Q.
Would you please explain the terms "gross tally" and "net tally" for me?
A.
The National Conference on Weights and Measures (which is the law in most states) adopted the following in 1977:
"Sales of hardwood lumber measured after kiln drying shall be ... on the basis of net board footage with no addition of footage for kiln drying shrinkage."
Now, 23 years later, we still see people adding back for kiln dried footage -- which gives you the gross footage.
The net footage is the actual footage.
Sometimes the lumber will be measured before kiln drying and then dried. This is bad for the purchaser as the wood shrinks about 5 percent, and the grade will be lowered (a little or a lot!), so it is like buying blind.
Gene Wengert, forum moderator
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
