kaip11•8d ago

I keep seeing people skip the moisture check on reclaimed wood and it's going to cost them.

Had a client bring in a beautiful old barn beam last month, wanted it as a mantel. I told them it needed to sit in my shop for a few weeks to acclimate. They pushed back, said it had been in a dry barn for years. I stuck my meter in it anyway, and it read 18%. That's way too high for interior work. Everyone seems to think old equals dry, but if it's been outside or in an unheated space, it's still holding moisture. If you build with it right away, you're asking for splits and gaps in six months. Does anyone else run into this, or am I just being too careful?

2 comments

2 Comments

tarac168d ago

What about kiln drying it first?

uma_baker887d ago

Honestly, is that step even needed? It sounds like a lot of extra work for a problem that might not even be that big. I've done plenty of projects with air-dried wood and never had an issue. Sometimes these forums make things seem way more serious than they are in real life.