twisted wood question & glazing question

[Mia]

Hello, friendly experts!  
Building has been kinda slow, life has been getting in the way.  
In early July, we bought some pressure-treated 4x8's & 2x6's.  Stacked all flat, on dry plywood over gravel.  Before we got around to using it all, 3 or 4 weeks later, some of the wood was twisted too much for us to use.  Lumber store staff said it just happens.  Is that true?  All of July was dry, some very hot days.  Should they take the lumber back & give us straight pieces?   We are trying to support the local businesses & not go to the Big Boxes for our lumber.  But if they sell us lumber we can't use, we can't afford to keep buying from them.

Windows - west is our view side, so we will have generous windows there, & I know we need low e windows.  on the south we want to take advantage of passive solar, so should we have different kinds of windows?  Maybe there are links you can refer me to.
Thanks!

[n74tg]

West windows (your view side); even with low-e coverings me thinks you are still going to get a LOT of unexpected interior heating, especially in summer.  I can't count all the very expensive homes around here that have lots of glass facing that beautiful west view, but end up covering the windows with heavy drapes to keep the heat out.  

South view windows; unless you want a south view too I think you would not want low-e as you do want solar warming in winter, but can use shades, drapes, awnings, etc in summer to keep heat out.  

[peg_688]

On the wood issue I'd say it's your bad , summer sun is a killer on wood stored wood need to be stacked sticker off the ground a couple of inch's , and covered with plywood with a tarp over the plywood . The plywood should extend beyond the ends and side a couple of feet and the tarp sould be such that air can move under it so mold can't grow . The tarps keep it dry from rain , the plywood holds the tarps up and also keep the sun off the wood . If no rain , or little rain is expected the plywood alone would be good enought to keep the sun and most of the rain off the wood .

Better yet don't order your material until your ready for it , yes you might lose out on a good sale , but wood that goes south on ya that was cheap ,is now not as cheap and a waste of a resourse. So a double bad  

Live and learn , sorry for our problems with your stock.    

[glenn-k]

I agree with PEG on the wood.  It's a shame but even the lumber yard has trouble keeping wood -especially treated wood straight.

The treated seems to warp more than untreated.

[peg_688]

That because it's force fed liquid , so it's cut , then kiln dried to about 13% (from what ever MC it's cut / growing at 100% MC I'd guess you'd call it ) , then it's injected with the ACQ crap again swelling the fibers to maybe 30% or more MC , my meter only tells ya it's over 20% , so take that wood lay it out in the sun uncovered for even 2 or 3 days and the MC on the edges is dropping MC at a high rate while the inside is still soaking wet.
 Whats wood to do  

[Mia]

Thanks, folks, I've learned something.
We haven't been buying that much wood at any one time, but are still learning how long it can take for 2 inexperienced people to do things.  Setting a 12 ft long p.t. 4x8 on top of a nine foot high basement wall is challenging.  Measuring & drilling holes for the bolts takes a while.  And some of us baby-boomers work a bit slower on 100 degree + days.      Plus family stuff.  So, what we thought would take a week or 2 took over a month.  
On the temp housing front (there was some talk about that once upon a time) -first we bought a self contained camper, in very good shape, for $500.00.  Took it up the hill & parked it in the trees, where it is always cool.  That's where we have slept a few nights, & store some food.  Then found a 17 ft camper trailer, with only a little dry rot, for $200.00.  (o.k., more than a little dry rot.   after we got it to our house, husband had to rebuild part of the floor so that the door would close.  But now it is a good shelter/office/storage on the building site.)  Then a bigger camper trailer was given to us, if we would just haul it away!  Now that was an adventure, hauling that 24 ft self contained trailer with out-of-state plates with tags that expired 16 yrs ago up & down 15 miles of back roads with a 1/4 ton Ranger!  (Very slow on the hills.
Anyway, now we have a trailer we could live in, once I have 2 or 3 days to clean it, except we don't have running water or a septic system yet,  & we don't have a vehicle capable of towing it to where we would want to live in it.  And we don't have a big enough flat place for it.

About the windows - will have awnings over the west & south windows & a deck on those sides (when we can afford it) which will shade the lower level (daylight basement).  So, is there a specific type of window we should seek for the passive solar gain?
Thanks again!

[glenn-k]

That explains a lot, PEG.  Woodn't want to blame the wood, wood we?

[Chateau_Prideaux]

PEG... how about building a giant rotisserie!

[JRR]

Is it just in my area?  ... or do all private lumber yards tend to store pretreated lumber outside ... whereas, the big-box stores store everything under-roof?

(Score one for the big-boxers!)