I finally learned why my stair stringers kept splitting, it was the wood grain

Last month I was framing a two story deck in Tacoma and the third stringer cracked right down the middle while I was setting it. I blamed the lumber yard, blamed my saw, even blamed the weather for about an hour. Then my old boss swung by and pointed at the end grain, said I was ignoring the crown and putting my cuts against the grain direction. Swapped to a fresh 2x12 with the grain running the other way and it cut clean in two minutes. Has anyone else had this happen on long cuts, or am I just the last drafter on earth to figure out grain direction?

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sandra69326d ago

Man, grain direction gets everybody at some point. I did the exact same thing on a set of cedar steps and thought the wood was just junk. It ain't always the material, sometimes it's how you read the board before you even pull the trigger. Once you start checking the grain first, you'll never go back to guessing.