My backyard shed frame went wonky after 2 days of rain last month

I built this 8x10 shed frame in my backyard in Portland, level and square when I set it. Then two days of nonstop rain hit and the whole thing twisted about an inch out of square. Anyone else have lumber warp that fast on a fresh build?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_henderson15d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, a two-day rainstorm doing that to a fresh frame is wild. I've built plenty of sheds around here in the Pacific Northwest and even with our wet weather, I've never seen lumber twist a full inch out of square that fast. Ngl, it sounds like you might have gotten a bad batch of lumber, or maybe it was stored wrong at the lumber yard before you bought it. Tbh, if the wood was already damp inside, that quick moisture swing in Portland could really make it go nuts. I'd check the moisture content of the studs with a cheap meter, because that kind of warping in two days is not normal at all.

angela_wilson7815d ago

That lumber was probably already wet when you bought it man. Kiln dried stuff shouldn't twist that fast. Bet the yard stored it outside or left it sitting on a damp pallet. Portland rain is brutal but not that brutal unless the wood was already soaked through. Check the moisture meter if you got one.

miller.susan15d ago

Buddy of mine bought a whole pallet of 2x4s from a big box store last spring. Stored them in his garage three weeks before starting a deck. Half of them looked like potato chips when he ripped the plastic off. Meter read 19% moisture right there in the middle. Yard had them sitting on a concrete slab with no tarp.