Drying Red/Pin oak flooring

[willmyers0169]

i am planning on milling my flooring for my house that has just begun construction, my question is how long should i air dry the oak before putting it in the kiln (which i havent built yet either). and what is the ideal way to air dry oak to reduce checking and warping? i am planning on cutting them 1 1/2" x4-6 to allow for planing and TG.

thanks

Will

[WDH]

Air dry it as long as you can.  Air drying creates a day/night cycle where the wood dries during the day when the humidity is lower, then at night, as the humidity rises, the wood has time to come to equilibrium between the shell and the core, which creates gentler drying, which oak needs. 

The best way to air dry to prevent checking and cracking is to make sure that direct sunlight does not hit the stack, make sure that the stack is protected from rain, and put the stack in a place where there it is not exposed directly to the prevailing winds.  Dry wind can cause the oak to dry too fast resulting in checking, cracking, splitting, and honeycomb.  Slow is good with oak. 

If you dry some woods too slow, you get gray stain, mold, mildew, and sticker stain.  Fortunately, that is not a problem with oak.  It is easy to dry without these problems so you can dry it slow.  Use 3/4" thick stickers rather than 1" stickers.  I like a 5' wide stack with oak whereas with most other woods, I only make 4' stacks.  The 5' stack slows the drying just a bit, so that helps too. 

[red oaks lumber]

why are you cutting the lumber that thick? are you making a 3/4 " floor? if so, saw the lumber at 1 1/8" thick.
i'm not familiar with your climate but, going into summer with higher humidity i wouldn't worry about air drying to fast. if you could a.d. for 60 days then in the kiln should be ok, or have the lumber come out of the kiln within 2 weeks of needing to install as to not pick up alot of humid air. those are my thoughts for today

[willmyers0169]

thanks guys i really appreciate the great info. 

why are you cutting the lumber that thick? are you making a 3/4 " floor? if so, saw the lumber at 1 1/8" thick.
i'm not familiar with your climate but, going into summer with higher humidity i wouldn't worry about air drying to fast. if you could a.d. for 60 days then in the kiln should be ok, or have the lumber come out of the kiln within 2 weeks of needing to install as to not pick up alot of humid air. those are my thoughts for today

it tends to get very humid here all summer long.  do you recommend final width of 3/4 for oak flooring?
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[red oaks lumber]

standard thickness is 3/4 "

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

The average relative humidity in GA is between 70 to 75% (13% EMC)  all year round outside. In a home, it will be drier...probably closer to 9% EMC summer and 7% EMC winter.  The outside humidity does not vary, summer to winter.

See http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn268.pdf for locations in GA and for other state locations.

It is important to have the correct MC and fastening system if you expect over 2% MC variation.  Generally roughly 2" face width is common for oak, especially southern oaks that tend to move more.

[WDH]

The thicker the lumber, the slower the drying.  6/4 dries much slower than 4/4, so cutting it thick to plane down to 3/4 or 7/8 unnecessarily extends the drying time by a good bit.  I would also saw it at 1 1/8" thick like Steve suggests.  I bet that Steve has cut and dried more flooring than you can shake a stick at (old saying). 

[red oaks lumber]

if the size of your logs allow you to saw 8" boards do that instead of 4". after kiln drying you can rip 2ea.  4" peices that will be straight and takes less time to saw and sticker. 4" hardwood tends to bow and twist alot more than a wider board will.
if your house has central air conditioning, your floor will be fairly stable so, going with a wider floor shouldn't pose any issues.
we have sent alot of 5" cover hardwood floors to a builder on the east coast of georgia, movement hasn't been an issue. some of the first floors have been down for 7 yrs. or so.
in our climate up here spring and fall are fantastic air drying weather (air is warm and dry). there are times i'll stack green hardwood bundles behind drier hardwoods or pine to help slow the drying down alittle bit.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Just remember that southern oaks shrink and swell 25% or more than northern red oak.  So, where a wide piece of northern oak may be ok, a wide southern oak is asking for trouble.

[red oaks lumber]

what makes it react so much more?

[WDH]

Maybe it is more lively because of the climate  .  Harder to dry, too. 

I expect that it has to do with the faster growth rate, and the proportions of the different type of cells that the tree uses to function. 

[red oaks lumber]

is that only for s.oak or do most  s.hardwoods react the same?

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Mainly oaks as there are different species of oak that grow in warmer, wetter sites.  Plus growth rate, as mentioned.

[WDH]

There are only a handful of oaks in the North.  In Georgia and the Southeast there are 50.  Some make poor lumber. 

[OneWithWood]

Some may make poor lumber but I hear the sawdust is a fair replacement for grrits!  smiley_devilish

[red oaks lumber]

 :D :D :D

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

One of the more common ways to divide the oak is to use four groups
  red upland, red lowland, white upland and white lowland.  The separation between upland and lowland is that lowland has growth rings 1/4" or more in width (viewed from the end grain).  This grouping is useful in that processing characteristics, especially drying, are different between the four.  Here are common species that are made into lumber, but there are at least 20 commercial red and 20 commercial white, so only the main ones are listed here.  Appreciate that these are common names which can vary regionally.  Often lowland is called "southern oak." But note that some upland species do grow in the South, so "Southern oak" is not the best name to use for someone drying lumber...so, always look at the growth rate.

Red upland species include black, blackjack, cherrybark, northern pin, northern red, pin, scarlet, Schumard and southern red oak

Red Lowland species cherrybark, laurel, nuttall, Schumard, water and willow oak

White upland species include bur, chestnut, chinkapin, post, swamp white, white oak

White lowland (seldom sawn into lumber as processing is extremely difficult) include overcup and swamp chestnut oak.

[willmyers0169]

thanks guys for all the helpful info. hopefully i will begin sawing some logs this weekend. gonna be my first attempt at quarter sawing.

Will

[GAmillworker]

How did your sawing go?

Do you have any pics?

[dean herring]

I just cut some pin oaks to srart on my kiln. Going to be a while but as long as I can see. Progress  I am ok.does pin oak make good lumber.

[WDH]

What people call pin oak in LA is not really pin oak, Quercus palustris.  What folks down there call pin oak is actually water oak, willow oak, or laurel oak.  I have seen some magnificent specimens of those species, but generally in the lowlands, the quality is fair to poor.  Lots of small knots, and many times the wood is stained by bacterial infection and the heartwood is more brown than pinkish or red.  People who like pink colored red oak don't like the black stains. 

Here is laurel oak with bacterial stains.  Going at the edge of a swamp.



 

The rose color did not survive the drying process. 

[grweldon]

When you say "LA" you are talking about Lower Alabama, right?  I'm quite sure I have pin oak growing on my property 30 miles west of Montgomery!   ;D