stickers on top of the bottom layer of boards, and between subsequent layers of boards. They can be thinner than the stickers on the slab, but should all be the same thickness. These stickers should be located directly above the stickers resting on the slab. You don't want the weight of the upper layers of boards to apply a bending moment on lower layers.
6. Place a few sheets of cardboard (not plastic) or plywood over the stacked boards to keep off dust and grit, but not enough to stop air circulation. Dust and grit are both bad for your blades.

I also suggest you sweep the boards with a broom, and check them for signs of termites and bug eggs before taking them downstairs. You don't want to import spider, cockroach, or other creepy crawly eggs if it can be avoided. It happened to me. Your wife will blowtorch your butt if the bugs get upstairs.

Stan

[ernest dubois]

The transport is in general the most significant part of the cost of wood, getting it from the forest to mill, mill to lumberyard - if those are separate - and then, as in your case to your workshop, so reducing the times you shift wood is in and of itself smart but when you have the wood on hand you also have greater insight into its condition. Like Stanley says it, dirt and grime don't mix well with any kind of woodworking and stacked up at the lumberyard, who knows what exposures it is subjected to, also once you have lived with your wood for a time you soon come to know with certainty how dry it is, all these benefits and more for sure with the only drawback being you have got to have the space for the wood you want to use and more, which as we know, is the attitude Krenov has advocated - when getting your wood from the lumberyard get as much of it as you can afford... and then a little bit more.
Storing it vertically is the ideal but hardly ever practical, unfortunately. Storing that way won't cause warping necessarily and makes it many times easier to inspect individual planks. If possible this is your best option. Your basement storage space is fine if that wood has previously had the time and chance to get quite dry. Why not make use of this garage and shed where the climate control is not so regulated for initial drying, (so long as there is decent ventilation), and only then moving the wood you anticipate getting at down into the available basement space? then some set-up like Gochnour's is really fine - and I should know it because Chris and I worked half a year together in that shop space, Thanks so much Chris I learned much form you in that time. Whether you sticker or not at that point is a matter of specific moisture content and is not always per se a necessity. Lucky for you if you can forgo it because this really does require much more space and care.

[glenn bradley]

Your solution will depend on headroom somewhat. I stole the top 24" of one wall for horizontal:

381745

The downside of mounting to a wall is that the wall is never true and a lot of shimming is involved if you want your wood supported evenly. However, once done, its yours forever.

I have an area under the peak of the roof line that I use for vertical:

381744

For vertical you can see I've built a platform with room for air-flow between the concrete and the material. It has a couple of degrees of backward lean to make stuff stay put. There are dividers coming out from the wall but, I won't go into that as you are after horizontal ;-)

I divide wood into different categories than when I was younger. There are now two groups; heavy and not-so-heavy. Heavy and long stuff primarily gets stored vertically so I don't have to schlep it down off the wall racks. I imagine I would do the same for a floor standing rack leaving heavier items at a comfortable height for grabbing and not putting them on the bottom so I have to stoop for them.

[andy bessette]

My wood is stored vertically.

[Brandon Speaks]

For some reason I thought vertical was a bad idea, if I am wrong on that it makes everything much easier.

For either method I do plan to keep them away from walls. Essentially half my basement is shop and the other half storage area, either rack solution will be a partial divider between the two.

[ernest dubois]

My elm wood stood here for years from the time we milled it until the old willow blew over in a storm, (crushing my sheep shed beneath it) and I moved the wood indoors.
381751

[Phil Mueller]

I have wood stored both ways. As you know, horizontal can be a real pain to sort through. With vertical storage, some sort of spacers or dividers as Glenn has in order to keep longer, medium and shorts separated mades this the most convenient in my opinion. I haven’t noticed any difference in the wood stored vertical vs horizontal once dry/acclimated.

[Tom Bender]

Contrary view here. Rethink the plan to build up a supply of wood. It can easily overwhelm you and it can cause you to compromise your design to accommodate your stock. Can you buy just one project ahead?

[Brandon Speaks]

I am not planning to build a huge stock, just enough to have around when I need something basic. For any larger project I would likely buy closer to when I need it.

For example I recently needed some 8/4 stock, nothing super specific, but in that size. I ended up waiting a month before I could get it. If I want something like that, or decent hard wood in a hurry I have limited options. The only thing quickly available to me is standard construction lumber and the limited and over priced hardwood boards I can get at Menards and Home Depot. So I dont plan on storing thousands of board feet, or even hundreds, but having basic stuff on hand seems very practical.

[glenn bradley]

I didn't expect vertical to be an option. I should share this:

The bracket on the wall acts as a support and provides the lip for the dividers to slide on.

381810 . 381811

With the bottom kicked out and tilted a 12' board touches the wall bracket on the way up and touches to wall at the 12' plus mark.

381812 . 381813

[Andrew Seemann]

Hi Brandon,

You might be in Youngblood Lumber's metro delivery radius. If you are, delivery is something around $25, regardless of order size, and usually you can get next day delivery. If you join the MN woodworker's guild ($30 per year) you get wholesale pricing also (I usually save the $30 in a single purchase). If I need anything more than a few boards, I just call them up and have them deliver. The other nice thing is that they offer milling; if I need more than 100 board feet, I usually just have them mill it and put a straight line rip also. It isn't worth my time or the wear on my planer blades to do it myself.

[Carlos Alvarez]

This is how I've stored my lumber for six years. I attached a 4x4 to the wall with lag bolts at around shoulder high. Inserted black iron pipe into holes drilled into that, then covered them with foam pipe insulation. Works great, easy to deal with.

381825

And I just built this for sheet goods and clamps. Previously the sheet goods were just leaning against the wall.

381826

[lee cox]

I built my own wood rack using square tubing. It cost about $50 for tubing.

[J. Greg Jones]

I stored all my wood horizontally for many years, and I tried multiple ways to make it work for me. I never was happy with any of them as it always seemed that the boards I wanted were always on the bottom of the stack. I built a vertical rack about 3 years ago and I'm well pleased with how it has worked for me in my basement shop. It has 6 full-sized bays and 1 small bay separated by two rows of pipe and hardware from the BORG.

My basement shop is dry, but I still built a base to keep everything off the floor. You can see that the base is wider at the corner, which lets me store full-size sheets of plywood off the floor. The small bay is for large cardboard for stencils, the screen/storm doors for the shop, etc. I have almost 8-1/2 feet of height to the bottom of the joists, and a full 9+ feet between them. What you cannot see in the picture is that I have a small rack to the left that is attached to the joists that does allow me to store a handful of longer boards horizontally that won't fit in the vertical rack.

One thing that I would recommend adding to this style of rack that I have't yet done myself is adding some type of chain/cable/rope keeper to prevent boards from tipping out of the rack. I've never had that happen yet, but I suspect it is a matter of when it will happen, not if it will happen. If you do go with a horizontal rack, I'll second the recommendation that you don't need stickers if your wood is already dry.

[Robert Engel]

I store both ways but for longer lengths I prefer vertical storage. The biggest advantage is being able to sort through lumber without all the labor of removing from shelf and putting back.

Shorter lengths of lumber or lumber I know I won't be using for a while gets stores on horizontal racks.

I try not to have a huge amount of lumber sitting around, particularly sheet goods. I do, however, anticipate acclimating lumber for a project for several months before I start the selection and milling process. So most of my lumber in storage is already intended for a project (albeit maybe a couple years away ;-)

What kind of projects? If you're building furniture you can have a lot of money just sitting there waiting for a project. Therefore, I recommend buying for each project, and always over-buy by 20-25%. You will gradually build up an inventory without tying up money for those smaller projects.

That being said, I am "guilty as charged" when facing a good deal at the sawill. Most recently, I couldn't pass on 8/4 Ambrosia maple for $3.50. Same with 4 bookmatched crotch walnut planks 30" wide X 6' long they let go for $60 each. [/gloat] :-D

[Brandon Speaks]

I didn't expect vertical to be an option. I should share this:

The bracket on the wall acts as a support and provides the lip for the dividers to slide on.

381810 . 381811

With the bottom kicked out and tilted a 12' board touches the wall bracket on the way up and touches to wall at the 12' plus mark.

381812 . 381813

I like this, I think I will go with a version of it. Thanks for your help.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Greg, I would recommend adding the pipe insulation or friction tape to those pipes. I've seen metal pipe leave marks on wood. It also minimizes the risk of them sliding out.

[J. Greg Jones]

Greg, I would recommend adding the pipe insulation or friction tape to those pipes. I've seen metal pipe leave marks on wood. It also minimizes the risk of them sliding out.
I went with galvanized pipe to avoid any reaction between the wood and the metal, and after 3 years marks have not been a problem. I have some lightweight chain left over from another project that would be perfect as a keeper, but the procrastination force is strong with me!

[Carlos Alvarez]

I was given a bunch of wood that had laid against galvanized fence pipe for a couple years, and the contact area was stained a gray-silver-black color that ran very deep. I have on idea at what point it becomes a problem, just thought of that and how much wood I had to remove to get rid of it.

[Andrew Seemann]

Metal will discolor wood, especially if the wood has tannin in it, but the wood needs to be fairly moist for that to occur, and probably far too moist for normal woodworking. My wood rack has black iron pipe (regular 1/2" black gas pipe from Menards) that the wood rests on, most of which is coated in some kind of enamel, and I have had no problems with discoloration. I once left some air dried white oak on the table saw for a month by accident, and again, no discoloration, as the wood was to dry to react.

Now if you have condensation on the metal and the wood is touching the wet metal, that would be a problem.