Warning about lumber

[46erjoe]

I made a grave error recently. I bought a lot of 2 X 4s to finish off my basement. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to it right away, and the lumber sat on the floor of my basement for about 5 weeks. Well, when I bought the wood, I selected each piece for straightness. Guess what? About 2/3s of them are all twisted and bent out of shape - useless except for starting a fire in my fireplace.

So, don't be like me. Buy your wood just prior to using it. If not, you may end up wasting a lot of money.

[George]

Or don't buy them at home cheepo the next time.

[Oren]

Well, yeah.. My dad was a carpenter and he never had wood laying around....

-- Oren

"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[EXT]

To reduce warp I always stand lumber up as vertical as possible to allow the air to circulate around all 4 edges so that it dries evenly. If it is winter I prefer to keep my wood in the unheated garage. If I have too much to stand up and I need to lay it on the floor, I always put spacers under it and either clamp them all together with a pipe clamp or pile weights, concrete blocks or fertilizer bags on the pile to keep it reasonably flat. These methods don't always work but keep the warping and twisting to a minimum.

[Toller]

you don't want to burn softwood

[Steve Barker LT]

I wouldn't think kiln dried lumber should change much if any in only 5 weeks. Unless it took on moisture.

[Steve Barker LT]

Did he mention WHERE he bought it???

[Jim Yanik]

"Steve Barker LT" wrote in news:- M2dnRCz25zt--HYnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

it may be kiln dried,but it's essentially stored outdoors at any home- repair store.

[Doug Miller]

He didn't need to. :-)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Why not? And don't use creosote as a reason, that is not a good one if burned properly. Hardwood is better, but softwood, especially construction lumber that has been reasonably dried, works very well. Many people only have pine available and have heated their homes with it for centuries. Use what you have.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Construction lumber is not all that dry. IIRC, it is about 12% compared to the furniture grades that are 7%. Most will twist and bend once brought into the house. I've seen it at the store with as much as a 90 degree bend in it. Incredible how bad it can be.

[Charles Schuler]

I'll tell you why not ... who can get up 3 times during the night to restoke the fire?

[CJT]

It sounds to me like you may have got some green lumber. I've never had problems like that, and I haven't taken any extreme precautions.

[Toller]

And to clean out huge ash piles. Give me black locust!

[Gini]

"Charles Schuler" wrote

== Need to save that lumber for the cookstove.

[Phisherman]

If you had clamped or weighted the lumber it won't move as much. Also, make sure you buy kiln-dried. A moisture tester is worth having. Better to store lumber off the basement floor.

[HeyBub]

At my age, you have to get up at least three times during the night anyway...

[HeyBub]

Well, if he DID buy it at Home Cheapo, he's in luck.

They'll happily take it back.

Of course if he bought it out of someone's trunk, or from a "It fell off a truck" sale, he's stuck.

[Oren]

I've warmed up to many barrels of burning lumber on a construction site. Kept warm. Even when I had a wood burning stove inside at home I used remnants of lumber.

-- Oren

"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Al Bundy]

46erjoe wrote in news: [e-mail]:

On concrete? Sucking in moisture from from it?