this might be a dumb question

[rachelsastarr]

i got a normal peice of pine wood already cut into a block for me at lows to use as a ledge and i wiped it off with water to get whatever off and made the ledge out of it and its in there cage.
is that wood safe??
iv never made ledges but it looks just like the rest.
and its just wood from the lows store.
can i leave it in there and if i wanted to make more could i use that wood??

 

[Stackie]

As long as it was kiln dried it's fine.

 

[rachelsastarr]

how do you know that?? i thought all hardware stores usually do that anyways

 

[Puddles&Chubbs]

it should say KD or maybe even HT (heat treated?) on the label or directly on the bigger pieces of wood.

 

[soqrbrad]

If you know it's pine then all you have to do is look and see if it is green, sappy, or wet. I really doubt that it isn't kd pine because wet pine makes for very crappy building materials. Have you ever seen a pine tree and taken off some of the bark? It's very sappy and almost like a stiff dough. Not really easy to nail into and very easy to warp.

That being said most wood you would find at lowes is kd or at least dried in some other fashion. The only way I can see you getting pine that isn't KD is cutting it down yourself or specially ordering it. We have a lot of pine trees up in the mountains in Colorado and unless those trees have been sitting there for a few months after they are cut down, there just really is no way to use the wood.

We used some Pine longs to make a trebuchet last year for a competition at my college. 8 total logs, 7 of which were cut down the previous year. The last one was cut down only 2 months previous. And that log probably weighted twice as much as the others due to the water in it. Needless to say that wet log was almost impossible to get upright and ended up falling over and snapping our trebuchet in two.

So sorry about the long story, but yea, as long as you get it from lowes and it feels dry and like a normal building wood would feel, you should be fine.

 

[SunshineChins]

If it was a cheaper board it was probably KD pine and anything that is hardwood is more expensive.

You should be fine.

 

[StarGaz'N]

I'd tend to agree...if it came from Lowes, then it probably is KD since they sell building supplies.

 

[Riven]

I have a question for anyone really. Have you ever seen NOT KD pine at a hardware store... question solved.

 

[starleomach]

I have a question for anyone really. Have you ever seen NOT KD pine at a hardware store... question solved.

:clap: This is one of those questions that is seen sooooo much

 

[Spoof]

Have you ever seen NOT KD pine at a hardware store...

Yes, our Lowe's has it, backed into it yesterday picking up some 2 x 4's and now have sap on my jeans.

They carry it in the general lumber section, they have untreated/undried in all the sizes dried is in.

The dried stuff is usually standing vertically along the walls.

The untreated or building/mixed woods are usually laying horizontally.

 

[LovableFuzziezandCrawliez]

Yea, I have seen the untreated stuff there too. Like it was mentioned previously, they mix it in with all their really cheap stuff, laying in horizontal piles.
The treated stuff is much more expensive - well, compared to the cheap 2x4s, etc.

Chances are you probably purchased the KD stuff.

 

[Riven]

KD is NOT treated. There is a huge difference.

People do not use anything but KD for building projects ( buildings and interior work, etc ) because many reasons, including but not limited to warping and molding inside of walls. It (non-dried wood) is not a common thing to find, and most places don't sell it because most people won't work with it. It is not good for very much structurally wise.

I don't know about Lowes, because the nearest one to me is over three hours away, but most stores don't ( or shouldn't ) store their dim. lumber in racks. Laying flat is how it should be stored to prevent warping or twisting.

 

[Spoof]

The wood stores I've been to north and south store the dried stuff vertically so people can sort through it. It also saves a lot of floor space. A dried piece of would shouldn't warp or crack standing upright.

Anyway, for a new person building shelves, you want the cheaper white wood, should be smooth/soft when you touch it (usually says white woods). Undried will be yellow, smell good and sometimes sticky. Treated/oaks/hardwoods will be brown to red.

 

[LovableFuzziezandCrawliez]

KD is NOT treated. There is a huge difference.

People do not use anything but KD for building projects ( buildings and interior work, etc ) because many reasons, including but not limited to warping and molding inside of walls. It (non-dried wood) is not a common thing to find, and most places don't sell it because most people won't work with it. It is not good for very much structurally wise.

I don't know about Lowes, because the nearest one to me is over three hours away, but most stores don't ( or shouldn't ) store their dim. lumber in racks. Laying flat is how it should be stored to prevent warping or twisting.

Kiln Dried wood is Heat Treated wood - still a form of treated wood. There is no Lowes in Calgary but I have seen non-dried wood at Rona or Home Depot - people working there have even told me that it isnt KD. Not sure why people would want to use it but they do still sell it at some locations. Cheap 2x4's being sold for building at the Home Depot and Rona are always lying flat and all warped and twisted. They sell crap wood! Also their racks of other types of wood are always laying flat. Maybe they shouldn't but they do. People use it for all sorts of interior building, fences, etc. Not saying that it's great but stores do sell KD and nonKD.

 

[FiaSpice]

Kiln Dried wood is Heat Treated wood - still a form of treated wood. There is no Lowes in Calgary but I have seen non-dried wood at Rona or Home Depot - people working there have even told me that it isnt KD. Not sure why people would want to use it but they do still sell it at some locations. Cheap 2x4's being sold for building at the Home Depot and Rona are always lying flat and all warped and twisted. They sell crap wood! Also their racks of other types of wood are always laying flat. Maybe they shouldn't but they do. People use it for all sorts of interior building, fences, etc. Not saying that it's great but stores do sell KD and nonKD.

That's exactly why I don't buy pine because our Rona, Home Depot and Reno-Depot carry non KD pine (I asked them). It's seems easier in the US to find KD pine.