Keeping stickers in my wood?

[acrosteve]

I've got a bunch of cherry,  walnut, hickory and poplar that I sawed, stickered and stored inside my barn about 10 years ago.

Well, I want to move it to another barn and wonder the effects of just stacking it without the stickers.

The current barn is closed up and has concrete floor.  New barn is open on one end and no concrete, though I do have lots of conveyor belts for floorin .

I guess I'm just hoarding it, as I don't know when I will be using, or selling it.

Thanks

[Ianab]

In theory dry wood should be safe flat stacked. 

BUT, if water gets into a flat stacked pile, it wont evaporate quickly like a stickered stack. So if there is a chance of ground water, blown rain or a leaking roof, it's safer to store it on stickers. Then if water accidentally gets on the stack, it can evaporate away quickly, and you don't get rot starting inside the stack.

[YellowHammer]

 

Also, if its not stacked flat, it will take on the shape of the floor its stacked on.  Since the new place doesn't have a concrete floor like the old place, its something to be aware of.

[terrifictimbersllc]

If dead stacked cherry gets wet it is candy for carpenter ants.  

[Ianab]

If dead stacked cherry gets wet it is candy for carpenter ants.  

Yep, because if it stays damp the fungus gets a start, and the Ant's soon follow. 

[Brad_bb]

The thing to think about with flat stacked, is condensation.  Will it happen?  Does the non concrete floor have a impermeable vapor barrier, or does moisture come up inside the building from the ground?  Quick temperature changes inside can cause condensation - moist warm air comes in contact with cold wood.  I'd rather store it snickered unless I am certain moisture will not be a problem.  If it's already stickered, why change it?  Don't unsticker it until it goes in the drying kiln or gets planed etc.  Usually everything stays stickered until it's dried and machined, and will then be stored in climate controlled space.

[PA_Walnut]

Murphy's Wood Law of Wood Storage: if it's on stickers, it will near certain never get wet. If you dead-pile it, almost 100% guarantee there will be some strange weather anomaly, a flood, or unseen moisture get into your pile.

Ask me how I know. :(  :-[

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

The relative humidity (RH) in air drying goes from 100% RH in the early morning to as low as 35% RH in the early afternoon on a sunny day.  The typical average is 65% RH.  Checking for your actual average from a local weather station maintained by the state university.  This is around 12% EMC, so your wood is,now close to 12% MC.

Due to solar heating in a barn, with no water running in the barn when it rains, a barn will be slightly drier than outside.  So, you might be at 11% MC.it is safe to stack lumber without stickers if the moisture is under 22% MC and the storage area is dry.

[acrosteve]

Thanks - lots of things I had not considered.

Rain - not so much, but with the way light dry snow blows around, there is bound to be some limited, direct exposure to moisture to consider.  I am able to cover the stack with siding metal as an extra precaution too.