You Kiln Guys Got It All Wrong

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Ed and I were watching a "Home Improvement" show this morning. It was chock full of REAL smart folks that have ALL the answers to what material to use for whatever project. Best thing we heard was, " When you choose solid wood for flooring, make sure the moisture content is at 15% or a LITTLE lower. This makes for the best installation and is easy to work with".  

 How come Y'all keep sayin that the wood needs to be around 8% and then acclimated  

[Ianab]

I think it depends where and how your house is built.

If you are living inland in the States with central heating and air-con all year round, wood inside your house is going to settle to around 8%.
If you live in NZ without central heating or air-con wood in the house settles to 12-14%. So I can use 15% timber inside with few problems. Some guy living in Arizona still has a lot of drying to do  

This article has a chart on page 6 that lets you work out what the equlibrium moisture content is for different temps and humidity.
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base_images/zp/equilibrium_moisture_content.pdf

Sitting here now I can see my inside temp is 20C and humidity is 70%. EMC is 12.8 %. This is approx what wood settles to, I've checked with oven dry samples and digital scales.
If I was sitting in a centraly heated house in the US winter, humidity probably 30%?, EMC would be 6.2 %
Your mileage may vary  

Ian

[DanG]

Those home improvement shows are fun, and can be informative. I get a lot of good ideas from them, and learn some techniques, but some of those guys "know" just a little too much to be credible.

[WV_hillbilly]

     Plus those shows give the wives too many ideas . I think it's the big box stores subliminal advertising . They are a sneaky lot .

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Yeah, see, Ole Lan took me a little tooooooo seriously with this post. Hey Lan, Lighten up, Buddy.

 I love when these folks get a project started, and they work themselves into a real problem. Suddenly, "Let's take a break" and when they come back, everything is perfect  

 Y'all ever watch that show where folks trade houses and re-decorate  I think mass murder is in order, sometimes.  No WAY would someone take my place and paint the walls Blue, and Red and hang some of that cloth crap over the winders, like it blew in through the winder and stuck fast.    I guess that's why it's called "Entertainment".  

[Ianab]

 

Merry Christmas* Harold

I might change my name to Lan to Toolman

And I do know what you mean about those 'makeover' shows. Last one I saw this decorator consultant looks at it and says... 'this old wood panelling has to go - we can paint over that with "satin eggshell" and it will look much better'

I turned the TV off about that point, and went to dress some of my Air Dried cypruss to replace some painted wall in my lounge

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Spot on, Mate.

[sawmillsi]

Hi guys

I just recently discovered how much of a load of u know what those home renovation shows are.

We built our mum and dad a gazebo (about 21' x 12' all out of good solid australian hardwood, including australian hardwood shakes that I split) and paved about 150m2 (I think thats about 4200 square feet).

We had licenced builders, roofers and plumers and an experienced paver and it still took us 7 days from dawn to dusk. And boy did we go hard.

I'll find some pics and post them.

I swear I'll never pave again - concrete from here on in!

Si