HOW TO STORE TIMBER ON SITE?

Storing of Timber on Site

• Store the timbers in stacks upon well treated and even surfaced beams sleepers or brick pillars so as to be above the ground level by at least 150 mm.
• Store members of different length and material separately.
• Materials of equal length are piled together in layers with wooden batters, called crossers, separating one layer from another.
• If crossers are not available, smaller section of the available structural timber can be used in their place.
• Provide an air space of about 25 mm between adjacent members.
• Place the longer pieces in bottom layer and shorter pieces in the top layer, but keep one end of the stack in true vertical alignment.
• Suitable width and height of a stack are recommended to be about 1.5 m to 2.0 m.
• Distance between adjacent stacks is recommended to be at least 450 mm. (see figure shown below).

• Protect the stacks from hot dry winds, direct sun and rain.
• It is recommended to place heavy weight, such as metal rails or large section of wood, on top of the stack to prevent distortion or warping of the timber in the stack.
• If it is required to store the timber for about an year or more, then coat the ends of all members with coal tar, aluminum leaf paints, micro crystalline wax; to prevent end cracking in the material.