soft wood and OSB getting wet

[shardy]

Hi all,
we are having a loft conversion done and a lot of the materials were lifted on to the scaffold before the weekend. I was surprised to see it wasn't covered up. There is a some treated battons, but also a lot of what appears to be untreated timber which I think are for the floor joists, dormer frame etc and also a lot of OSB. (please see pictures)
Its been raining constantly for 3 days and none of it was covered up so it got absolutely saturated, dripping wet. Is this ok to use now? I would've thought it needs to be kept dry or at least allowed to dry out thoroughly before using. If it is used now and enclosed, is that trapping in moisture and potentially causing damp or perhaps warping and shrinking?
thanks in advance

 

[foxhole]

If it's stacked only the top sheet gets soaked, though it's sloppy work to leave it out, the chipboard is the most vulnerable as it turns to mush when wet.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I agree with Foxhole. We always try to sheet-over profiled timbers (e.g skirtings) and sheeting when it has to be stored outdoors, but at least that chipboard flooring is MR (moisture resistant - you can tell by the green colour). We've had P5 MR chip flooring on the current job get soaked a couple of times after installation and it's dried out OK without any problems (although the labourers do vac up the water ASAP in the mornings). Softwood isn't too much of an issue - in fact I find it nails and screws more easily if slightly wet. It will dry out fairly quickly as the build progresses and the drier weather comes. BTW it takes more than a few days of rain to saturate kiln-dried C24

 

[shardy]

thanks for the replies chaps. that puts my mind at rest. I will ask them to sheet over the materials though. I'm concerned wood lower down that stack can get wet and the water can't evaporate whereas at least the wood on top can dry out when the weather is dryer. I suppose building control will test the moisture content of the wood when they inspect?

 

[chappers]

certainly wouldn't leave the chipboard out but the rest will be fine.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I suppose building control will test the moisture content of the wood when they inspect?

Lazy builders, get them to cover asap, inspect the chipboard closely as it's installed, anything that looks stained reject it. Bear in mind that moisture resistant chipboard only resists moisture uptake. It is not waterproof.

 

[ladylola]

Ah the joys of wet timber. Puts me in mind of a job where I was replacing lead gutters. The timber came almost straight from being treated (water based tantalised) and was soaking wet. I put the gutters in , pushing the boards together. Architect came along and instantly said "no" . There should be a 5mm gap between the boards to vent the underside of the lead. Try as I might I couldn't convince him that the boards would shrink and that gap would appear and he insisted it be taken up and redone. So of course I had to do it . Next time the architect came the lead hadn't gone down and the boards had shrunk to such an extent that there was a much larger gap than there should have been . So you can guess what the architect said , ......." Redo it again "

 

[Deleted member 174758]

One thing about damp studding - it is far easier to nail or screw. In fact some stuff you have to use wet - such as 2 x 1 lath used for drywall grounds on steels. If you are fixing them to the steels using a concrete nailer they will split if they are too dry. Same can be true of CLS used for studding