The strength, durability and ease of processing of wood depend on the level of moisture in the fibers. The characteristics of raw materials are equally negatively affected by both excess and deficiency of moisture. In this review I will tell you in detail how to properly dry the boards.
How to dry a log at home?
For better ventilation, spacers are placed between the layers of boards, the outer ones are placed flush with the ends. The wood is covered with boards or a canopy on top to protect it from the sun and precipitation. If you dry
If you need
logs
, it is recommended to leave the bark on them, since it is the bark that best preserves the trunk from cracking.
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Why is drying necessary?
Depending on the species, after sawmilling, the wood remains from 30 to 60% moisture. Wood, like a sponge, absorbs moisture from the environment. When stored in a wet room, the material swells from excess liquid and increases in size; when stored in a dry room, it dries out and shrinks.
Drying is an essential step in wood processing. The process prevents rotting and the appearance of fungi in tissues (blackening). A dry board will last much longer than its wet counterparts. The structures do not deform or crack during operation.
Source twitter.com
The permissible parameter during construction and finishing varies between 9-16%. Excess moisture from lumber is removed by evaporation. When kept indoors or outdoors, liquid gradually disappears from the raw material. The boards cyclically give and take away moisture from the external environment. Understanding how to properly dry wood, it is easy to bring the workpiece to the desired condition.
Source plotnik.com.ua
How long does it take to dry?
The degree of drying on an industrial scale is checked using a device (electric moisture meter). At home, the completion of the process is determined by squeezing the shavings in a fist. Several thin layers are removed from the material. If the tester is cracked, then the raw material is ready.
The rate of moisture evaporation depends on the technology used, the type of wood and weather conditions. Understanding how long it takes for a 50 mm board to dry, you can choose the optimal method. In summer, with moderate humidity, deciduous species grow naturally in 2.5 weeks. In spring and autumn, fifty is dried for 40-60 days.
Source gbbrfcu.org
Hardwood takes a very long time to dry in the open air - from 1 to 3 years. To speed up the process, I recommend using a camera. Boards up to 50 mm thick are ready in 50-60 days. It is worth adjusting the operation, otherwise the valuable material will crack and deform.
Choosing a tree
Before starting work on laying floorboards, you need to take care of choosing suitable wood. Moreover, it should not only be attractive in appearance and suitable for the price, but also meet the necessary operational requirements.
These requirements include:
- expected load;
- the purpose and characteristics of the room in which the flooring is planned;
- temperature and humidity conditions of the room.
For small rooms, it is preferable to choose coniferous wood: spruce, pine, cedar, fir or larch. Conifers have high strength and wear resistance, and these qualities are successfully combined with an affordable price.
Excellent flooring is also made from oak, aspen and alder wood. Oak is very popular due to its resistance to all kinds of negative influences. Alder and aspen captivate with their eye-pleasing shades and beautiful texture. Mahogany wood floors look great, but due to their high cost, they are used mainly for decorating luxury rooms.
It doesn’t matter whether the floorboard is purchased or prepared independently, the most important condition for putting it into operation is proper drying.
Popular methods
Obtaining a strong, durable material is the main task of evaporating moisture from wood. There is no universal drying method that suits absolutely everyone. For convenience, I combined all known methods into 3 groups.
Folk
Drying boards at home is done using old-fashioned methods. I harvest timber using evaporation technology. I immerse the material in a tank with hot liquid. I heat the water to 70 C, sprinkle sawdust on top. Pros of the procedure:
- the raw material does not crack;
- wood acquires elasticity and density.
During drying in a liquid environment, the performer will have to constantly monitor the process, which is not always convenient. I recommend waxing a small number of boards. I send the blanks into a molten substance heated to + 40 C. After a few hours, the wood dries and acquires a beautiful dark shade. In the future, the material will not warp and retain its quality under temperature changes.
In spring, I advise you to use the standing drying method. I remove a wide ring from the tree bark. Due to the wound, moisture stops flowing to the trunk, so the specimen dries out. The process is accelerated by foliage, which draws liquid from the plant. In autumn the element is ready for sawing.
Source zen.yandex.com
With small volumes of raw materials, the question arises of how to quickly dry the boards. I wrap the material in 10 layers of newsprint, with polyethylene on top, in which I punch holes for ventilation. I put the wood on a warm radiator under the windowsill. I change the cellulose 4-5 times during the day. Moisture evaporates in 4 days from a structure up to 30 mm thick. The only negative is surface warping.
Natural
If you don’t know how to dry boards, I recommend starting with technologies that work according to a natural principle. The method is suitable for preparing large volumes of raw materials. I stack the wood in stacks and place it in an open and well-ventilated area. To prevent the tree from drawing moisture from the soil, I cover the prepared area with roofing felt.
Humidity evaporates in vertical and horizontal directions. External factors influence the drying speed:
- location of the site;
- climatic features of the region;
- parameters above sea level;
- weather and temperature.
The width of the stack is 80-120 cm. The height of the structure does not affect the evaporation rate. If the structure is assembled more tightly, the boards will take a long time to dry. I advise you to lay the material on a stand, leaving a gap of 50-60 cm as ventilated gaps. A beam can be used as a support.
Source tvoya-banya.ru
According to the technology, moisture evaporates very quickly. In summer, the raw material dries within 1-1.5 months. Understanding how to dry boards at home, you need to know about the disadvantages of the method. Lumber may become warped. To prevent this problem, I tie the assembled stack vertically with a rubber band and place a weight on top.
When drying in the open air, the structure must be protected from precipitation, especially from slanting rain. For convenience, I advise you to build a canopy with a roof around the structure. I lay sheet metal overlapping the roof, leaving space around the perimeter for a canopy. To prevent the surface from warping from metal heated in the sun, I create a ventilation gap of 10-15 cm.
Source promlesexport.com.ua
Artificial
Knowing how long it takes for a board to dry under natural humidity, I turn to modern methods. It is rational to dry lumber in a special chamber. Accelerated technologies are appropriate on an industrial scale, although you can set up a mini-workshop for harvesting at home on your site.
Boards in stacks are installed in drying equipment. According to the rotational method, moisture evaporation occurs under the influence of centrifugal force. Warm air circulates in the chamber or heated room, removing fluid from the tissues.
Convection dryers evaporate moisture when the gas is heated. The hot substance displaces moisture from the fibers, and the excess is sucked out of the chamber. The low-maintenance technology is suitable for both industrial scale and small-scale production.
Source wellons.com
When working with expensive wood, the vacuum method is appropriate. The processes take place at moderate temperatures (up to +65 C). Under pressure, boiling occurs inside, drying out the material. Due to the lack of tension, there is no fear of deformation and cracking.
With the conductive (contact) method, a press is used. The boards are pressed between hot plates. When using the technology, there is no need for fans, a humidification system or thermometers, which saves electricity. The evaporation process occurs gently, without high temperatures, so the raw material is not deformed.
Professional drying in a liquid medium is reminiscent of the old-fashioned method in paraffin. Hydrophobic compounds and solutions with salt act as a drying agent. After immersing the lumber, the moisture is brought to a boil. In the drying chamber, the raw materials reach condition within 20 hours.
Source 90zavod.ru
Why do all builders drown for dry boards?
Because she is like air to them. Saves time, which for them is money:
- Ideal sizes mean saving time. There is no need to align or adjust anything. Everything is immediately ideal.
- We quickly assemble the frame, insulate it, cover it and run to the next object. This won't work with moisture. More on this below.
- The supplier gives a discounted price. Nothing prevents the company from showing you this discount and earning an extra 20-30,000 rubles. One step at a time, as they say.
- If a company gives a guarantee on a house, then it doesn’t want to take risks and sort out problems later at its own expense.
Professionals have a main argument. And they are 100% right. A dry calibrated board keeps all joints as tight and strong as they were when assembling the frame. When wet, when dry, it will give gaps of 1,2,3 mm where there were none during assembly.
What is needed for the process
To obtain high-quality products, be sure to use well-dried material. Raw wood does not sand well; paint and varnish quickly become cracked. Drying boards is an important stage in the preparation of lumber.
There are several options for naturally drying wood with your own hands. The methods describe how to properly dry the boards to rid the wood of excess moisture. In addition to lumber, you also need to have auxiliary means:
- roofing felt;
- tin;
- bars;
- paper;
- film;
- dye.
How to dry pine boards correctly?
Drying lumber outside should only be done in the shade and under a canopy. If drying is done in the sun, the outer surface of the boards dries out, while the inner surface remains wet.
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Know-how - preparation using infrared light
Oak lumber after infrared exposure has the following characteristics:
- Has a specified humidity.
- The fibers do not deform, so there is no internal stress or microcracks.
- Externally, oak remains natural (color and shape do not change), as during atmospheric drying.
The rules for using an infrared battery are simple and the operator does not need to have any skills or experience. The battery is connected to a simple single-phase outlet and current consumption is minimal. To dry 1 cube of oak you will need 200–350 kW.
Humidity is checked during infrared exposure with a hand-held moisture meter. As soon as the indicators meet the set objectives, the dryer turns off. Immediately after the process, the dried lumber can be used in work. The process is shown in more detail in the video:
Since oak is capricious and does not react well to temperature changes, the optimal drying methods are natural or infrared. They are suitable for home use and do not require any special preparation. In large industries, chamber drying or vacuum preservation is used. Which significantly reduces time and extends shelf life.
