Warped deck boards cost me a whole weekend in Tacoma

Bought 40 cedar boards from a big box store last Thursday. Stacked them flat in my garage like normal. By Saturday morning, 12 of them had cupped so bad I couldn't run them through the planer. Ended up ripping out and re-ripping every single one. That lumber yard run ate 2 hours of my day. Anyone else dealing with this moisture problem lately, or is it just the Pacific Northwest this time of year?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael_coleman1016d ago

That flat stacking in the garage is exactly where the trouble starts, you hit it on the head. Cedar sucks up moisture from the concrete slab and the air, especially this time of year when the ground is still cold but the days are warmer. I learned the hard way that you have to sticker the boards off the floor with some scrap 2x4s and keep a fan running on them. In Tacoma you're basically fighting the humidity no matter what, so even a couple hours can warp a fresh stack. Sucks about the weekend though, I've been there with a whole deck rebuild that turned into two trips to the mill.

the_jessica16d ago

Sticker those boards and get them off the floor, for sure. Even better, stack them on the sunny side of the garage with the door cracked if you can. That concrete slab is basically a sponge this time of year, pulling cold moisture right up into the bottom row. I started buying my cedar from a local mill that air dries everything, and it costs a bit more but saves me the headache of playing lumber roulette. Those big box stores keep their stock outside under tarps half the time, so you're already starting with wet wood before it even hits your garage.