Oak Seasoned 65 years

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Grannyknot

New Member
Dec 5, 2011
81
East Tennessee
Well, the title is a little misleading.
I had an oak support column in my basement that was starting to rot at the bottom and had splits up and down all 4 sides.
It just wasn't structurally sound anymore, so I replaced it with a steel post.
I really had hoped to be able to mill a few boards out of it, but I don't think I could have gotten 2 board feet that didn't have a split in it.
I decided to cut it up for firewood. The column was red oak and had been in place for 65 years.
I'm guessing the 9% was more or less the humidity level in my basement. Burns like it has been soaked in gasoline.
 

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I would be saving that stuff for one of the colder nights! Too bad you couldn't mill any decent wood out of it though.
 
I think backwoods savage used to mill lumber in his late teenage years, any chance he did this one? Lol.....:)
 
Grannyknot said:
Well, the title is a little misleading.
I had an oak support column in my basement that was starting to rot at the bottom and had splits up and down all 4 sides.
It just wasn't structurally sound anymore, so I replaced it with a steel post.
I really had hoped to be able to mill a few boards out of it, but I don't think I could have gotten 2 board feet that didn't have a split in it.
I decided to cut it up for firewood. The column was red oak and had been in place for 65 years.
I'm guessing the 9% was more or less the humidity level in my basement. Burns like it has been soaked in gasoline.
I presume it was rotting on the bottom because it was sitting on them cement floor? What is the MC at the bottom?
 
gzecc said:
I presume it was rotting on the bottom because it was sitting on them cement floor? What is the MC at the bottom?

I didn't take a reading at the bottom, but you could barely tell it was rotting. Mostly just discolored. The main problem structurally was all the cracks.
But yes, it was also an issue that there wasn't anything between the column and the concrete except a piece of tar paper.
 
Love the heat oak puts out. Way to get some use out of that old beam.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
9% MC in wood equates to something more like 50% RH. Be careful with that stuff- it's going to go off like a bomb :)

Oh it does.....flames up like I've soaked it in gas.
I'm mostly using it for kindling & overnight burns with the damper & vents shut down.
I'd never cram the firebox full of it, or even use more than 2-3 pieces at a time.
 
Grannyknot, thanks for taking the time to slap the mm on it. Around here we discuss (argue) about how low it can go under normal circumstances. I'd say thats probably close to
the end of the trail.
 
maxed_out said:
Grannyknot, thanks for taking the time to slap the mm on it. Around here we discuss (argue) about how low it can go under normal circumstances. I'd say thats probably close to
the end of the trail.

No problem.
I don't know if I would consider that normal circumstances though.
First off, East TN is abnormally humid. Second, it was in my basement, which gets some moisture during heavy rains.
But yes, I would say that is pretty darn close to the end of the trail.
 
maxed_out said:
Grannyknot, thanks for taking the time to slap the mm on it. Around here we discuss (argue) about how low it can go under normal circumstances. I'd say thats probably close to
the end of the trail.

at 30% RH wood will settle out at 6% MC. It takes time to get to equilibrium though. I bet you could get lower in high desert like Montana/Idaho. Below a certain point most stoves are less efficient, but it'd be awesome kindling
 
"Below a certain point most stoves are less efficient, but it’d be awesome kindling"
That sounds like you are saying that ah ah um wood can be too dry.
 
oldspark said:
"Below a certain point most stoves are less efficient, but it’d be awesome kindling"
That sounds like you are saying that ah ah um wood can be too dry.

Oh, umm- shhh! Don't want to confuddle anyone with measurable facts :)
 
Those cracks are checks from drying. Hardwood timbers that are air dried get them all the time because they don't dry as evenly as kiln dried wood. If you look at old post and beam houses you see checks like that in pretty much all the big timbers because the wood was cut and joined green then dried in place. Structurally they are nothing to worry about because those old timbers were all so oversized (to fit the joinery) that you were not putting enough load on them to shear the timber. In your case the load is all compression so the vertical crack is even less of a worry.

Ive got some tree trunk posts in my basement that are split floor to ceiling. Been that way a hundred years or more. House hasn't moved.

Bottom line I don't think that house would have collapsed in your lifetime even if you left those posts in. However replacing them with a code cement filled steel column is a good upgrade as it wont fail in the case of fire.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
oldspark said:
"Below a certain point most stoves are less efficient, but it’d be awesome kindling"
That sounds like you are saying that ah ah um wood can be too dry.

Oh, umm- shhh! Don't want to confuddle anyone with measurable facts :)

if there was no such thing as to dry
everyone would be hoarding all the free pallets

why dont you burn pallets???
because they are to dry.

hmmmmm
mystery of life
 
jharkin said:
Those cracks are checks from drying. Hardwood timbers that are air dried get them all the time because they don't dry as evenly as kiln dried wood. If you look at old post and beam houses you see checks like that in pretty much all the big timbers because the wood was cut and joined green then dried in place. Structurally they are nothing to worry about because those old timbers were all so oversized (to fit the joinery) that you were not putting enough load on them to shear the timber. In your case the load is all compression so the vertical crack is even less of a worry.

Ive got some tree trunk posts in my basement that are split floor to ceiling. Been that way a hundred years or more. House hasn't moved.

Bottom line I don't think that house would have collapsed in your lifetime even if you left those posts in. However replacing them with a code cement filled steel column is a good upgrade as it wont fail in the case of fire.

I have made self bows with checks that you could see through. Continuous fibers are what provide the strength, checks along the grain have little effect on the strength
 
Adios Pantalones said:
jharkin said:
Those cracks are checks from drying. Hardwood timbers that are air dried get them all the time because they don't dry as evenly as kiln dried wood. If you look at old post and beam houses you see checks like that in pretty much all the big timbers because the wood was cut and joined green then dried in place. Structurally they are nothing to worry about because those old timbers were all so oversized (to fit the joinery) that you were not putting enough load on them to shear the timber. In your case the load is all compression so the vertical crack is even less of a worry.

Ive got some tree trunk posts in my basement that are split floor to ceiling. Been that way a hundred years or more. House hasn't moved.

Bottom line I don't think that house would have collapsed in your lifetime even if you left those posts in. However replacing them with a code cement filled steel column is a good upgrade as it wont fail in the case of fire.

I have made self bows with checks that you could see through. Continuous fibers are what provide the strength, checks along the grain have little effect on the strength


he said,
as the structure collapsed around him
 
id throw a whole load of that stuff in the bk then turn it down right away.... make for a nice long burn.
 
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