Building With Green Lumber

[DoggyDaddy]

So, I've been watching "Homestead Rescue" on Discovery. I've seen them cut down live trees, mill lumber and then build structures with the green lumber. How does that work? Seems to me it would warp all to hell like it did when they did it at Kettle Falls Hotel up on the Minnesota/Canada border. When we used to go there, the entire hotel was "warped" because it was built with green lumber.

https://www.kettlefallshotel.com/_files/ugd/61fd25_9ca2c1359b8f451eb36e469f0a8ba830.pdf

 

[Shadow01]

Yep. It’s a show. They have no obligation to the owners after the episode is over.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Yep. It’s a show. They have no obligation to the owners after the episode is over.

It's funny you said that. The episode I'm watching now has people from previous "rescues" helping out. But yeah, I do know what you mean. Some of the "costs" they claim definitely don't include the heavy equipment or additional off-camera build crews. They want you to think that it's just Marty and his son and daughter doing all that stuff.

 

[Shadow01]

It's funny you said that. The episode I'm watching now has people from previous "rescues" helping out. But yeah, I do know what you mean. Some of the "costs" they claim definitely don't include the heavy equipment or additional off-camera build crews. They want you to think that it's just Marty and his son and daughter doing all that stuff.

Plenty of homeowners from several home make over shows have lost their homes due to the major increase in value and property taxes being assessed beyond their ability to pay. I remember reading about several families being out in the street and suing the show to no avail.
the show where they always had the large bus in front of the finished home was the one that had the most repossessed properties due to taxes.

 

[Mgderf]

I am constantly fixing some homeowners mistake after they watch some home show on t.v. or YouTube.
"Oh that looks easy. I can do that..." until they run into what happens during the commercials, or between episodes.
More than once, depending on the job, it requires undoing what has been done before it can be done properly.
One nice thing about those folks though, most learn after once or twice.
After that they call us first.

 

[Magyars]

I'd be more worried about shrinking than warping

 

[littletommy]

I have some pine slabs I cut from a downed tree in my yard last summer, some of them have completely split into pieces. I have a few maple slabs from about 5 years ago that are still intact and would be usable if I had a project that required them.

That being said, I’ve wondered the same thing about using green wood.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I mill all my own lumber and have built several buildings, including three houses with green lumber. Understanding how to cut it properly, how lumber will want to move when drying, and adjusting for it, across different species, is all part of the art. Is it as easy as easy as building with kiln, dried lumber, no. Is it very possible, yes. can I explain it to you in a couple of paragraphs in an Internet posting, no.

 

[dieselrealtor]

Seems that I heard in CE (continuing education) classes some years ago about some builders that had some mold issues caused by lumber being too green or wet, quickly covered & sealed in the walls.

Then again, some things I have heard in CE are completely stupid. I can't remember if they cited sources or if it was just text.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I mill all my own lumber and have built several buildings, including three houses with green lumber. Understanding how to cut it properly, how lumber will want to move when drying, and adjusting for it, across different species, is all part of the art. Is it as easy as easy as building with kiln, dried lumber, no. Is it very possible, yes. can I explain it to you in a couple of paragraphs in an Internet posting, no.

I remember when I was a kid, talking to a friend's grampa out in one of their big old barns. He told me that most barns had been built with green wood that was cut and milled, either on the property, or from a nearby farm. He said those men knew how to put up a post-and-beam structure with green wood that would actually get tighter as it slowly dried.

One of their barns was a huge grainery barn that had rows of big wooden bins and wooden chutes with iron chains and wooden paddles to move the grain. That barn was torn down, I think, in the 1980s. It's a real shame to think of all the barns, big and small, that I used to see out the window of the school bus as we bumped along the county roads, and most of them are long gone now.