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Generally, once the wood is
sawn it must be dried.
It is possible to use undried
wood in some construction, but
only keeping in mind a 7%
shrinkage in width and height.
While most wood shrinks some
0.4% in length, this amount can
usually be ignored. In order to
avoid rot, you should not
enclose undried wood in a way
that makes it hard for air to
circulate. One further tip is not
to drive two nails into undried
wood next to each other as the
board will probably crack in the
middle when it dries out. Drive
one nail and wait with the
second until the wood has dried.
One example when you ought to
use undried wood is building log
structures. In such a situation, a
heavy wall is a plus, as is the
possibility that the logs still can
be shaped when they are pres-
sed against each other.
Place your first row of boards
on the support logs, leaving
about an inch between them.
Then place a spacer on the
boards above each support log.
It is important to place the
spacers exactly over each other
to keep the boards from warping
or bending.
The higher you pile the boards,
the better pressure there is on
the lower boards. Place roofing
or some material over the top,
but leave the sides and ends
open. Put a weight of some sort
on top of the upper row to put
pressure on those planks as
well.
If the wood is to be used for fine
carpentry it ought to be stored in
a heated facility several weeks
before use or be dried in a kiln
or other kind of wood drier.
In most cases, however, the
wood must be dried. If this is not
done, there is a danger it will be
damaged by dry or fungal rot.
The best time for outdoor drying
is in the spring. At that time the
relative humidity in the air is
comparably low meaning that
the wood will dry quicker.
Cut some supportive blocks
(5x5”) in the length that
corresponds to the width of your
pile. Place these at regular
intervals as shown below on
dry, level ground free of growth.
The spacing should not exceed
1 m (app. 1 yd) and should lie
level and in line with each other.
Cut spacers or drying sticks in
the same length as the
supportive blocks. They should
be the same thickness (1x1” or
1x2”) and dry. You can get
material for these by making an
extra cut when trimming your
boards.
Material drying
