# How Do You Stack Lumber?



## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

How do you stack lumber? Horizontally? Vertically?

Why?


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## Chemie555 (Aug 14, 2014)

Horizontally, supported by edge framed melamine (3/4 in). I band (using shipping shrink wrap) wood bought from the same source at the same time and mark the shrink wrap with its information. I do it this way because it gets more wood out of the way, no sag.


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## AZWoody (Jan 18, 2015)

Horizontally, and stickers if it's drying and then once it's stabilized, I store it vertically. I have a lot of large slabs and vertical makes it a lot easier to sort through and pick what I'm looking for as I'm doing different projects.

I do have a couple Portamate racks that I store wood that I buy in stores horizontal but that's only a small portion of my inventory.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

Horizontally. Because the ceilings in my garage are less than 8ft tall.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

All stacked and stickered horizontal for drying in the processing area. Even in the shop is horizontal storage.


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## MadJester (Sep 30, 2011)

Mine is usually on a pile on the floor, leaning in a corner, hanging from the rafters and stuffed into shelves…I even have some stored under the floorboards (no joke…UNDER the building…it's dry down there…)......when looking for a piece, the curse words float in the air like a bad cartoon…..nothing is organized…..not a thing…..


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

Flat (and stickered if not fully dry) and out of the weather. I would love to store vertically if I had the ceiling height.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Stacked and stickered for air drying and kiln drying, then I move it to a vertical lumber rack.

With horizontal lumber racks you will always need the board on the bottom. Not good.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

All my rough lumber is air-dried completely by the time I get it, so when I bring it home, it goes unstickers into a horizontal pile in the garage. I put several 1" spacers under the bottom layer to keep it off the garage floor. Once I find time, I skip-plane it all, and it goes back in a pile. When I get to the final jointing/planning step, the pieces are typically quite smaller, and I will stack and sticker those pieces for a few days before I continue on with them.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Mine goes wherever I can find a spot to stash it…...usually I don't have much more than a project's worth of boards.


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## firefighterontheside (Apr 26, 2013)

Most that I have stored in my shop is stored horizontally on a rack up high, because that's where I have room. Vertically would take up wall space that I can't give up. While drying, my other stuff is stacked and stickered in a barn loft with ratchet straps around it. I think everybody's got at least a little bit of what Sue's got going on.


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Cricket,

Wherever I can? LOL!

Both horizontal and vertical, lining the walls of rooms in my shop.

Current rough cut lumber is less than 6 feet and stacked near my jointer and table saw.

Always in the way? LOL!


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## CFrye (May 13, 2013)

Just reorganized the horizontal shelving to decrease/eliminate the board-on-the-bottom issue. We were given a bunch of trim (cherry, poplar, oak, mdo) by another woodworker that was cleaning shop (thanks, Andy!). Initially, had it on a few deep and wide shelves, now it is on multiple shallow (depth and height) shelves. Short stuff is still stacked on deep/wide shelves… it's a work in process.


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

Horizontally in the loft of my shop. Why? There's not enough room anywhere else. Shorter offcuts that are still usable are in horizontal gridwork between ceiling joists-out of the way, yet easily visible and accessible.


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## diverlloyd (Apr 25, 2013)

My shop is a wreck but I have about a ton of wood laying around stacked up on a shelving unit. And under one of my benches


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## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

Horizontally because that's my favorite position


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Stickered and horizontal for the most part. Have some shorter stuff vertical. Then there's a batch of walnut stickered and covered out side. Then there's another batch of 8/4 White oak that, if Sue came over to my shop, she'd feel right at home. Dang stuff is 8/4X 12"+ and 10' -12' long. Too heavy for me to lift to my racks, so it's on the floor of the shop. I just whack off a chunk as needed.


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## greasemonkeyredneck (Aug 14, 2010)

EVERYWHERE!!!
I do mean everywhere. 
I have a wood hoarding problem. 
Ask anyone who attending our recent Lumberjock event at my place. If there is a nook or cranny in my shop, you can bet I have wood or some other material source stuffing it to the brim.


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## MLWilson (Jun 28, 2015)

It's too bad we need wood for what we do. It's so inconvenient.
HEY! I just invented something, and, I'm writing down, publicly, so I can be the one who gets rich off of it.
*A 3-D PRINTER THAT MAKES WOOD.*


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## doubleDD (Oct 21, 2012)

If it is wet, horizontally and stickered, dry wood vertically.


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## JoeLyddon (Apr 22, 2007)

Both Horiz. & Vert. in garage/shop & even some in Pick-up camper shell!

Whatever is easiest at the time!

I think Vertical is the best… if I could do it more, I would… Space dictates which one…


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

well it looks like gary likes his horizontal and joe, well he is a beast , he does it almost everywhere, i bet the pick up camper is a good place.


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## splatman (Jul 27, 2014)

In sheds, under sheds, in my Mom's garage, in an unused bedroom in her house, in my house, under my house, on pallets under tarps, under a canopy (canvas-covered steel frame, ~10'x18'), and under a purpose-built roof. If I had a camper sitting around, that would get used, too.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

more or less haphazardly.


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## boxcarmarty (Dec 9, 2011)

I usually stack mine in the way…..


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

Always horizontally In the vertical position, unless it is exactly vertical, some weight will be bearing to one side and cause it to bend over time.!


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## Tugboater78 (May 26, 2012)

Every which way but loose….


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## CFrye (May 13, 2013)

> I usually stack mine in the way…..
> 
> - boxcarmarty


Mudflap will vouch for that!


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## SawyerRob (Feb 8, 2016)

Well, here's my stack of walnut,










This is all cherry,










White Pine,










Here, I'm building a stack of "quarter sawn" red oak,










Hickory,










Well, you get the idea… lol

SR


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Horizontal because Bob Segar says, "Everybody wants ta do the horizontal bop"... LOL


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## toeachhisown (Eddie) (Mar 30, 2011)

> Mine is usually on a pile on the floor, leaning in a corner, hanging from the rafters and stuffed into shelves…I even have some stored under the floorboards (no joke…UNDER the building…it s dry down there…)......when looking for a piece, the curse words float in the air like a bad cartoon…..nothing is organized…..not a thing…..
> 
> - MadJester


 pretty much sums mine up too.


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## toeachhisown (Eddie) (Mar 30, 2011)

Good one Roger LOL


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## devann (Jan 11, 2011)

It depends of the type of wood. Generally I stack lumber horizontally. Sheet goods, plywood, osb, mdf, Masonite, etc I store vertically against a wall indoors. It's easier to get the one sheet I want that way.
hardwoods & softwood that I don't want turning gray








seasoned barn wood, cedar, and redwood, pressure treated.








walnut. 









Wood stored vertically literally has to be vertical, plumb, straight up and down. If it's stored in a leaning position it bends under it's on weight if not supported in some manner.

Store metal: horizontal;


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## pirate (Sep 4, 2009)

> How do you stack lumber? Horizontally? Vertically?
> Why?
> - Cricket


I have a small shop and decided to stack on edge. It works great. Imagine being to pull any single board out to view or use, without moving other boards. One end of the rack is at one of the barn doors, for easy loading, right from the truck.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

In my barn I have long term storage of about 3,000 bf of cherry, walnut, poplar, white oak and english walnut that is all stickered and on large shelves. In the shop I have about 500 bf of exotics and highly figured stuff above the art room laying down. In the back 40 of the shop and around the corner to the bench I have about 300 bf that is standing so I can pick thru it easier. This is all wood that will be used in current projects. Now you know


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

well i think sawyerRob got a bit confused and instead of how to stack your wood, he went right into WOOD GLOAT stacking, ive done this before myself, so im not throwing any stones, im just agreeing with rob and hope his stacking continues to grow in its height so he can use it for props for the next wood stacking post, i hope this information has helped you out CRICKET…..


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## ScottM (Jul 10, 2012)

Stack? Lumber???


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