Wood Storage

[MarkSLSmith]

Friends, 

I just acquired a new attic, courtesy of my newly built carport.  In my never ending search for more lumber storage space, I'm contemplating storing some lumber in it.  In the Houston area, the temperature in this attic could get pretty hot in the summer.  Has anyone stored lumber under these conditions?  Is there such a thing as too hot for lumber?  According to my sources, wood slowly chars at 240F and is not likely to ignite until about 380F.  So the wood would be nowhere near those temps.  I'm wondering about checking, case-hardening, or any similar phenomenon.  

I'm not worried about weight, the builder did a good job, the joists are 2x12's on 16" centers.  I'm not talking about massive quantities of wood.  I'd like to get rid of a pile of boards in the middle of the garage floor that maybe holds 300 bd ft.  This wood has already been drying for 2 years.  

I've downloaded official looking reports on this subject.  However, they mainly address the pros and cons of indoor vs outdoor, roof vs no roof, etc.  Most of the temperature discussion was about how cold it could be, not how hot.  

Mark

[ianab]

As long as the wood you put in there is already dry you wont harm it. The wood that the attic is made from is fine right?

You may find it dries slightly more due to the low humidity in the attic space.

Case hardening and surface checking happens when you try and dry green wood too fast. The outside dries and shrinks before the water can escape the core of board, and that causes all sorts of problems. So if you end up with green boards at any time, dry it outside for a few months first, then once air dry it should be safe to store in a attic.

[Steve N]

If you use 3/4" T&G plywood over the trusses/joists you will substantially increase your load bearing capacity. Even still with 300 bd/ft that could weigh a few pounds. Think of it in a practical way..........

New house 80 to ? Thousand dollars.

A 12 x 8 storage shed out back 1300 bux if you build it yourself.

I did home repair and improvements for a lot of years, you just can't imagine the stuff that went sideways on folks, and they wished they had never done something. Without knowing more about the homes structure, it's design, and a lot more about load bearing walls, etc etc I wouldn't chance it, with a pretty cheap permanent solution available. If you had a design architect look at it, and it drew an OK from local zoning, sure. The very first person I would ask is your insurance Agent, will you be covered if it goes South. It is your #1 investment if you are the average American.

[FloridaRetiree]

As long as the wood you put in there is already dry you wont harm it. The wood that the attic is made from is fine right?

You may find it dries slightly more due to the low humidity in the attic space.

Case hardening and surface checking happens when you try and dry green wood too fast. The outside dries and shrinks before the water can escape the core of board, and that causes all sorts of problems. So if you end up with green boards at any time, dry it outside for a few months first, then once air dry it should be safe to store in a attic.

What he said!

[WoodworkerTom]

What is the span of the 2x12? If over 16ft I would stack the wood in the end 1/3 of each side and keep the load off the middle 1/3 and not move all 300 bd/ft up there.

[Stwood_]

Years ago I stored lots of walnut in an attic. Never had a problem with it drying that way.