I had some white pine cut down at the cottage (Ottawa Canada) in the spring and purchased an Alaskan mill with the idea that I would slab the lumber and build a bar counter in a corner of the deck. The Alaskan mill was awesome and last weekend I cut some 2" slabs (14" across). I've read the sticky on drying lumber - thank you for that - I was going to stack it in my basement to dry but will now find a spot outside with good airflow and sticker the wood for drying. I can stack the wood under the cottage - maybe not as good airflow but it would keep the snow off. Lee Valley sells log sealer which they describe as a wax emulsion so I'll apply that to the slab ends.....
Is it reasonable to expect the lumber to be dry enough to start building the bar counter next summer? Also interested in options for sealing the wood. Stain or epoxy.
Pine is about the only species on our lot that gets big enough to make a bar counter out of, so I don't have any options in that sense.