Drying wood in the garage

[terrifictimbersllc]

I've been in business more than 13 years now, and I still search for words when the customer says he is going to stack the fresh cut wood in his garage.

It just happened again, the latest email in my inbox.  

I tell them they're likely to get sticker stain, or worse mold, mildew and fungus, unless they arrange multiple fans and dehumidifiers. I ask them where they would hang 5 tons of laundry to dry, in the garage or outside. I tell them except for white oak, most woods benefit from fast initial air drying, and outside is the place for that.

What do you tell them?  And what do you do if you see they're going to ignore your instructions?  

WWDD?  (what woud Danny do) ?  

[Southside]

Yup, had two in the past month tell me the same thing, one was a rather significant size order, the other a full pick up worth, both pine, in the heat of the summer. I tell them it's not a good idea and why, then I donate the stickers to reinforce the "I am trying to help you" message. If they still go ahead with the plan I feel no guilt. 

[WDH]

WWDD?  (what woud Danny do) ?  

I would tell them to call Dennis and he will explain why not to do it.  He has a lot of practice.
Most people do not realize just how much water they are releasing into their garage.  So for about every 100 pounds of green wood, there will be about 40 pounds of water, or about 5 gallons of water, that they will be putting into the garage.  If it was 1000 bf, and it if it weighed about 6000 pounds, then they would be releasing about 40% of 6000 = 2400 pounds of water which is about 300 gallons of water.  The numbers are just rough approximations but they tell the story. 

[thecfarm]

I like the laundry senario the best.
I get people like that in the hardware store I work at. Sell them what they want and I send them out the door. I try,but some people just want to hear what they want to hear.

[moodnacreek]

Back when I started [1980] I had air drying instructions printed for people who bought green lumber. Waste of time and paper. Now a days I don't sell green lumber except oak for trailers and dump truck side boards. On my air dried , if for interior use I tell them to go slow, stand up the boards after they plane or sand them and give the wood time to get used to being indoors. I also explain 'paint' and control the cup on wide stock. Mostly a waste of breath.  I actually consider myself an expert on stickering boards, all learned the hard way. Do you think I could get somebody to copy me? No way.  Drying lumber in your garage? , that's not so bad, most want to do it in there cellar.

[DPatton]

I'll be custom sawing for a guy in a week or so who plans to sticker and dry in his garage using fans. I'm guesstimating 1200+ bf of walnut and white oak. I gave him the same talk today while doing a pre-check of his milling site and logs. Think I will email him WDH's 40% rule for his consideration. My own personal experience with about 350 bf of walnut has taught me not to bring it in the house. Not to mention how corrosive the oak will be to his tools and equipment in there.

[YellowHammer]

I tell them the story of "acid, cars and zebras".  It's not exactly correct but easy to understand and is pretty close.

A thousand bdft of green lumber weighs approximately 5,000 lbs. (close and dependent in species, etc)

Half of the weight is water.  (Another approximation but close enough for government work).  The water will come out when the wood dries.

Water from wood can be very acidic, and heavily corrodes and rusts metal.  I point to my kilns and tell them that's one of the reasons they cost so much.  

The weight of an average compact car is 2,600 lbs so I round down to 2,500 lbs to make it easy to remember.

So I ask them do they really think it's a good idea to pour the equivalent weight of a compact car's worth of acidic water (2,500 lbs) on the floor of their garage and shut the doors for a month? Or worse yet, cycle it through their air conditioner?

Do they like white and black mold?  What would their air conditioner man say when he was figuring out their repair bill?

Then I say I hope they like zebras because that's what all their wood will look like.

Anyway, it seems to get their attention.  

[Crusarius]

I have some lumber that has been air drying outside for a year now. I checked it and was coming back at 15%. I thought about moving it into the garage to let it finish enough I can do some winter projects with the lumber. After reading this thread I am kinda leary to do that. 

How much different would it be with 15% air dried vs. the fresh cut stuff? I think I will be ok.

[terrifictimbersllc]

At 15% it would be fine to put in the garage, unless it's on your wife's side.

[doc henderson]

how thick are the boards?  it depends if it is an air cond. space.  both heating and cooling will lower the inside relative humidity.   Or if the project will stay outside.  check the moisture of a furniture piece inside your home or where you plan for the project to be.  it also depends on the project.  tight glue joints vs. loose screwed together stuff.  each change in MC with have a predictable amount of shrinking or expansion.  if your garage is not heated in the winter, and cooled in the summer, you may not change much from being outside.  if the wood is thick, it takes about a year per inch.  Is it protected or is it occ. getting exposed to moisture.  

[doc henderson]

your wood may have started at 100%.  so 15 down to 12% for air drying is not bad.  i was wondering if you plan to use it in a house, then you want closer to 8%.  here in ks. we can get to 12% airdry, and i have gotten to 7% under plastic.  check out timber green simple cycle solar kiln.

[Crusarius]

The garage is my shop. So I would be the one suffering.

The walnut slabs are 2" thick. The oak and hickory are 1" thick. they are outside right now with steel roofing over the top of them. 

The garage space is not conditioned unless I decide I need to warm it up to work out there. I was hoping just but having decent air flow over the stack it would help. I do not have enough space to place it in the house.

[doc henderson]

the walnut would in theory have a ways to go.  if you try the plastic, you might get a little further.  are the projects indoor stuff?  could make a little box or room and get a dehumidifier.  might go onsale

[Crusarius]

I do have radiant floor heat. I could make a box go over it with a fan. probably dry them pretty quick.

[moodnacreek]

Put it in your shop on sticks.  Think about the damp cold nights outside. In N.Y. state I doubt it is damper in your shop than outside.

[doc henderson]

I agree.  and if you are not in a hurry, just see how it does.  the oak needs slow anyway although It is out the the defect prone moisture any way.  stack the walnut and put the fans to it.  kick the heat on occ. or if you make a box, put a heat lamp inside and or a dehumidifier.  if you want to speed things up.  I heat and cool my shop.  i lean thick walnut slabs in the shop after air drying and they are now at 7%.  only keep it 55 in the winter, and the ac keeps it 80°  when it is 100° outside.

[terrifictimbersllc]

The equilibrium moisture content of wood depends on the relative humidity in which it is stored.  So if you monitor the average RH of your garage you can determine what the MC of the wood will go to. 

[Crusarius]

I do have a thermometer with humidity out there. I should start paying more attention to it.

[Don P]

Just as a note, moving air is a good thing, it sweeps the moisture and high humidity off the wood as it rises to the surface but at lower moisture content you don't need as much airflow to accomplish that compared to when it is green. Pouring the fans to it at 15% isn't going to make it dry any faster, higher temps and lower humidity will have the most effect.

Table 3-3 in the Wood Handbook lists the average moisture content of green wood, heartwood and sapwood, by species, pretty interesting to look at. That is also a good chapter.

[Southside]

Stand opposite the side of the sun from a stack of green pine that is air drying in a field with no wind blowing and you can feel a natural venturi effect coming through the boards and feel how much cooler the air is as it exits the stack.  More than a couple of times I have walked over to a fresh stack for the express purpose of getting a little cool air, especially lately.   

[Mike W]

Sawmillers swamp cooler, no need no stinking A/C when you have a fresh cut pile of pine to stand behind ;D

[YellowHammer]

Last 4rth of July, when it was very hot, I stacked several packs of fresh stickered and sawn poplar on the driveway and put some big barrel fans define them.  Before you knew it, everybody was sitting downwind of  them, eating hamburgers and staying cool.