Drying wood at a lumber yard
When drying wood in a lumber yard, the lumber must be stored in a logging site. This place requires shelter from rain so the trees are covered from above and below. They need to be stored high enough so they are not in contact with any moisture from the ground. The drying process takes from 3 to 9 months, depending on the starting point – wood dries well during spring and summer, this means that lumber that was sawed during autumn will be dry at spring.
The lumber from a lumberyard will air dry to a point where it is still too high in moisture for carpenters to use, yet. The moisture, at it’s lowest is roughly 13-15%. More commonly though the moisture is around 15-25%. The lumber must then be dried in a drier until the moisture goes down to 6-8%.
Back in the old days the last drying process was done by keeping the lumber indoors for a very long time, until it was dry enough for use.
The quality of the lumber at a lumberyard varies due to the changes in weather. Both the burning sun and the colder rain can have an effect on the wood. The benefit of lumberyard drying is the low costs.
