Replies

1. 
   highfigh | Dec 19, 2004 07:26pm | #1

   I see the same thing. Maybe they are counting on the lumber not being there very long. I haven't asked, but if you look at the forces acting on a vertical board, gravity always pulls down. The force along the board is 100%, the force perpendicular is 0%. As the angle goes away from 90 degrees, the perpendicular force begins to increase while the force along the board decreases. At 45 degrees, the forces are equal and as the board approaches true horizontal, the perpendicular force approaches 100%, while the force along it approaches 0%.

   There's nothing wrong with storing a board vertically but if it leans into a wall or other object, it needs to be turned occasionally so whatever sagging occurs can be reversed. If you need to store the lumber vertically, you could clamp the boards together to minimize the warping and the forces would be more even than if you stacked them laying flat. The boards on the bottom would get the most pressure and the ones on top get very little. Vertical storage limits the length of the boards to the height of the space above them.

   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
2. 
   jazzdogg | Dec 20, 2004 06:02am | #2

   Whether you store your lumber horizontally or vertically, it needs to be well supported and have consistent air circulation. If you're going to store horizontally, make sure you align your stickers consistently from layer to layer, and close enough together to prevent sagging between stickers. If you're going to store vertically, keep the ends of the board up off the concrete deck so the ends don't absorb moisture from the slab.

   Hope this is the kind of information you were looking for.

    

   -Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

1. 
   highfigh | Dec 20, 2004 06:17am | #3

   Good point about keeping it off of the concrete. I kind of assumed it would be raised, but not everyone can afford the loss of height. With a hip roof or the low end of a shed roof, height is a premium. I think I'm going to put the supports on the rear wall so I can stack it horizontally down to about 5" from the floor. Then, I can slide my sheet goods in below. That leaves me 4' to stack lumber.
   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

1. 
   wood_newbie | Dec 21, 2004 05:43pm | #4

   Hello folks,

   I have a newbie question for you on the hoizontal storage. Do I understand that even in my rack I still need to sticker the boards?

    

   Thanks

1. 
   jazzdogg | Dec 21, 2004 09:19pm | #5

   "Do I understand that even in my rack I still need to sticker the boards?"

   Newbie,

   You don't have to do anything you don't want to do ; - )

   Left unasked in the previous post was "what is the moisture content of the boards you're going to store?" If the boards have a moisture content much above 12 percent, I'd sticker them so they'd all have a fair chance to reach equilibrium moisture content with the least possible distortion and end-checking.

   It goes without saying that if you are storing your boards horizontally, they must be well supported to prevent sagging and distortion. If you were to construct some solid shelves upon which you could store your boards, unstickered and lying flat, all of the boards would have their tops and bottoms in contact with an adjacent board or the shelf - except the top board: it would be in contact with another board below, and be open to the air above. The top board would be more likely to warp because it would absorb and release moisture at a far more rapid rate from its top than from its bottom: the situation is far worse when boards are lying flat on concrete or dirt  I would be careful not to have a relatively soggy board in direct contact with a piece of well-dried lumber.

   There are several other points worth discussing, but I haven't the time to go into detail here and now.

   Good luck,

   -Jazzdogg-

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.

   Edited 12/21/2004 1:22 pm ET by jazzdogg

1. 
   ings | Dec 23, 2004 06:36pm | #6

   Thanks for your input- for decades I've been buying hardwoods off horizontally stored racks, and they seem fine and straight. Most material we get these days is sufficiently kiln dried, so I'll keep storing 'em flat.

   Ings