Treated wood can retain moisture for any number of reasons. And installing damp wood happens a lot more than you would think. Ensuring you are working on your next project only with dry wood is imperative not only to the longevity of your building, but also to preventing black mold.
As you already know, most lumberyards are outdoors. When the weather is particularly rainy or humid, lumbar tends to attract moisture. And the longer it sits in wet conditions, the more moisture the wood retains. To some degree, this may go unnoticed when you purchase the wood from the yard. But this moisture could mean the difference between warped and cracking wood and flush, straight walls and joists for years to come.
No wood moisture will go unnoticed to a moisture meter. Using tiny pins leaving undetectable punctures, a moisture meter is an essential component to any building project. Framing lumber with a moisture content of over 18% is much more prone to warping and twisting as it dries. When this drying process happens when the wood is already framed, it could mean a project redo or an unhappy customer.
And if your wood is showing too much moisture according to your moisture meter, before framing it, you will want to air dry it until the moisture content is no more than 12%. This will require stacking would piles on a rack and aiming an air fan at it. If you have the means, you could use a kiln to dry the lumber even further to down to as low as 6%.
You want to ensure if your lumber is moist that you take all measures to dry it out before even considering framing it. This will ensure true square and straight framing for happy customers and project redos, which can cost you thousands.
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