Question Is there a way to store length to keep it from warping?

[Beveled]

I have some wider moulding lengths that are really nice, and not currently warped. I'd like to store it to use in time, but am worried. It seems like once they go up on the rack, a few months go by, and they start curling. I have them on horizontal racks up above head level, probably from 6 to 9 feet high. Any suggestions to how I can keep them longer?

 

[rhop]

Trude,

I store my moulding lengths the same way you do. Don't know if that is the best way.

I visited the LJ warehouse last week. They store theirs vertically at a 75 to 80 degree angle. The sticks rest on their ends. Maybe that is the way to go.

 

[wpfay]

I have both vertical and horizontal length storage, and really have no problem (other than poorly cured wood) with either one. The trick with either is providing enough support. I have supports every 3' for the horizontal, and I keep the moulding in boxes whenever possible.

 

[Couture's Gallery]

all mine is stored vertically...about 85-90 degrees resting on ends in climate controlled space ue to hugh Florida humidiy..no problems that way.

 

[neilframer]

Humidity can be a big factor. In Arizona it can be very dry, low humidity and if the moulding comes from a location that is very humid it will dry out and warp unless the climate can be controlled. :kaffeetrinker_2:

 

[Paul N]

I discovered that the best way to keep length from warping is to sell it fast.

 

[Jeff Rodier]

Humidity is the biggest problem. Since the heat rises if you don't maintain reasonable temps with air conditioning it could be a big problem. All of my moulding is horizontal and in the boxes. I never have any problems with warped moulding.

 

[echavez123]

Humidity is the biggest problem. Since the heat rises if you don't maintain reasonable temps with air conditioning it could be a big problem. All of my moulding is horizontal and in the boxes. I never have any problems with warped moulding.

Jeff, your are in South Carolina, where their is enough humidty.

I dont think it is humidity, but a lack of humidity that causes the problem with warpage. I had a large job recently and used up what was available from our local supplier. We had to order more molding from San Diego. When the sticks arrived, they were very straight. Two days later, they warped badly here in Las Vegas. I wanted to kick myself in the butt for not cutting and joining immediately. I was shocked to see how fast and the amount of warping that occurred in such a short time. I believe Arizona, especially the Phoenix area has the same issue with warping.

Did you ever notice that polystyrene does not warp?

ernesto

 

[PaulSF]

Ernesto, we had that problem just between LA and San Francisco, with LJ's Cranbrook line. They stocked it down in LA, and by the time it arrived up here at least half of it was useless. It was a shame, too, because I could sell the Cranbrook (esp. the black) really easily. It would have been worth keeping in stock, except for the warp issues.

 

[David Waldmann]

Wood warps for one of three reasons.

1. When wood is cut or milled, often there are internal stresses that get relieved which cause the wood to warp. Starting with good material, and using techniques to minimize or take advantage of this characteristic are the best ways to handle this problem. Of course, if you are buying moulding, selecting a vendor who does this is the first step.
2. Moisture causes wood to swell, so whether moisture is taken in or released, there is movement. Unless the change in moisture content is either very slow or equal throughout there will be warping unless/until it is equalized. Since most mouldings are finished on two or three sides and not the other(s), a large change in relative humidity will cause warping in a short time. In the very dry winter we can see newly milled moulding go from perfectly straight to unusable literally overnight if RH is not properly controlled. In most cases, given the proper stable environment it will come back. Purchasing lumber a 6-8% moisture content (or moulding made from such), and maintaining a RH of 40% year round is the best guard against this problem. However, note that if purchasing moulding not all suppliers will do the same, so there is no guarantee that all your mouldings will be protected. However, it should be a good middle of the road condition to shoot for.
3. Physical stress. Neither horizontal nor vertical storage are any better from a warping perspective, as long as they are properly set up. Horizontal storage should have "enough" supports to prevent warping. Ours are every two feet; three may be enough. One thing you don't want to do with vertical storage is lean the sticks against a 90° vertical wall, so that only the tips are touching. This will certainly induce enough physical stress that you will cause warping over time. "Vertical" storage should have a support at the angle you wish to store your moulding, so it is supported at several points. Probably every three to four feet would be ok.

 

[Robert Buchalter]

In a horizontal rack keep the moulding as close to the bottom of the rack as possible. It is much hotter at the top of the rack than the bottom. Works well for me. Have to admit their is more wrapping now than ever, especially with all the finger joined moulding. Good luck.

 

[Beveled]

I discovered that the best way to keep length from warping is to sell it fast.

Ha Ha ha! LOL I love it Paul! Good Philosophy!

Humidity is the biggest problem. Since the heat rises if you don't maintain reasonable temps with air conditioning it could be a big problem. All of my moulding is horizontal and in the boxes. I never have any problems with warped moulding.

Seems like I have worse issues in winter when we're running the heat. We keep it around 68 in here whether winter or summer.

Wood warps for one of three reasons.

Since most mouldings are finished on two or three sides and not the other(s)

and maintaining a RH of 40% year round is the best guard against this problem.

3. Physical stress. Neither horizontal nor vertical storage are any better from a warping perspective, as long as they are properly set up.Probably every three to four feet would be ok.

This is very interesting. Does this mean that if I painted the raw wood side they would be more stable?? My racks supports are about 2 feet apart. About the RH, how do you stabilize? Humidifier or dehumidifier??

Maybe I just need to make it into frames.

 

[Jeff Rodier]

My store temp is as high as 85 in the summer since I turn the temp up each evening and as low as 65 in the winter since I turn the temp down each evening. Humid in the summer and very dry in the winter. The biggest problem I see for you is if you are storing some loose random lengths of moulding. My moulding rack is 3 supports 4' appart but the boxes rest on those. Moulding in the boxes are wrapped and only cut lengths lay on top of the wrapped sticks. I stock in the neighborhood of 100,000' of moulding with no issues.

 

[David Waldmann]

Does this mean that if I painted the raw wood side they would be more stable??

Yes, it will slow the transfer of moisture. But it seems like it would be an awful lot of work when all you need to do is maintain the proper levels of humidity (unless the wood is unusually wet or dry).

Humidifier or dehumidifier??

Yes.



Whatever it takes to keep the RH at the proper levels - generally, A/C and/or dehumidifier in summer and humidifier in the winter.

 

[David Waldmann]

...as low as 65 in the winter since I turn the temp down each evening

Wow, you turn it DOWN to 65?!!! Guess it must be that thin southern blood We maintain 65 during the day, when we are working, and turn it down to 52 nights/weekends...

 

[Jeff Rodier]

That's why I left the North.

 

[Bob Doyle]

Could be the moulding is lying on top of shorter moulding and the unsupported pieces are being pulled on by gravity

The old owner used to use sono tubes to store the sticks in. That way the shorter ones weren't resting under the longer ones. She used different diameter tubes for skinny and wide mouldings.

The problem is you need room to put in and take out the moulding stored in the tubes but the moulding was less apt to warp.

 

[Beveled]

The biggest problem I see for you is if you are storing some loose random lengths of moulding. My moulding rack is 3 supports 4' appart but the boxes rest on those. Moulding in the boxes are wrapped and only cut lengths lay on top of the wrapped sticks. I stock in the neighborhood of 100,000' of moulding with no issues.

Could be the moulding is lying on top of shorter moulding and the unsupported pieces are being pulled on by gravity

The old owner used to use sono tubes to store the sticks in. That way the shorter ones weren't resting under the longer ones. She used different diameter tubes for skinny and wide mouldings.

The problem is you need room to put in and take out the moulding stored in the tubes but the moulding was less apt to warp.

Interesting, you both are saying in boxes or tubes, so storage is part of the issue, or what David said.

Jeff that's amazing you store that much moulding without any warping issues! I don't have enough of each to keep in boxes, but I could easily keep them wrapped if you think that would help.

David, I'm going to look into the humidifier for winter, as that seems to be our biggest problem. Our air conditioning runs steady from June to September, so it's only when we start using the heat.

 

[Jeff Rodier]

Mixed boxes do fine since it is just added support of the corrugated that helps. Years ago I had used carpet tubes. Check with a local high volume carpet store and they will save them for you. The full rolls of carpeting are rolled onto them.

 

[Couture's Gallery]

we use cardboard tubes fro the "shorts"...get them from a carpet shop and cut them on a table saw to 3 or 4 ft lenghts to keep remnants in...anything less than 3 ft is immediately chopped into ready mades and photo frames....all length is stored vertically with 3' supports ( ala A-frame design or at 85 degree angle against wall ) and climate controlled bldg a/c on 80 at night in summer ( our summer is about 10 months long ) and in cold snaps we set heat on 68....no humidifier needed here even in colder weather.