PSA: That week I built a deck in July heat taught me more about humidity than 10 years of woodworking books

I was fighting 90% humidity in Nashville last week and my pressure-treated lumber warped 3 inches overnight, so I had to scrap half my cuts and start over with kiln-dried stuff at $2 more per board - anyone else adjust their whole process based on local weather or just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony42627d ago

It's funny how you can read all the theory but one real-life humidity spike just overrides everything, like my toolbox collects more rust in one Nashville summer than it did in five years up north. I've noticed that with a lot of hobbies - the books teach you the rules, but the local weather and materials teach you the exceptions, and those exceptions are what actually make you good at it.

brooke_nguyen6526d ago

Oh man, totally. I was working with some cedar out in Phoenix last August and the dry heat was so bad the wood was checking and cracking before I could even get it screwed down. Ended up misting the whole pile with a garden hose and working at dawn just to keep the fibers from splitting. Reading about "moisture content" in a book is one thing, but watching a board twist itself into a pretzel in real time really drives the lesson home.