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Thread: Lumber storage- vertical or horizontal?

  1. #16
    Another vote for vertical.

    Build a rack - don't just lean boards against the wall. With several cross braces, you won't ever have an issue with bowing.

    I prefer to stack the boards on edge (like leaves in a book). This makes looking through the boards easier.

    A few supports can also be place lower down behind the rack for some horizontal storage.

    I also use horizontal storage, but only for long term boards I know I won't be using anytime soon.

    Another option is you have room is build an A frame.

  2. #17
    My lumber rack for vertical is just a horizontal 2x4 with 1" holes, 3/4" gas pipe about 15" long inserted, a hole drilled through the wood and pipe, with a screw through it. Used rubber chair feet to cap the pipes, and do not lose much space behind the lumber. If a board is not square on the end, it may lean out into the room, just rotate those around and they are fine. My plywood lays flat on a pallet rack.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Ron, I store sheet goods horizontally simply because that's about the only way I can handle the handling, if you will. I don't have the strength (or ceiling height) to deal with vertical. I can lift a full sheet (barely) using my Gorilla Gripper horizontal to move to/from the rack, however.
    Jim,
    Back in the day I was fined by a Union Rep for carrying 2 sheets of 3/4" at once, now I have to have my wife help me with one 1/2" sheet.

  4. #19
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    Horizontal. I hate having to move and re-stack boards to get at what's under them. When I'm being good I mark lengths on the ends of the boards. Plywood leans up against the side of the shelves with the lumber. I only have 9 ft ceilings, vertical won't work.

    IMG_0788.jpg

  5. #20
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    Agreed that horizontal is what it is. I have 7' ceilings in a basement, so vertical isnt an option for me. The thing i will say about horizontal is the more independent sections the better. I built a rack years and years ago that has 3 supports/sections for the full 7' ceiling. This means some stuff can get REALLY buried under 10-12 other boards. Where as another steel yard rack i have has 5 sections. This means worst case scenario im moving 3-5 boards to get to the bottom most, which isnt that awful.

  6. #21
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    But if you put enough shelves in there is no "bottom board", see my picture above (where I do violate that rule for some smaller stuff). it's easy to slide out each board to look at it to see if it's appropriate for whatever you're looking for.

  7. #22
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    For those of you that store vertical do you like a fixed spot or moveable cart?

  8. #23
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    I am with Tom Bender you on storing wood for short term only. I have had some wood for over a decade and it has only been moved to get at piece underneath it. That being said I also wish I had the floor space and height to go vertical.

  9. #24
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    What do you think of the Rockler material mate panel cart or something similar to it? If I were to buy one of these and store the heavier sheets vertically (8' long by 4' high) in a rack raised to the height of the lip on the panel cart and install a roller at the very end of the rack I should be able to move the plywood easily onto the cart which would result in far less handling.

    The plywood would have to be stored vertically 4' high by 8' long but by eliminating the heavy shelving, I could store far more in the same space.

  10. #25
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    I currently have my full sized and larger plywood sheets stored vertically on the short edge, due to space constraints. This allows for a lot of sheet good storage in a fairly small footprint assuming you have the ceiling height. However, it can be a real pain getting sheets in and out when the rack is near capacity due to the friction between the sheets. If I ever get the space in my next shop I would store sheet goods flat in a pallet-type rack.

  11. #26
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    Matt, why the plywood sheet on bottom? About to start fitting out shop and just curious.

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Putnam View Post
    Sounds like vertical won the vote here.
    I did the same recently and copied Sam Layton's wood storage rack. Here are a couple pics (framed up and then with the plywood cover).
    The change I'd make in retrospect would be to split one of the sheet stock bins (the area behind the slanted wall) to accommodate more partials. I am using the upper bin for partials and it fills up very quickly with lots of dead space above. I'd be better off splitting that upper area with another horizontal divider and essentially doubling what I can store (as my partials are long but narrow).

    Attachment 359081Attachment 359082

  12. #27
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    I try to limit my wood storage. I buy as needed and sometimes depending on the cost I will discard leftovers as the cost of building a piece. Horizontal for me on a 6 shelf rack.
    Michael Dilday
    Suffolk, Va.

  13. #28
    To me it completely depends on what your doing and your volume. Vertical storage works for smaller quantities and being able to riffle through a variety of mixed boards however you will never have the board quality of horizontal storage. Its a given a board is going to do whatever its going to do when its let loose of it confines but boards tightly stacked and stored horizontally (given the bunks are flat) are most always going to stay flatter. There is an argument that dead stacked boards dont get air flow on all sides so are likely to move when removed from the pile which has a little meritt for uber boutique work but for day to day work in inconsequential.

    The nightmare of having to dig through a vertical pile and a horizontal pile have equal merits. I have boards stored both ways in the shop and if I had my option they would all be horizontal. But agan a small shop, small volumes of material, being able to leaf through a vertical stack likley makes more sense and some additional air flow may give you a notion of a board that is where it will want to be.

  14. #29
    Again it seems my opinion not popular.

    Everytime I store a stick vertical it warps.

    But this is coming from a guy that sets his lumber racks up with a laser level stacking lumber flattest boards bottom and often stickered. Not practical if a business..

    I also have it bad for uber high end exotics so my mind kinda implodes if I let a nice flat board warp as often it’s some crazy board I came across needing out online and just had to have and as a result paid a fortune for.

  15. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Walsh View Post
    Again it seems my opinion not popular.

    Everytime I store a stick vertical it warps.

    But this is coming from a guy that sets his lumber racks up with a laser level stacking lumber flattest boards bottom and often stickered. Not practical if a business..

    I also have it bad for uber high end exotics so my mind kinda implodes if I let a nice flat board warp as often it’s some crazy board I came across needing out online and just had to have and as a result paid a fortune for.
    My gut feeling on that one is if its gonna move its gonna move. Sure, a vertical stack that is unsupported or poorly stacked the boards are going to develop a sag from the stack. No different than vertical sheet goods storage. I have material stored both way but the bulk of it is dead stacked flat on level bunks (some lasered but the base stacked on the slam is just equal thickness stackers).

    I think an argument can be made that even as you peel of the top of a tall stack the boards that were weighted will be flat and and in a few days they will be less-flat which all boils down to the boards themselves, quality of the logs, sawing, and perhaps some unbalanced surface drying as the stack is unweighted.

    Both options suck. Vertical storage is a ton of extra handling but possibly allows for some easier picking of boards back in the stack. Horizontal is faster (forklift or by hand) and keeps the pile weighted but if you need the one down a ways is a PITA.

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