Using sawmill lumber vs. big box store lumber?

[cnsilver]

Hi,  I am very new to this forum but have been poking around other sites, trying to figure the most sustainable way to build a house in the western NC area.  I have talked to some of the old timers around the area and was advised not to use the local products because they aren't dried properly and are prone to twisting and warping!!  Is this true?  It surely seems as if the older houses have faired better than the houses built from the from manufactured wood stores!  I want to make the right choice !! :P :-\

[kderby]

I do not know the good or bad about building with lumber local to your area.  I do know that the lumber purchased at the big box is from trees.  Trees are alive.  Many forces that make them perform admirably or miserably. 

The commercial "kiln dry" lumber is dried to a moisture content that reduces mold.  It still has up to eighteen percent moisture content.  Any unit of this industrial lumber that is allowed to continue drying without being nailed into place will twist and warp.  Never break open a unit of lumber on friday or on monday morning you will have bannana boards.  Thus, the commercial lumber is just as prone to twist and warp as properly graded local lumber. 

Another point is that in the old days they threw away a lot of what we consider lumber these days.  If you are building a home the lumber from any modern supplier should be viewed with a jaundiced eye.  Good lumber is available but not at the price you were hoping for.  The old time houses were built from tight grained, straight and even knot free lumber.  That is a distant fantasy in the world of modern "low bid" building materials. 

There are reasons like cost, grade stamp, uniform sizing and immediate delivery that affect your choices for home construction.   I like to say that a two by four that I mill has thirty percent more wood (by volume) than the stick you get at a lumber yard.  That makes mine stronger.  I am not as efficient as a multinational sawmill.  I am not a bargain.  I handle every board.  I look at every tree.  I am local and I do produce superb lumber.  If you want superior lumber, I am the place to visit.

Hopefully others will be better able to address your question about conditions affecting your area.  Meanwhile don't worry about warp and twist.  Learn about grades.  Be willing to pay for better grade material and you house will have superior bones.

KDerby

[zopi]

Any board will warp...some will warp no matter what you do with it..(see sweetgum) but most which are sawn correctly from decent logs will act right and lay down when stickered and dried correctly...
I won't go so far as to claim that lumber I saw is stronger than that which os commercially available, but it tends to be more resilient....alot of your commercial stud lumber seems to come from trees that have had just enough time to grow to where they can whittle a couple of two by fours out of them, and not much else...more mature trees have had time to develop some strength...sort of like working a muscle...and will be less prone to splintering, and certainly less brittle...
As far as sustainable...well...and a few folks on here will likely agree...IMO the most sustainable home is one which is timber framed, and finished with the best materials you can get...I am sitting in a 137 year old western ballon frame hous which was built on ten inch heart pine timbers and framed of full dimension lumber..a two by is no kidding a two by...and this old house is as sound as the day it was built..the hurricanes barely shake it...
Anyway, I say this because by building for strength, and not for speed amd cost reduction, you may ise a little more material, but you are building something which will last centuries...most of these modern stick built matchboxes are not going to last that long...most of their strength lies in tying the sheathing to the frame...so those materials are not going to have to be expended again on the same site...
Heh...Owning a sawmill opens a unique range of opportunities....I can saw what I bloody well need, if I want a bookmatched kitchen floor...I go dig up a couple of nice oak logs and make what I want...usually things which cannot be had much of anywhere outside the sawing community, because it is difficult to market such things to the masses who only see (feel) the bottom line...
I bought a mill because of the old house and its outbuildings (called dependencies in plantation times) and it has paid me well, and will continue to be a valuable pursuit for me..
Oh yeah...I have never bought a log...owing to circumstance and design...I usually get paid to remove them...just located a big old beech yesterday...500 bdft or so to scale...it is going to make a nice floor in my kitchen...

[ljmathias]

Just finishing up a small house for my daughter that I'd planned on using all mill-cut and air-dried lumber in... grossly underestimated how much I'd need by about half.  Framing is 2X6 on the outside and 2X4 interior walls.  One thing is absolutely clear- when drilling or nailing, the stuff I cut and dried is about ten times harder and stiffer than the store bought I had to get to finish out the house.  And there's no question, any wood will warp and twist as it dries further.  One thing I noticed though, after letting the stuff I cut air dry about6 months, it doesn't warp any more.

and of course, you can't buy live-edge siding at the big box stores...  or 20' 8X8's or half-square beams for the interior loft support (half cut, half round for visual effect) :D

Lj

[WDH]

Commercial, big box store lumber is not as good as it used to be because the age that the trees are allowed to grow before harvesting has continued to go down over my career in Forestry.  Also, there is more second and third growth being brought to market, it is not as old before harvest as the original stands.

That being said, it seems to me that the older houses are better built than modern ones not from the framing as such, which you cannot even see anyway, but from the quality of the other materials that cover the walls, ceilings, and floors.  I have not seen any modern homes falling down because of sub-standard framing, but the siding is cheap, the sub-floors and ceilings are decked in mostly OSB instead of individual deck boards, the trim quality is mainly finger-jointed paint grade, less real wood is being used inside for paneling and wainscott, most every thing is drywalled and painted, no plaster work, cheap light fixtures, and I could go on. 

Whether or not locally produced, custom sawn lumber is stronger and better is dependent on the quality of the timber that it is sawn from and the care with which it is handled, stacked, and dried.  In my case, my lumber is superior to the box stores because the trees that I have sawn it from are 60 to 70 year old SYP that have come to end of their lives. 

If you want to have your lumber custom sawn versus buy it at the box store, inquire about the trees/timber that will be used to produce the lumber.  Remember that in some areas, particularly metropolitan counties, you cannot use local lumber that has not been inspected and grade stamped by a licensed inspector.

[red]

I like you question of building the most sustainable way to build a house .... we need some more info of what you are planing to do    L J  is doing it right now and quite a few others have posted on their projects  some even have their own Blogs  Thomas in Kentucky  comes to mind and that is a Big Project

[hackberry jake]

My grandfathers house was built over 100 years ago. I believe the old timers really knew what they were doing more than we do now. Everything is overbuilt to the max. Actual 2"x6" framed walls and roof trusses, 1x4s every foot for lath or lad, whatever its called.  Actual 2x10 floor joists every foot. 2x8s for short spans. The whole house is setting on drystacked field rocks, when I've seen modern concrete foundations cracking, the drystacked rock is still holding up great. When a house is built that rigid, all you have to do is hold it off the ground. No termite problems, no cracking sheetrock (installed in the last remodel). Modern spf boxstore lumber is like candy to woodbees, termite, mold, u name it. The kicker... the whole house was built with black gum. How did the old timers get fenceposts to last 50+ years and we can't get 20 out of treated pine? Pure knowledge and trial and error. They used what worked best. I'll get off my soap box now.