The use of wood to produce furniture, flooring, moldings and structures requires lumber that is adequately dried and has a stable configuration. This is needed to reduce lumber shrinkage, splits and cracks, and it also renders the wood lighter to work with. Wood naturally dries to a favorable moisture content over a number of weeks to months. As any product, lumber becomes more valuable as it progresses towards a finished manufacture.
Kiln drying is thus the process employed to accelerate the process of naturally drying wood. A wood drying kiln is an enclosed space where air speed, temperature and humidity are controlled. Natural air dying of wood can take weeks, while a wood drying kiln can complete the process in a fraction of the time. The benefit of kiln drying the timber is that it is dried in a controlled environment, has rigorous testing, and is extremely quick giving a higher quality end product. Bugs and insects are also killed during the drying process. Therefore it can be more cost effective and less likely to have distortion, staining or drying stresses (i.e. warping or bowing).