My boss bought cheap lumber from Home Depot last year and 3 jobs warped within 6 months

The studs looked straight going in but by summer they were twisting like crazy on a deck rebuild in Austin. Anybody else dealing with garbage wood from big box stores ruining their finished work?

2 comments

2 Comments

josephf1028d ago

Actually, Home Depot lumber is usually kiln dried which helps with stability, but the main issue is how it's stored (think pallets sitting out in the rain). Big box stores also tend to source from lower grade mills, so you get more of the "reaction wood" that twists up as it dries.

dylan12428d ago

Honestly, I used to think all that "reaction wood" stuff was just wood snobs being picky. I'd grab the straightest boards I could find at Home Depot and think I was good. But ngl, after this post I started paying more attention to the grain and how the wood actually behaves after I bring it home. I've had so many projects warp on me a week later and I always blamed the humidity in my garage. Never even thought about how the wood was stored before I bought it or what mill it came from. Tbh this really opened my eyes about why some of my stuff ends up looking like a potato chip.