I was given 3 large white oak trees back in May. Had 'em cut up at a
sawmill and ended up with 400BF of 4/4 varying in width from 8 to 16 inches
and mostly 8 to 9 feet long. Not wanting to give up so much shop room to
air dry this wood, I put it outside at the back of my yard in a mostly shady
area. I put one layer of 2x4's on the ground, then stacked and stickered
the oak with 3/4" thick stickers I cut from scraps. I put cement blocks on
the top of each stack. Then I put an 8' x 8' canopy over it with the legs
collapsed so that the canopy was only 3 feet off the ground. I filled in
around the edges with some old luan paneling to keep the rain off.

I think I did everything wrong. Limited air circulation. And down here in
the deep South we get some hellacious afternoon thunderstorms - wind and
rain, sometimes daily. Well, the ends of the boards were getting wet. Not
good. After two months in the elements, I finally decided to "make room" in
the shop and bring the wood inside. I'm glad I did. While the boards in
the center up high under the canopy were looking good, the boards on the
edges and down low were not. My stickers were molding as high as 18" up the
stack. It was damp everywhere except high center under the canopy. The
boards next to the ground had mold on them.. There were snails and other
creepy crawly things living in there. I cleaned up the boards best I could.
None seem to be warped, twisted or cupped, but some have a very musty odor.
They are now in the shop with new 3/4" stickers and a dehumidifier running
next to the stacks. Moisture content is 20 percent, same as it was the day
the trees were cut. Actually, I think my moisture meter only reads to a
maximum of 20 percent......

Any thoughts on how salvageable my "gloat" is?

Thanks.

Bob