Thread: storing wood

Many years ago I was given advice regarding storage of some timber. Advice which turned out to be total crap because when I was finally able to afford to mill the said timber it was in fact rotten! So my advice to you is take your raw product to the needed level immediately or just a bit bigger than that then coat it with the heaviest wax you can find then store it for a millennium or so to slow down natures moisture exodus giving rise to profound and irreversible cracking.

Good luck Cheers Oddjob1

I never store mine in the weather, always under cover, no direct sun and access to alittle breeze.
Willy

If you can't put it under a roof anywhere you could try storing it like my old man used to - stack a few old bricks at the right spacings to get it off the ground, make a stable stack of the timber with room for air to get between the pieces and then cover the whole thing with some PVC sheeting like they use under concrete slabs - cheap as chips and you can hold it in place with a few strategically placed pieces of ply or similar with a nail through them into your wood. Worked for him in Vic and northern NSW but when I tried it up here it created a sauna and caused some horrible cracking!!!

Cut down a small claret ash 6-8 months ago and painted the ends only - used ordinary water based paint.

Stored outside in the woodpile, in partial shade and not undercover. Just checked it a few days ago, and no checking or cracks whatsoever. I can only assume that the shade/rain has slowed down the rate of drying sufficiently to allow for a controlled seasoning.

Much of it will depend on the your locality and the species, as TTIT has already alluded to. Sealing the ends is just the basics, you also need to keep out of the sun and wind, and ideally a cool spot. I often where I can store it at the back of the garage on the floor as this the coolest spot I have.

With the Sheoak I recently acquired its sealed on all cut areas and wrapped in an old tarp to slow down the drying process as I have had to store it in my tin shed. This should supply a friendly atmosphere with very slow drying as this species is prone to major cracking etc ... well heres hoping

Originally Posted by cava

Cut down a small claret ash 6-8 months ago and painted the ends only - used ordinary water based paint.
Stored outside in the woodpile, in partial shade and not undercover. Just checked it a few days ago, and no checking or cracks whatsoever. I can only assume that the shade/rain has slowed down the rate of drying sufficiently to allow for a controlled seasoning.

Yep - that's what it will be. If you were to cut it down and do what you did just before summer things might be different. It also depends on the type of wood, and location eg middle of the desert versus near the ocean makes a difference.