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Okay, whatta I do now?

Started by Avalancher, December 07, 2004, 03:23:39 PM

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Avalancher

I have a dilemma that I am not sure how to go about doing. I am cutting and milling pine down in Alabama, and then hauling it up to our new house in TN. My dilemma is I dont have enough room anymore in my shop here to dry it out, forcing me to haul it up to TN only partially dry. I am stacking it with stickers in the living room, but there is nobody there to cycle the fans so what is the best thing to do? Just leave the fans on the entire time while I am gone, leave the fans off, or what? I am leaving the heat on in the house for the winter, leaving the thermostat set at about 50 or so to keep the moisture out of the house, as well as minimize the chance of pipes freezing. I hate to leave the fans on and possibly over due it, but I hate to have any mildew show up if they dont dry enough with just the temp and air circulation of the furnace.
Any ideas?

Buzz-sawyer

Hi there
I hate to tell ya this but if your dumping that moisture into your house ...your setting yourself up for possible mold issues. The key is , how much lumber ya got in there, remember all the escaping moisture is being released into your livin space...what is taking it out of your house after it releases from the liumber....dehumidifiers??
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Avalancher

I have the heat pump set so that everytime the heat cycles on the A/C kicks in as well, the A/C removes a great deal of moisture in the house. We have to do that here in Alabama, the humidity even in the winter is so high that without it you can have condensation form in the cupboards and any other little nook and cranny.
I checked the A/C drain last time, it looks like it was combing out a pretty good amount of moisture.
My main concern is the lack of air circulation through the stack. I hate to have it all mildew on me. Does anyone know if mildew is just a surface thing? In other words, my boards are milled 1" thick, with the idea to plane them all down to a uniform 3/4" thick before setting them down as wall paneling in the living room's vaulted ceiling. If they get some mildew, can you plane down to good wood?

Paschale

Why not stack and sticker the wood outside?  I let my wood dry for a year outside, with a make shift roof over it.  You really should be fine leaving it outdoors.  The natural movement of air outdoors should help the drying process take place, and after a year or so, you'll be ready for it to come into the house/shop and acclimate, and you're good to go.  No need to worry about fans, or mildew in the house.  You gotta make sure you stack and sticker it right, but that's easy enough to do.  Let nature take care of things for ya!   8)
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

Ianab

If you keep it inside leave the fans running.
I dont think you can airdry pine too fast :D

Stacking it outside under cover is also a good idea, it will dry slowly because of the cold, but once it's settled to it's air dried MC then bring it inside for a while to finish drying.

A little mildew can be planed off, but the bluestain fungus will work all the way into the wood.

The moisture given off by green wood isn't pure water, it usually has some acid and other chemicals along with it. (thats the smell of drying timber). I wouldn't like to dry large amounts of green wood in my house because of that.

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Avalancher

I would prefer to leave it all outside, but I know it would all get stolen. Our house is in the foothills of the smokies, with just a few neighbors around, and some as it turns out are a bunch of thieves. I went up there last fall to pour the foundation for my shop, I am building a 30x60 workshop out of steel and poured the foundation before the steel arrives in January. I stopped at the lumber yard and got a bunch of long 2x4 and stakes and dropped them off at the house. Then went into town to rent the concrete tools that I needed. Came back and all my lumber was gone. In less than 2 hours. They have even stolen my burn barrel !
We have a large covered porch, almost 20x30 that would be great to stack this lumber on, but there is no doubt that it would be gone before I hit the end of the gravel road on the way out.
I am hoping that things will change once we move up there, I have assured one neighbor that I caught around our house late at night that I will enforce the fence line once we are moved up there.

Paschale

That's unfortunate, Avalancher, that you can't count on those neighbors.   ::)  You say it's partially dry--do have any idea what percentage it's at now?  Is Tennessee humid or dry in the winter?  Here, in Michigan, some extra humidity released into the air wouldn't be very problematic.  Many furnaces have humidifiers added on, or people have humidifiers placed somewhere in the house with the purpose of adding moisture.  If the air is naturally dry, then it can absorb a lot of that moisture without you jeopardizing adding moisture into the actually structure of your house--at least that's what I'm thinking.  There are certainly guys on here who know more than me.  But I would think that it would sort of depend on how much more drying needed to be done, and the actual amount of wood you've got, relative to the type of humidity you've got going on in your house.  If it's a forced air furnace, those things dry everything out, and I suspect that the moisture you'd be putting out of the wood, if it's not totally green, would be the equivalent of a humidifier doing it's thing.  If you think about a humidifier during the winter months, how many gallons of water over the course of the winter are expelled into the air?  A couple per week?  Maybe more?  Probably ultimately more water per week than would escape from your stack of wood per week. (Again, just my thinking on this--others might have more concrete information).  As to the fans, maybe putting them in a corner to just create a steady, calm draft, as opposed to directly being aimed at the stack of wood.  And perhaps, considering the chemicals and things being released into the air by the wood that Ianab mentioned, how bout cracking open just slightly a window in some corner of the house?

Anyway, just one guy's thinking on this.  I'm thinking you'd be OK drying it in the house.  It'll be interesting to see what others think about this.
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

rebocardo

I doubt locking it inside the house will keep them away from the wood if they know you are gone for a long trip. What I would do is leave some wood out in the open, leave the house like I normally do, then sneak back through the woods and sit in the dark near an open window with a big caliper surprise. I heard rock salt really hurts, at least when Granny got Jethro with it. I would give no warning, verbal or otherwise.

I have always liked the sign "Trespassers will be shot and eaten".

Plus, on your wood, on a side (not end) that does not show I would soak the wood with a deep orange or pink stain the length of the wood.

That way you could offer a reward in case anyone driving by sees someone leaving with pink wood and it would make it hard to sell without refinishing it.

When my boss got sick of people ripping the stoves and other applicances off in his rental houses we started marking them "Stolen if not at 123 road city GA zipcode". That way if the police or anyone sees them with an item with one foot letters saying it is stolen, it gives the police probable cause to stop them.

Maybe you could invest in a wood stamp and burn your logo or address into the side of all your wood. 1/2 an inch deep on all sides would make it tough to resell unless they trimmed it and not effect the strength.

GF

Need to post ya sign "Get Caught, Get Shot"


beenthere

If I 'caught' a neighbor on my property, and I was the 'newcomer', I would be for inviting him in for coffee, or a beer, and get to know him (and him to know you). Making friends with the neighbors, even if I don't agree with their habits, is top priority, in my opinion. My neighbors watch my place like a hawk, and I have been real thankful that they do. One even apologized when they drove in the yard, thinking we were gone, but heard some noise and were checking it out. I thanked them for the thoughts. I watch to see what is going on at their places too, just to make note in case something happens.

As to the wood, I would keep the heat a bit higher in the house as warm air will hold more moisture than cold air (i.e. lower humidity with warmer air).  Chances of the wood air drying without mold are better. And I would get air movement, either fans or with the chimney effect designed into the center of the stickered stack  (I don't have experience with that method, but it sounds like a good idea).
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Avalancher

Thanks for everyones input, it really sucks not being able to drive up there and dump off this wood on the front porch and go about my business. I was hoping to avoid any problems with the neighbors until I move in, I figured if I ticked them off to much there wouldnt be a stick standing when I came back. After we move in I think they will be hesitant about coming on the property, we will have it all fenced in and patrolled by a lab that thinks she is the most ferocious watchdog ever planted on the earth :D
All kidding aside, she does let me know if something or someone is out of place, and has enough sense to stay out rifle range for anyone she doesnt know.
I have been planning on all this wood to help me finish this house off once we move in, its a genuine fix er upper, and we bought it cheap. The original guy who did the interior finish work had ten thumbs and couldnt read a tape measure.
I sure appreciate everyone on this board, you all are a great bunch of guys!

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