lumber rack

One of the joys of having your own shop is the pile of useful materials you collect over time. To ensure a safe, uneventful trip home from your home center, secure materials to your vehicle with rope, bungee cords, or twine. For large purchases or if your vehicle cannot handle the load, pay a little extra and have the materials delivered to your house.

When transporting or unloading sheet goods, have a helper on hand. If that's not possible, lift a panel with one hand near the center of each long edge, as shown in the inset below. Pick it up and rest it on your shoulder; avoid carrying it with a bent back. The exception is drywall; because it's thin, heavy, and brittle, it can snap under its own weight. Get help with drywall. Take care not to damage the edges or scratch the surface of the sheets.

Too quickly, however, your pile of material can become a headache and an eyesore. To keep boards and sheet goods easily accessible and prevent warping and other damage, keep these tips in mind:

Store materials in a cool, dry place, off the floor. Moisture can distort lumber, delaminate some plywoods, and render drywall useless. If your basement gets wet occasionally, store materials above the high-water line.

Ideally, sheet goods should be stored flat. Because most people don't have room to do this, it's best to stand sheet goods on edge, as shown below, as vertical as possible to keep them from bowing.

Build a storage rack like the one shown here to keep lumber at eye level. You want to see the ends of boards clearly and be able to pull out what you need easily.

If you don't build a rack, store lumber flat and weight it down at each end and in the center to prevent warping and other distortions. Weighting is especially important if the wood has a high moisture content.