Drying Wood Garage or Outside

[Evan Galipeau]

I have about some 8/4 walnut, and oak lumber that was just cut that I want to dry. Would it be better to store this in a garage with a fan or outside. Inside the garage is better for me because it will be difficult to find a flat area outside but if I really had to I could do it. I could also store it in basement. What do you all think?

[Neal Schlee]

Evan,

If it was just cut as you mentioned, you should sticker it and cover the top of the stack (outside) and store it in your basement or outside for a month or longer to air dry. Then to dry it further you could move it inside to a heated area, making sure to sticker it. 8/4 quarter will take quite awhile to air dry, it may never get to 6-8% unless it's kiln dryed, 12-15% is common for AD. Thicker material as this needs to dry slowly to minimize checking, sealing the ends will help here.

Neal

[Evan Galipeau]

Neal,

Thanks for your post. I was assuming this would take at least two years to dry. I not sure I know of any kilns in northern New Jersey if any one knows of any please let me know as I would consider getting it kiln dried. Right now it is stickered in the garage on green stickers. I am planning on getting dry stickers today to prevent any sticker stain mold. I have already sealed the ends

[Ray Mighells]

You'll have better results storing in your basement due to more uniform temp and humidity. A general rule for AD is one year per inch of thickness. Don't be stingy with the stickers and be sure to put some kind of vapor barrier under the stacks and leave 4 - 6 inches between the floor and the stack. When the wood is surface dried enough, skip planning will allow more uniformity in thickness and straighter boards when dry. Also periodicaly reseal the ends; this will practically eliminate case hardening. When the wood is dry it will still need to be stabilized before building anything with it. Woodcarvers much prefer AD over KD.

[Neal Schlee]

You might contact Nyle Dry Kilns and see if they know of one of their customers that contract drys wood in your area.

We built our own kiln using a 20' insulated shipping container and a Nyle L200 dehumidification unit. Works great, Nyle is a good company to deal with.

Neal

[Evan Galipeau]

Good Information Thanks,

I don't think I can afford a kiln quite yet but I will give Nyle a call and see if they know anyone in my area.

What exactly is skip planing?

Evan

[Neal Schlee]

Skip planing is taking a light pass on each side of a board to clean it up some. Makes for more consistant stickering of the wood stack. It's not be neccesary if your wood thickness is consistant. Such as wood cut with a band saw mill and a sharp blade.

Neal

[Rob Diz]

I had an oak tree sawyered last year and went through the same process of evaluating where I was going to sticker the green wood. I ended up stickering it outside under a plywood top for the following reasons:

1) I heard from someone on another ww site that they put green lumber inside their shop, and the moisture that was thrown off, particularly in the first month, caused ALL of his tools to rust.
2) It takes up an awful lot of space, and the lumber won't get "hurt" being outside.
3) Air circulation was much better outside, and any odor (and there was some off of the oak) was not an issue outside
4) I did not cover the sides of the stickered wood because air needs to get in there to circulate
5) If you dry your green lumber outside, then you should build it off of the ground by at least 4 inches anyway, so shimming that area flat should not be a big issue

Don't forget to use even sized stickers about 18 inches apart. Also don't forget to put some weight on top of your stack.

Good luck drying the lumber.

[Evan Galipeau]

Well fortunatly there are no tools in the garage. I have the window open with a fan blowing outside air in. Unfortunaly we live on a significant hill. So much so that it would be at least two days work to build a flat area. We are also in the woods so I also fear that any outdoor pile will get covered with leaves. It sounds like there aren't to many downsides to the garage.

Rob What did you use for stickers?

[Al Killian]

Kiln drying around here cost between 30 to 40 cents per bdft. It is not really a big exspense unless you have a major amount.

[Rob Diz]

I used wood stickers made by my sawyer - and they were already dried. If you don't have much to dry, you could use 3/4 plywood or any dry (kiln dried) wood cut to 3/4 - 1 inch.

[Rob Will]

8/4 Oak? If you want to keep that together you might consider coating the entire board with a light coat of sealer.

Now before everybody jumps on me for saying that.......

I know it will take forever to dry but I say that the thick Oak is going to bust without slowing it down a bit. The other types of lumber are not far behind. I totally sealed some of my thick lumber, now it is the best looking in the stack.

Next time I saw some really thick boards (especially figured wood), I'm going to seal all sides. After a couple of years, we might rough plane the lumber to open it up for continued drying.

Rob