Woodworking in Georgia: Wood Moisture and Outdoor Builds

Month-by-month outdoor wood moisture for 7 places in Georgia, from 11.8% in Atlanta in April to 14.5% in Athens in August, and what it means for buying lumber, gluing up and finishing.

Wood trades moisture with the air around it until it reaches a balance called the equilibrium moisture content (EMC). The numbers on this page are the average EMC of wood kept outdoors under cover (out of direct rain and sun) for each month, calculated by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory from at least 30 years of NOAA humidity and temperature records. Wood that gets rained on will be wetter for a while; wood inside a heated or air-conditioned house will be drier. The general advice below uses Atlanta as the reference city.

Outdoor wood moisture in Georgia, month by month

City by city

Each city below gets its own numbers and advice. Deck board figures are for a 5½-inch flat-sawn pine board going from the wettest to the driest month.

What moisture content to aim for

The Wood Handbook's rule is to install wood at the moisture content it will live at, so it moves as little as possible afterward. In Atlanta the year-round outdoor average is 13.0%.

• Outdoor projects (decks, benches, planters, siding and trim): the Handbook recommends an average of 12% (individual pieces 9% to 14%), the Handbook's figure for most of the United States.
• Indoor furniture and trim: about 8% (6% to 10%), the figure for most of the country. The Handbook's map puts part of Georgia in the damp, warm coastal zone toward the Gulf or Atlantic (11%), so check which applies where you live.

A pin or pinless moisture meter takes the guesswork out. Check a few boards from each batch, not just one.

How much a deck board moves here

Using the Wood Handbook's shrinkage coefficient for flat-sawn loblolly pine (a common treated-lumber species; Table 13-5), a board 5½ inches wide, the width of a 2x6 or a 5/4 deck board, changes width by:

These are estimates: real boards are rarely perfectly flat-sawn, and western redcedar moves about 10% less than pine. The point is the direction. Lumber bought at 19% will shrink, so gaps between deck boards installed tight will open as it dries.

Acclimating lumber in Georgia

1. Bring it home early. Buy lumber a week or more before you build.
2. Stack it with stickers. Lay straight spacer strips every couple of feet between layers so air reaches every face, and keep the pile off the ground.
3. Store it where the project will live. Outdoors under cover for outdoor projects; inside the house for indoor furniture.
4. Measure, don't guess. When moisture meter readings stop changing from one day to the next, the wood is ready.

A moderate, fairly steady climate

Outdoor wood in Atlanta stays between 11.8% and 14.2% all year, close to the Handbook's 12% target for exterior wood. The bigger risk here is not the climate but the lumber: framing lumber can leave the yard at up to 19%, and treated lumber is often wetter. Let it dry under cover before you build, and don't move indoor furniture stock straight from a cold garage into a heated house and start cutting.

Woods and finishes that hold up outdoors

For anything left outside, choose wood that resists decay or wood treated for it. The Wood Handbook's Table 14-1 rates the heartwood of the cedars (including western redcedar), white oaks, black locust and old-growth redwood as resistant or very resistant, Douglas-fir and young-growth redwood as moderately resistant, and most pines, spruces and firs as slightly or not resistant. Use pressure-treated lumber rated for ground contact for posts and anything touching soil.

From the Handbook's Table 16-5: a water-repellent preservative typically lasts 1 to 3 years, semitransparent stain 4 to 8 years on rough-sawn or weathered wood, solid-color stain 6 to 15 years and paint 10 to 20 years. Clear varnish is a poor choice for furniture left in the sun; it generally needs refinishing every 1 to 2 years there.

Best months for outdoor builds and finishing

In Atlanta, outdoor wood is driest in February, March and April and wettest in July, August and September. Lumber dries fastest, and finishes go onto dry wood, in the drier months, so plan staining and painting for then. Avoid sealing wood during the wettest stretch, when it is holding the most moisture it will hold all year. If those months are cold, check the minimum application temperature on the can before you finish. The city sections above give the driest months for each city.

Keep reading

• The actual size of a 2x4, and why it matters
• Why your woodworking project doesn't fit
• How to build an Adirondack chair

Deciding what to build this season? Start with our list of 9 things worth building instead of buying.