# Wood storage



## Ohio Ron (Dec 22, 2007)

I see big box stores store their lumber standing up. Our local lumber company stores it laying down. My 87 year old neighbor said to stand it up. I don't claim to know much about storing lumber, but I do find some once in a while and have stored it both ways and never given it much thought. 

If I find some old lumber and want to keep it as good as I can, how do I store it properly?


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## mdlbldrmatt135 (Dec 6, 2006)

flat and weighted down. the box stores only do it for access..... (I worked for HD for 3.5 years) and stacking that stuff Vertically is a DAMN PITA only thing wors is the paneling


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*Lumber Storage*

I forgot to add the photo. Chalk it up to "having a senior moment".
See the next post

Tony B


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*Lumber Storage*

I have always stored my lumber in a vertical position slightly tilted backwards and have never had a problem with it. 
I like it vertical because it's easier to see what i have and to sort through and it also takes up much less space. It is tilted backwards just enough for gravity to hold the wood against the rack so it don't fall out. The easier it is to manage, the less chance of denting and dinging your wood surfaces.
The rack and the framing for the rack is made of 1/2" MDF. I use a similar set-up for my sheet goods such as plywood, MDF and plastic laminate.
The attached photo is for a small rack. When I had a larger commercial shop years ago, I used the same basic set-up but I had movable dividers.

Tony B


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

I've never had a problem storing it either way. "Air drying" it vertically is a different story. That is still in common practice in some parts but it's labor intensive they say since it has to be flipped daily. But in the places where it is common - labor is cheap. 

Wood that is dry, I see no problem with vertical. It has it's advantages IMO.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

The only problem I've had with vertical lumber storage is accidentally knocking it off kilter, and getting the heck outta the way. If space permits, I prefer to store sheet goods flat, and sticker the lumber.


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## johnjf0622 (Feb 8, 2008)

I have always stored wood flat unless the room wasn't there. But the majority of the time it was flat. It also depends how much wood you are looking to store and how long it takes you to go through it as to what way you prefer to store. If you have the wall space you can buy or even build your own rack to lay the boards flat. Gotta agree with cabinetman about the dodging the falling boards when you got alot standing up.


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## autoBrad (May 21, 2008)

Is one way better to prevent the wood from warping?? If you lay it flat, should it be weighted like someone suggested?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Brad, the distinction between lumber needs to be re-emphasized. Most of the posters are using kiln dried and air dried lumber. The movement in those two groups of lumber has pretty much happened with few exceptions. Once most species gets below about 20% very little shrinkage/stress release will occur, relatively speaking. A rough rule of thumb is that once lumber is below 20%MC, for every 4% reduction in MC, there is an overall shrinkage of 1%. This is a *cumulative* value of shrinkage in all 3 directions. There is alot more to it than this but going further might be unecessary, and my memory might help me type something out in left field and someone will call me down on it. :blush:


So the point of all this is what? the wood most of the posters here are stickering and stacking horizontal to prevent warpage is not necessary. Kiln dried lumber may be dead stacked without causing any defects or warpage provided it is not exposed to conditions which induce it, but just sitting there dead stacked, *or* vertically stacked, is A.O.K. Kiln dried lumber does not, as a general rule need to be stickered and weighted as you are wondering. Some may disagree with this. That's cool. Just giving my own experience.

it is a prefernece thing for other reasons though. Cabinetman doesn't prefer that method for practical (for him) reasons which are just at vaild as the reasons I use both methods. But for someone like you, who needs to discover what he does or doesn't like, first you have to find out why one way might not be a good idea and why it might be okay, and I commend you for researching it. Most guys just go about their business and do what they want based on "intuition" or just "Well I like stacking vertically i hope it's okay". 

So there you have it - my opinion. Don't take it as the gospel it sure ain't. But use it as one piece of the wood-stacking puzzle. 

P.S. Just to reiterate - vertical drying, vertical storage, two different animals. vertical drying is not practical for most sawyers except on a small scale, and then i think it is fine as long as they know the guidelines. If you're not confused let me know, I'll try harder next time. :shifty:


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*Vertical Storage question...*

When you guys refer to vertical, are you talking 'true' vertical or are you talking slightly leaning backwards? 
I refer to vertical as slightly leaning backwards and never have been attacked by the wood in 25 years. Gravity prevents that. When the rack is made of sheet stock such as MDF or plywood and tilted backward, all of your lumber is laying flat against it. It cant shift sideways too far if you add dividers/stops. I can check my boards to see what I have a lot faster by moving them over to the side with a lot less effort than wood laying horizontally.
I was just curious about the 'vertical' thing.

Tony B


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

TexasTimbers said:


> Brad, the distinction between lumber needs to be re-emphasized. Most of the posters are using kiln dried and air dried lumber. The movement in those two groups of lumber has pretty much happened with few exceptions. Once most species gets below about 20% very little shrinkage/stress release will occur, relatively speaking. A rough rule of thumb is that once lumber is below 20%MC, for every 4% reduction in MC, there is an overall shrinkage of 1%. This is a *cumulative* value of shrinkage in all 3 directions. There is alot more to it than this but going further might be unecessary, and my memory might help me type something out in left field and someone will call me down on it. :blush:
> 
> 
> So the point of all this is what? the wood most of the posters here are stickering and stacking horizontal to prevent warpage is not necessary. Kiln dried lumber may be dead stacked without causing any defects or warpage provided it is not exposed to conditions which induce it, but just sitting there dead stacked, *or* vertically stacked, is A.O.K. Kiln dried lumber does not, as a general rule need to be stickered and weighted as you are wondering. Some may disagree with this. That's cool. Just giving my own experience.
> ...



My preferences may be unwarranted, but in South Florida it's hit or miss in what happens to "lumber" and sheet goods. We have drastic changes in temperature and humidity on a regular basis. It can be in the 70's in the morning, and up to mid to high 90's in the afternoon. As for humidity it could be 40% and go to 90% range in the same day. With these drastic swings, I try to prevent isolated moisture exposure by stickering. Being "acclimated" to a varying shop environment is a concern.

Then, OTOH, some stacked lumber doesn't show any responses. It's like you said, whatever works for the individual. And I have a theory that wood can have a mind of its own.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

TexasTimbers said:


> . . . . Kiln dried lumber may be dead stacked without causing any defects or warpage * provided it is not exposed to conditions which induce it * . . .


I think we are on the same page cab'man. We have those same drastic widely varied conditions right here in north Texas. We have high humidities most of the time. I'm not in tumble weed Texas. :laughing:

You can't allow kiln dried wood to become exposed to those wide swings or as you say, they can move on you.


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## autoBrad (May 21, 2008)

Thanks for the info guys.. I am definitely one of those guys that over researches everything.. Sounds like I need to do a bit more research.. I am working with 1x4 and 1x6 poplar for trimming out windows and I was working with a piece yesterday and cut it and realized it was pretty warped.. and I don't remember it being that way a couple of weeks ago when I bought it.. Now, I have stored it in my garage laying on two wood brackets I made and put on the side of my garage walls.. to save space, etc and I had all the 1x4's stacked on top of each other I think there were 4.. the one that was warped was like 2nd from the top.. So, would like 1x4 poplar I buy at a local lumber yard be kiln dried?? Or what would your guys guess be?? Most of the time that lumber was hanging in there we were parking cars in and out of the garage and the door was open a lot and left open for periods of time and the garage isn't insulated or heated, etc.. I'm wondering if this is going to create me problems.. ALso, make me wonder if I need a meter to measure the moisture in the material... and to monitor it.. 

I don't mean to hijack the thread, just a noob.. The help is appreciated..


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Tony B said:


> I have always stored my lumber in a vertical position slightly tilted backwards and have never had a problem with it. .....................
> ...................Tony B


 
Tony B I store my plywood in a rack just like yours. They or in a rack, on the 8ft side, in my wood shed. The one pictured as my avitor to the left of this post. I have those metal strips on every stud from floor to ceiling that the shelve arms hook into. I store a lot of moldings, Long narrow boards, and 1x4s and 2x4s on the shelf brackets, so evey thing in there lays flat.


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## mtnjak (Jan 14, 2010)

*Vertical wood storage*

I know this post is 2 years old now but perhaps that's a good thing in this instance. My question is for Tony B. I'm looking at building a wood storage rack in my unfinished garage. I thinking of a vertical rack and I see that you store your wood vertically and was wondering if you still like that method of wood storage? I couldn't quite tell from the photo whether or not your garage is finished. I have bare studs exposed and a typical concrete floor here in Illinois. I know some people are against storing vertically but you said that you haven't had any problems with warping. I mill some of my own lumber with a chainsaw mill but I have a wood drying hut outdoors (typical horizontal stacked and stickered) for most of the drying time before I will bring the lumber inside the garage.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

_I like to lay wet or unseasoned wood flat, and stickered, with a box fan blowing air over it. I have 12 foot ceilings, so once wood is dry I like to stack the shorter pieces vertically for better use of space. Longer pieces I like to put up into racks which are about 7 feet off the floor, and lay it flat. Of course, this doesn't mean I don't still have lumber laying and stacked all over the place, because any chance I get to acquire lumber for cheap or free, you can bet I grab it. Whatever method works best for you is the way to go._


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## scribbles (Mar 2, 2009)

We have both vertical and horizontal lumber racks.

For hardwood, long term storage we have flat racks that nest and we will stack the lumber in them. Very good for stability, no light so it won’t shop rash so fast, and can store a lot of lumber in a confined space. For reference the rack is 3' wide, 10'tall, and 12'deep.

 It is not uncommon to store 1000bf of hardwood on that rack, normally it holds and assortment of everything.

We also have 3 vertical stacking areas, 2.5'wide, we will rack 200-300bf in each bay, this is for what we are working on now, it is easier to sort through a big pile of lumber loose in a vertical rack than stacked on itself, but long term you will see more lumber derogation in the loose racks. 

We have the same for plywood, a rack 6wx4dx10t with 3 bays, will hold bout 50sheets, but long-term over 3-4months the plywood will bow. 


In the flat rack that does not happen. Stays nice and clean and flat. But much harder to sort through. The flat rack is good for 1 bay 1 lumber, so if I have 20sheets of 3/4 Mel it is in one horizontal rack. But you don’t want to dig through an entire pallet for one sheet

Hope that help


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## mtnjak (Jan 14, 2010)

*Vertical wood storage rack UPDATE*

Well, after my research and tip from others I found that everyone is mixed on this issue. So I ended up going with my vertical rack idea. It’s 10-foot long and about 2-foot deep. Not a giant rack but I have a 2-car garage to share with 2 vehicles so I was limited on space. I still need to build a scrap cart and another small rack for smaller stock but the bulk of my lumber is now in the new rack. Also, I plan to build a pull out cart for sheet goods that will nest behind the rack (the 7 degree slope will allow for the nesting space behind). It looks full already but the 4 far left rows of hard maple and walnut as well as the cherry slabs in the middle will disappear this winter when I start building my workbench. Sorry the photos couldn't be any larger. There seems to be a pretty small limitation on file size upload.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

*Vertical wood storage rack UPDATE* 

Looks great! :thumbsup:

I'm thinking of building a vertical rack also.

Do you find the 7 deg. enough for good stabillity?

Could it be less?


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## mtnjak (Jan 14, 2010)

*7 degrees*

Thanks! I think 7 degrees works pretty well. I designed the rack in AutoCAD (as I do all projects) and I wanted to make sure to leave enough room behind it for my plywood storage idea (yet to be built). I design both racks together based on that angle. I suppose it could be a little shallower angle even though when I stand in front of it and pull a board back toward me I don't think I would want it any shallower. Also, the 7 degrees works well with it's location off to the side of the garage which allows enough space to park a vehicle next to it and still have enough room to walk around the vehicle. Also, I designed the height of the platform so that an open car door can swing over the top of the platform if needed.


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## EWerner (Oct 14, 2010)

I like having lumber stacked vertically when beginning a project as it is easier to see each piece. When storing for a long period of time I stack lumber horizontally.


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