# Drying wood, Wet from rain



## Kender (Apr 20, 2009)

I picked up a truckload (filled the bed) of wood off cuts from a guy on clist. It is a mix of mahogany, walnut, maple, oak, and poplar. It rained on my way home and has been off and on since last night until now ( about 18 hours), nothing heavy just off and on. I haven't had a chance to empty the truck yet but I did cover it with a tarp when I got to work this morning. I will be unloading it this weekend but when I stack it all up how should I stack it? Since the rain really hasn't saturated the would should I even worry about it or should I stack it like cribbing and get air all around it?

Thanks


----------



## Ghidrah (Mar 2, 2010)

Even if the rain never fell directly on the lumber it has absorbed moisture just from being outside. If you can't get all of it inside whatever stock you intend to use within the next 6 months should be brought inside to a heated and or moisture controlled area.

In any case, my preferred method is to stack or stand, if stacked 3/4" strips between stock layers and spaces between stock pieces to allow for air flow. Mat should be rotated/rolled to flip stock face up to down, at least every 2 weeks again to even out drying.

If stood, spaces between and rolled every 2 weeks. This will help minimize cupping, rolling and checking.


----------



## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Kender said:


> I picked up a truckload of mahogany, walnut, maple, oak, and poplar.......It rained on my way home and has been off and on since last night ...when I stack it all up how should I stack it?....should I even worry about it or should I stack it like cribbing and get air all around it? Thanks


Thats a tough question because if you stacked it somewhat tightly, only the surface pieces will get really wet. I would just space them or crib them for a day or so. A fan blowing across the pile would help. That is all it should take for it to dry. Then stack as you normally would. 
I strip and refinish furniture in addition to everything else I do. After the stripper is applied, I blast it off with a pressure washer and clean water. This gets the cleaning into very tight spots and also neutralizes the chemical. The pieces of furniture look a lot wetter than you would want them to but yet, they dry by themselves in just a few hours at 65* F. I have not yet had any water damage to furniture and dont expect to. It takes A LOT of water over a period of time to soak into previously dried wood.


----------



## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Rain water wet and being green wet are really different breeds of monkey. As long as you dry the wood before it rots or develops mold no big deal. Just remember it will warp and bend easier so stack it where air can get to it but itts supported well.


----------



## Kender (Apr 20, 2009)

It wasn't stacked in the bed, just kinda dumped in, but it is mostly the top pieces that got wet and even those it isn't wet on all sides. A few of the longer pieces (8ft) I pulled out right away to let them dry in the garage and it didn't seem to take long. Thanks for the input.


----------



## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

If that's the case, you should be just fine.


----------

