Can wood pick up moisture?

[cmarc]

Given my yard layout, good spots to season wood are limited. I have too many trees and no real open areas for air to pass through. I've got a 2-3 year rotation. The first year I season in my optimal spot (sunny and fairly open), The second year I move it to my poor location (shaded, solid fence on one side, partially open fence on another) for additional seasoning or what basically amounts to storage. In my non-optimal spot, I leave to top off to promote as much air flow as possible and "try" to be good about covering before the rain moves in. Then a about a month before burning season I cover the top full time.

This year seems a bit odd because my 2-2.5 year old oak is marginal at best The same rack that I left off with last year appears to have picked moisture. It's not burning nearly as well, and my meter says it's up a few percent (however I did get a new meter so it may just be differences between the two).

Is it possible for wood to pick up moisture beyond the surface? Anyone have any better ideas on how to better dry given my limited options? I did stack more loosely this year in my non-optimal location, hopefully this will help for next season.

 

[johneh]

Wood can not pick up moisture it does not have hands
Sorry I just had it say it
Yes wood can absorbent moisture to the relative humidity
of the air around it EG. hard wood floors expand in summer and contract in winter

 

[tsquini]

Yes, it will equalize to environment. Oak takes longer to season. 2.5 years is good. Based on what your explained you need another year.

 

[coutufr]

I start the drying process in a less ideal spot for a year or 2 then finish drying it in the best spot that I have the summer before burning it. I don’t know if it makes a difference or not but it seems intuitively more efficient that way

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Without sun and air it seems to absorb some moisture at times. Usually the air or sun mine get far outweigh anything it absorbs. My wood seems to season much faster from late December to late February than other times. 30 degree air can't hold all that much humidity.

 

[cmarc]

Thanks for the responses. I think I may change my drying strategy to placing the bulk in my less than ideal spot, then move a chord or so to my better spot for the last year.

 

[coutufr]

That way you move it twice but the wood is lighter from the preliminary drying phase so it is less heavy

 

[Sawset]

Wood has an equilibrium moisture content that is based on humidity. Sun and wind = lower humidity. Shade can = higher humidty. So, wood can pick up a fair amount of moisture just by being exposed to higher humidity. Rainfall and shade would create a lot of humidity and relatively poor drying conditions, and even reabsorbtion if the mc content was low.

 

[xman23]

After splitting I stack and cover. The 2 row 6 ft stack is about 75 ft long. Currently I add new wood to one end and use wood from the other end. I'm using about 3 year old oak wood. this system has worked well for me.