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> There's "we bought a sawmill!" ads here in the rural lands now for fresh sawn green pine and oak; which isn't "lumber" yet in any useful sense. I've seen porc
by bcrosby95 5y ago
> There's "we bought a sawmill!" ads here in the rural lands now for fresh sawn green pine and oak; which isn't "lumber" yet in any useful sense. I've seen porches being built that won't last the summer.
I'm curious why this is. Is it the drying stage, or something else?
- alamortsubite 5y agoYes. The wood will twist and bend as it dries.
- monetus 5y ago- Which, for those curious, is the the whole idea behind greenwood carpentry. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_woodworking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_woodworking Its a shame more of that craft isn't going around. Granted, I'm not sure how a greenwood porch would work.
- h2odragon 5y agoGreen white oak, especially, can do some cool stuff. I imagine you could do a porch with lap built and grain matched construction and get a "tensegrity" bonus as stuff dried; but ive never seen that trick done with anything more complicated or smaller than house siding.
- jjeaff 5y agoWouldn't work well at all for any construction that isn't using mortise and tenon or some other type of friction fit construction. Can be disastrous for traditional construction where pieces are butted up together and nailed.
- ArkanExplorer 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_drying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_drying Wood for construction needs to reach an equilibrium moisture point with the outdoor air after its cut. If its dried outside, it takes months to years to dry, depending on the humidity level and temperature. The wood is dried because it makes it lighter, and the shrinkage and swelling has already played out during the drying process... instead of when its in place!
- drewzero1 5y agoYes, wood that is used to build something before it has been dried will warp and curl.
- tastyfreeze 5y agoYou can build out of green lumber. But, as wood dries it will twist, warp, and crack. If you happen to live somewhere humid building with green wood is an invitation for fungal rot. For both durability and square building it is better to dry the wood first.
- silon42 5y agoI'm sure there's plenty of "almost dry" wood in California.
- rootusrootus 5y agoYou can frame up houses, but code usually mandates no more than 15-19% moisture before you can close the walls up, for exactly that reason.