Lumber Storage?

[John Wilson]

With the cost of wood being what it is it seems to make sense to me to buy 100BF to get the best price break. The only problem with that is that I don't have enough room in my two car garage for wood storage and tools both. I was thinking about renting a 10' x 10' storage unit near by and using it for storage. Do any of you guys use off-site storage like that and how hot do those things get? Do they usually have any ventilation?

[Mike Weaver]

Hi,
I've used them and no, usually there is no ventilation. The max temp depends on construction, but a lot of them have the corrugated fiberglass/aluminum roof sheets and to me, it always felt hotter than ambient in the summer.

I have some utility grade lumber near the floor in one and it seems to be doing ok.

Hope that helps sone,
-Mike

[Ken Werner]

Maybe I'm really ignorant here, but I store my lumber in the attic of my shop. Metal roof, no insulation. Winter in CNY it's freezing there. Summer must be about 110 or more. I figure that it's like having my own drying kiln. So far [2 years] I haven't had any problems with my wood there. I think my setup could be similar to what your considering. Opinions welcome.
Ken

[Mike Parzych]

Since you're near the ocean I would think the only concern would be humidity and moisture absorption by the ood. But if you stack and sticker it as if it were air drying it should not be a problem.

[Jim Becker]

Honestly, 100 bd ft doesn't take up a whole lot of room--it's not that many boards--and renting storage raises your lumber cost considerably...unless you already intend to rent it for other reasons and the lumber is an after-thought. Have you considered brackets up high on the walls? Brackets hanging from the ceiling?

[Mark Pruitt]

I have lumber stored in an upright position. I drove large eye screws into the studs and use rubber straps to hold the lumber flat against the wall, as opposed to a tilted position. I have a high ceiling so this method worked out nicely, and I have about 180 BF taking up less than 3 square feet of floor space.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Or beside you house, on blocks, under the eaves, and then put some corragated steel on top of it to keep the rain off it.

Trust me, you have a lot more space than I do, you just got to get out of your box and think about it......

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/jackpot/rooftop/roof_plastic_wait.jpg

7th floor roof top, downtown Tokyo Japan!

Where there is a will, there is a way!

:D

[John Headley]

If you are looking for an idea for onsite storage, with room to expand your supply, you may want to look at one of those tent car ports. I purchased a 10x20 from Sams Club and set it up in my yard and have been using it for a few years now. I placed a tarp on the floor and used pallets to elevate the wood.

http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albur81/Digital_Camera_June_04_009.sized.jpg

[Alan Tolchinsky]

John, That pic is making my mouth water. :) Looks yummy!

[John Bush]

Hi John,
Storage space rental fees would quickly wipe out any savings on bulk puchasing. In my old shop I suspended a rack from the rafters and could store lots of wood. I lost < 12" of height but was easiest solution. Good luck, JCB.

[Allen Bookout]

I live where there is a lot of humidity and heat and have had some Honduran mahogany stored along the wall of an aluminum storage building for sixteen years now and it is just fine. Needless to say, it sure is adapted to the conditions in my garage where I work. If we do not run the A/C in our house it starts to get kind of moldy but never seems to happen in the storage building for some reason. Could be because it stays pretty hot in there but does not feel excessive. There are storage units here that are airconditioned but I have not seen a reason to have one. Might be necessary if you stored something with fabric in there.

There are two guys that run small wood shops out of the same storage buildings (one builds furniture and one is a turner) and I never hear them complain about the condition of their wood.

I have to have the unit to store some other things so the small space that the wood takes up does not really cost me any extra. If I had to have a unit just to store wood I would have to figure in the rental cost of the storage building in figuring what the wood cost. Or if you are just out of options you have no choice so if it is a hobby and not a business just do not figure the cost and figure that it is worth it. Cost of delivery or cost of picking it up would tend to offset some of the storage cost, not to mention the convience.

Believe me, I feel your pain. I have a fairly large two car garage where I have to have room for one car when I am not working so I am out of space also.

Allen

[Ken Belisle]

Are you currently using the space above your garage door(s) for any storage?? In a typical 2 car garage (like mine), this will probably turn out to be 12" to 24" high, 18' to 22' wide and 7' deep (front to back). Either build some racks with 2x lumber or use that angle iron with holes every inch or so. There is a lot of room in that area that most folks totally ignore and it's basically the same environment as your shop.

Just a thought............

[Glen Gunderson]

I'll reiterate what Jim said above; 100 BF of lumber really takes up very little space. If it is all in 8 ft boards, the pile would only be 8' X 1' X 1'. If you think about it, 12 2X6s is 96 board feet, so it's really not that much wood, unless of couse you're planning on buying many different species in those kinds of quantities.

-Glen

[Ken Werner]

John,
way, way, way [I mean way] cool.

Ken

[John Wilson]

To those that recommended wall racks, I already have then on any open wall space. The walls are generally covered with cabinets, clamp racks,etc. There is about 12" above the door tracks but the ceilng is plastered so screwing into the side of the joist is not an option and I don't want to depend on screws straight up through the bottom. Also, I have two 12 foot runs of fluorescent fixtures to work around. Outdoor storage is out of the question since I live in a Condo. I agree 100bf is really not that much but 100bf of this and 100bf of that starts to crowd you out. I guess I'll think about it a little more and re-read your suggestions. Thanks for the help.:)

[Ken Belisle]

John,

Get some of that angle iron with holes every inch or so and lag it into the bottom of the joists. Then with nuts & bolts, build a frame hanging down from that. Have the bottom angle iron so that you can lay ¼, ½ or full sheets of maybe 3/8" plywood in it. Should be strong enough to hold 2 - 3 times that much lumber. I'll see if I can find the plans I have to add it to my garage.

[Frank Fusco]

John, with the thunderstorms we have had this spring, those things would be several counties away by now if I had set one up.

[Jerry Olexa]

As Jim said, thats not a lot of cu ft . For ex, its could be as little as 10 ten footers if 12' wide (unlikely) or aslo as little as 20 ten footers if 5-6" wide (more likely). This would make a stack only about 10" high in 1st case or about 18" high if 5-6" wide. Not a lot of wood...I'd create overhead storage w brackets. 100BF comes quickly. I don't think you need a new bldg or rental IMHO. My 2 cents...