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Pressure Treated wood shrinkage

18K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  gma2rjc  
#1 ·
Bought a few PT 2x4s at Big Orange. They are very wet, which I understand is "normal."

And it is normal for the wood to shrink as it dries, over say 6 months.

My question is, how much shrinkage to expect, and does it shrink in all directions, LxWxH, or just across the grain?

Thanks.
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#2 ·
How much shrinkage depends on the moisture content of the wood when you bought it, and the normal moisture content of wood in your area after it dries. As a point of reference, hardwood typically shrinks about 2 - 5 percent going from wet to dry, with most of the shrinkage across the grain, and only a small amount lengthwise. You can get a better idea of normal shrinkage from this website http://www.popularwoodworking.com/tricks/how-to-calculate-wood-shrinkage-and-expansion

Unfortunately PT lumber is often very wet, up to 50% moisture content, so the shrinkage can be well beyond normal tables. Unless you have a moisture meter, you are not going to be able to tell how wet your boards are. If you do know, you can use the actual moisture content in the website I linked to calculate the actual shrinkage.