Kiln drying lumber

[Mystang89]

   I'm building a solar kiln to dry my own lumber and I'm trying to do a bunch of research on it. One thing I keep reading is that the ideal moisture content you want to get your wood down to is 6-8% and that is where you want to keep it for indoor projects.

  My problem is that even if I get that wood down to that percentage, how is a person to keep slabs at that MC without a climate controlled building?

  I have a garage which is not climate controlled and I have a lean to which most of my slabs are stored in.  Sounds like most of my wood is going to be regaining up to 12-13% MC and most of my woodworking is for indoor applications.

[beenthere]

Mystang89
It is something that you will have to figure out as best you can. 

[Larry]

Its good that you recognized a potential problem up front. Most woodworkers think kiln dried wood is dry forever and have problems.

I store lumber in my attached garage. It's not conditioned but is insulated and tight. It does get a little winter heat and summer cool from the house but not much. Before I put lumber in the garage I skip plane it so it will stack neat and tight. It will be right at 7-8%. Still in my tight garage the moisture content will go up a bit over time.

Before I build a project I bring the wood into the shop which is conditioned 24/7. Let it set as long as possible. I've also found I like to build with wood right at 9-10% MC. This way I know exactly which way the wood is going to move when it goes in the house.

It does amuse me some, we have a large wholesale commercial hardwood yard close by. There lumber is stored in a large non-conditioned warehouse with open doors during business hours. I've checked moisture content of some of there lumber...........

[doc henderson]

Good topic and a few other threads and info.  I will chime in tomorrow.

[Mystang89]

Before I put lumber in the garage I skip plane it so it will stack neat and tight. It will be right at 7-8%.

So after it's kiln dried you don't sticker it? I thought I had read somewhere that some people stacked it right and then saran wrapped it.

[doc henderson]

Dr. Wengert told a story of someone putting pallets of stickered lumber on a flatbed and drove it a thousand miles in the heat at 70 mph wind and it was nearly dry at the end of the trip.  stickering is to let air contact all surfaces.  It also keeps wet wood from molding and sticking together, and rotting.  If it is at the MC you want, then dead stacking will slow the MC in any direction.  I have a container 8 x 20 feet and it is well sealed.  I put dry wood in there and run a dehumidifier about once a month overnight and it maintains in there.

[YellowHammer]

After kiln drying, plane and dead stack it to keep air flow off of it.  It takes significantly longer for a dead stacked pile to regain moisture.  However, if you can put it in any place that is slightly warmer than the local temperature, as the air temperature rises, even slightly, its moisture carrying capacity goes up and it "relative" humidity drops.  Some people will buy shipping containers and simply put wood in there, because the metal outer shell absorbs solar energy, and keeps the container warmer most times when the sun is on it, and they hold wood decently well.  

[doc henderson]

I have considered painting mine black.  I store stuff on top.  If I run the dehumidifier overnight and only get 3 inches in a bucket, I know it is dry.  I get it to 35% in the container and leave it.  My stuff out there is about 7 to 8 %.  super good for thick stuff.  very slow drying.  If I put in fresh stuff, it will pull about 5 gallons a day.  I got a side opening one, and it was a few thousand buck, it is heavy as it has a strong under frame where the end only opening ones use the walls for structure.  they are now over 6 thousand dollars.

[Mystang89]

This Is great information! Thank you all so much. The lumber that I've had kiln dried elsewhere, I have stacked and stickered under my "enclosed" barn lean-to. I say enclosed only because it has wood on all 4 sides but it's an old barn lol, nothing is truly enclosed about it.
I'm going to start dead stacking what I kiln dry now and being looking for a better place to store it.
It's simply nice to know that I don't have to have a climate controlled environment in order to keep this stuff good.
The truck with the dehumidify is great too. I've been thinking about getting an "inkbird" humidity monitor so that when humidity gets to a certain point it will automatically turn on the dehumidifier. Will probably get something like that for the kiln too.