Drying lumber in my car port?

[Daburner87]

I have a very large car port, about 14ft wide and 44ft long.  It's old, heavy duty, and came with the house, but the base is literally sheets of plywood the previous owner just threw down on top of the dirt and nothing is level. I've been stacking my wood in there and it gets excruciatingly hot at times.  There basically isn't any air flow.  But the wood that I have in there seems to dry rather quick, although I don't have a moisture meter to actually check numbers, I can physically tell by the weight of some of the pieces that have been in there.

Long story short, is this a bad place to stack my lumber compared to simply air drying in the open yard?  I'm at a point where I feel comfortable with my mill, and I have a few projects lined up, but drying and stacking is where I fall short.  I'm trying to reconfigure my set up so its more professional when customers come to look, and right now it's a sloppy mess.  I'm thinking of getting rid of all the plywood on the floor, cover the dirty beneath with crushed rock(RCA) and I have a person who has heavy duty plastic pallets that I planned to run up and down both sides of the carport, and leaving the middle aisle essentially open to move lumber in and out.  Is this a bad idea?

I do plan to build a kiln down the line, but right now I have a few projects to tackle first.   

[Ianab]

A carport is usually a good place to dry wood. It's open to the air, but protects the wood from the sun and rain. If the wood is drying too slow, it will grow mould. If it's drying too fast it will get surface cracking and other defects. If those things aren't happening, then it's probably just fine, in the "Goldilocks" range. 

Only thing I'd watch is that the base of the stacks is as straight as practical. If you dry a board in a banana shape, it's going to want to stay in a banana shape... 

[metalspinner]

You mentioned it gets hot in there. Is the space enclosed on the sides?

[YellowHammer]

We dry in a glorified carport, it works fine.  Open side to get airflow.  

The ground must be flat, because your lumber will pick up the shape of whatever it's drying on.  Even laying out some gravel and grading it flat will work, but concrete is best.  

[Daburner87]

Its enclosed, and gets very hot like I said.   Wood seems to check fast, but I have yet to use anchorseal which I have.  Just trying to get good with my mill and save it for when I feel more well rounded. I learned a lot in the last few weeks from work efficiency to storage and prep.  

[btulloh]

What species and thickness are you drying?  Do you have power available to run some fans?  Species, thickness, initial moisture content will all dictate different drying rates. Sounds like the carport can work with some attention to the details. 

[low_48]

1st step, buy a good moisture meter. Do you have powder post beetle where you live? Having a stack of lumber close to dirt invites an infestation. Have you sprayed a preventative pesticide on the lumber, if not, break down the stack and do that right away!

[kantuckid]

I measure moisture using a very accurate gunpowder scale and microwave. If you have the right scale it's spot on accurate, just not handy dandy for those who dry lots of wood. Does require taking a wood sample, not simply a pin job.

Black construction plastic under the piles makes far more sense than plywood! I have several outdoor stacks now with black plastic underneath them.
 Box fans for air circulation are another thing I do under a roof. This week's weather is 5 straight days of rain so no fans during such weather...

I spray Solubor mix on the wood if prone to PPB's.

[Daburner87]

What black construction paper are you referring to? Like the roofing dtuff you use under shingles? And is it to keep moisyure away?   I think I said this but I want to level out crushed rock, and use plastic pallets as they wont rot, I can also put the pallets up on cinder blocks which would help make stacking easier too as i wouldnt have to bend down as much.



Oh yea, I just bought a pin moisture meter, tye General Tools brand from Amazon.

[doc henderson]

I think he said black plastic, so prob. off a roll of the 6-mil stuff.  The cheap box fans we all speak of were 18 bucks last year, then 22 and now 28 bucks each.  at WM.