Roof Your Lumber and Increase Your Profits

This study was designed to investigate the influence of pile roofs on lumber degrade and uniformity of drying 4/4 red oak lumber during wet and dry seasons in southern Illinois. Within the limitations and scope of this study, the following conclusions were drawn from the results obtained: 1) Little degrade develops in roofed piles during air drying. Conversely, most boards in the top three tiers of non-roofed piles may be expected to drop one or more grades. Severe surface checking–major seasoning defect–can be greatly reduced by the use of pile roofs. 2) Lumber in roofed piles dries at a more uniform rate, and apparently faster than that in non-roofed piles. 3) A pile roof costing $25.00 can be expected to pay for itself after five 90-day drying periods when used to cover a 6- by 12-foot pile of 4/4–inch No. 1 Common and Better lumber. Assuming such a roof can be used five years, it will earn a net profit of $4.50 to $5.00 per air-drying period in terms of high quality and more uniformly dried lumber. 4) A $25.00 pile roof can be expected to pay for itself after thirteen 90-day periods on a 6- by 12-foot pile of 4/4-inch No. 2 Common and No. 3A Common lumber. If used for five years to cover these grades, it would net $.75 to $1.00 per drying period.

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