Storing Large Mahogany Boards

[CharlesinSEA]

I came across a guy on craigslist selling a bunch of large mahogany recently and ended up buying it all (more than he had originally listed in the ad). It had been sitting on a flatbed trailer in a marina parking lot in Vancouver, WA under tarps for at least a decade. Essentially three groups of planks: thick (8/4 and 12/4), plus (5) boards 4/4 x 18in x 18ft and maybe (12) 4/4 x 28in x 13ft. Somewhere around 500bf in total.

So... I have three current options where I store wood: portamate woodracks on the wall in the garage, vertical against a wall in the garage, and vertical or horizontal in an 8'x12' shed out back. None of these options will even remotely fit the above wood.

Currently I've stacked and stickered the wood on the garage floor, but between the length, the width, the differing sizes requiring two different stacks, and the fact that at least some of this wood won't be used for years, this isnt a great solution.

My options now:
- Sell some or all of it off (unlikely, i now have an emotional connection to it that falls just behind my dog, and only a couple steps behind my wife)
- Leave it where it is and deal.
- Build a second (longer) shed. Would need permits etc and would take a while.
- Buy a shipping container. (No good place to put it, and theyre ugly)
- Buy a tarped carport. These range from cheap and likely not to last through a snow to expensive and getting close to a real shed.
- Build a lean-to style wood shed. Living in wet washington this worries me, but the wood was outside (tasked) for a decade and no worse for the wear.
- Store it under an existing deck, which is covered by a roof.
- Store it in my crawlspace (hard to access... Pretty dry. But still a crawlspace).


Am i missing anything? I feel like none of these are great solutions. I've done lots of research but there's very little info on how people store very large boards and much is not applicable to my situation (I.e. vertical storage works great for 4" slabs, but not this wood).

Will post some photos of the wood in a follow up.
Thanks!
-Charles

[CharlesinSEA]

Boards stacked into garage (I was in the process of insulating and putting in walls, so please excuse the mess)

[fredhargis]

What about on of the rental storage garages? No idea what they cost, may not be a helpful suggestion.....I do want to mention how envious I am of your position.

[CharlesinSEA]

And one plank wet down with some solvent. No color added, thats all natural.

[CharlesinSEA]

I did consider a storage place. I wouldnt have an issue with volume, but length. A 20ft long storage unit runs at least a couple hundred a month, which would add up pretty quickly, especially since i cant forsee using up even the majority of this wood in the next 2 or 3 years. I also thought about sending a message out to neighbors seeing if someone has an unused barn loft or something...

[Stwood_]

Seems I would try and get them against a wall, stickered and stacked for now.
Maybe take some 8x16 concrete blocks and put between some of them, as use them as shelving for now.
Keep them that way until you can get another shed up. I would rather invest money in a shed on my property instead of giving it to the storage building people.

[museumguy]

how about this? https://www.harborfreight.com/10-ft-x-17...62860.html

[Duane N]

Seems I would try and get them against a wall, stickered and stacked for now.
Maybe take some 8x16 concrete blocks and put between some of them, as use them as shelving for now.
Keep them that way until you can get another shed up. I would rather invest money in a shed on my property instead of giving it to the storage building people.

This is exactly what I would do even having to get permits.  You never know if you'll come across another deal like this one and will need storage space. Store them in the garage and deal with the city for the permit.

[DFJarvie]

Store the flat with a much support as you can. If you don’t support them there’s a good chance they sag and could twist. Split them up and store them where ever the fit, in the shed, under the deck, etc. if needed cut them up to a more reasonable length. I don’t see anything needing an 18 ft length board but that’s me.

[rick4212]

Looks like the biggest problem is the 18’ boards. I’d cut them down in half or at least to 12’/13’ like the other boards. Never used a board longer than 9’ so (for me) I wouldn’t need them 18’. That way they will be easier to store. Just my .02