Solar kiln build (help me)

[burdman_22]

Starting on a solar kiln build today. Roughly building the Virginia tech one (slightly larger dimensions for 16 ft long boards). Question my dad asked. 

Is it necessary to use treated plywood on the walls of the kiln? Has anyone used reg osb with any success?

[rastis]

When I built mine I used standard plywood, which was then coated with black water proofing material to increase heat generation in the chamber and protect the material from moisture. Unfortunately I don't remember what I used for the coating.

[burdman_22]

Any problems with rot or anything? And did you use regular plywood both inside and outside? No treated anywhere (we're gonna use treated for the floor)

[doc henderson]

the outside could ventilate a bit, (like lap siding) incase moisture gets into your fiberglass insulation.  assuming you are not using foam.  OSB has a rough surface and may hold the waterproof roof coating well, but if some gets moisture, swells and flakes off you will have to recoat.  

[burdman_22]

Sounds good. I went the osb route. Will post pictures as we make progress on it. Hope to have it finished Monday.

[burdman_22]

Not much done today, flew into ky this afternoon, so after buying supplies didn't have a ton of time for work.



 

 

[burdman_22]

11 am



 

[doc henderson]

very nice work so far.  what are the final dimensions?

[burdman_22]

Inside will be about 18x6x6.



 


 


 

[burdman_22]

We didn't get as much as we wanted done today. Floor is done, back wall is built, plywood on one side. Hopefully tomorrow is more productive, we've got all of our materials now, but we'll be struggling with weather tomorrow until about noon.

In the picture of the sunset, you can see two deer in the field. I took a picture with my phone, not great, but looks like a pretty big guy. It was either a 6 or an 8.


 

 

 

[thecfarm]

Glad I clicked onto this tread.
Nice deer!!!!

[teakwood]

good luck with your kiln. it's a good investment. i have a great success story with my kiln and it's making me money. 

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=121021.0


What a beautiful place you have! congratulations, this autumn pic of the house is just gorgeous. 

[burdman_22]

good luck with your kiln. it's a good investment.....

What a beautiful place you have! congratulations, this autumn pic of the house is just gorgeous.

Not my place, my parents, but thank you, I love it here. They've got a great spot for sunsets

[burdman_22]

Unrelated to kilns, my dad and I went to Buffalo Trace this morning and bought some Blanton's. 



 

[Walnut Beast]

That will help you relax after a hard day

[burdman_22]

Won't help me, I dont drink, I just buy for friends in Alabama

[beenthere]

Looks like you have a lot of friends you bought for.  8)

[burdman_22]

Those are just strangers. Since my dad was with me I was allowed to buy two. Can't buy anymore for three months (one per three months).

Pictures of me and my wife's cabin (the kiln is to dry the wood for our flooring, quartersawn red oak and quartersawn sycamore).

Got back wall up, bout to get header on above the doors, rain holding us up a little.



 

 

 

 

[burdman_22]

Done for the day. Got our rafter pattern cut, so rafters, walls, doors and roof tomorrow. Any cons to putting access doors on each end? Or one end maybe?

[burdman_22]

So, question about drying my wood. I plan to put all of my loads of lumber through before planing and putting tongue and groove on it. What can I do with the lumber after kiln drying? If I dead stack it outside will it regain much moisture? I know it would be best to process right after coming out of the kiln, but I really need to get it all dried first.

[doc henderson]

If it is down to say 7% you can dead stack and wrap tightly with plastic, and it will stay 7%.  dead stacked unwrapped and the outer layers will gain moisture say up to 12% or whatever your EMC is, but it will start from the outside and cup the boards most in contact with the air.  put it in any conditioned space, AC in summer, or heat in winter, and it will stay fine.  doors are fine but it is another point to have air leaks.  so, 2 doors, more potential for leaks.  but handy!  I use a container with fans and a dehumidifier.

[burdman_22]

Unrelated to my kiln build, but I thought folks might be interested in seeing the inside of a cabin my dad built a while back.



 

[burdman_22]

We got the sheathing on around the entire kiln today. Rafters up. We're gonna put on the lathing tomorrow before I head to the airport. The rest will be up to my dad.

We were concerned about the kiln blowing away/over, so we decided to add a couple of posts beside each door. The posts are 6x6s, with about 24 inches of concrete in each hole, and criss-crossing rebar through the bottom. We get some pretty bad wind on the hill sometimes, and the kiln is oriented perfectly to catch the wind.



 

 

 

 

 

[scsmith42]

It's best if you can store the kiln dried lumber in a humidity controlled building.  Temp is not important, just keep the RH% around 50% - 60%.

You might want to inlet some angle bracing into the shear wall about your doors.  This will help keep the header from sagging.  

When I built my 20' wide solar kilns, I used a quasi-parallel chord truss design above the doors to help prevent sag.  Additionally, the external plywood was glued and screwed into place over the truss in order to help prevent sag.    It was lag bolted to triple 2x12's ganged together for the header.



 

[burdman_22]

Yeah, I think we'll keep the lumber in our cabin after dried, ac and stuff should be hooked up and running by then.

Sounds like dad doesn't think the angle braces are necessary, we used a 4x8 as the header. He figured there isn't enough weight on top to really be a problem with the plywood screwed into the header like it is.