Storing dry lumber

[Matt Schuman]

I'm about to pick up 300 bd ft or red and white oak this afternoon. It's varied lengths and widths, with a few pieces that are 4/4, 14' long, 1' wide. It's already dry and I have a concrete floor in my shop. How should I store this lumber? Keeping it off the concrete seems like a must, but does it need to be stickered as well? Thanks in advance!

[Matt Ellis]

From what I understand, dried lumber does not require stickers. (I sure hope not, 'cause I have about 700 bd. ft. of various stuff stacked in my garage right now!) I did put down some pressure treated 2x's at about 2' O.C. before stacking the lumber.

-matt

[John Keeton]

I would think keeping the wood flat would be the main concern. Stickering shouldn't be necessary, if it is truly dry. Have you put a meter on it?

Storing a 14' board flat would be a challenge for me, so I would probably cut the board to a 6' and an 8', or such other combination that would fit the project in mind before stacking. It would be easy to get a twist or bend in the long stuff.

[Jim Becker]

As Matt says, it's not necessary to sticker the stock if it is dry. (Do keep it up off the floor as you say...for me, that would be at least a foot) That said, I have from time to time used 1/4" thick stickers with dry stock just to give some extra air flow. It was a good way to use up cut-offs of the thin material and certainly didn't hurt the storage situation, outside of a little extra space.

[Brian Effinger]

Does the lumber come from your area, or did you have it shipped from another part of the country? I'm no expert, but I would sticker it if it came from somewhere else, that way it might be able to acclimate to your shop easier. If you bought it locally, I think it should be fine.