decking woes

after navigating a somewhat complicated process of getting some roof decking milled, and waiting a week for it to show up, and then going to the lumber yard to find out that they hadn't put the order in and it would be three weeks before it would be milled, i cancelled the order and spent the afternoon considering other options.

the kitchen building has a small budget--very small--around $30,000 give or take. we've spent about 1/2 of that on the foundation, rough plumbing and the frame. we're not in a position to spend freely. so, i'm thinking about using green lumber milled locally. it's about 1/3 the price of kiln-dried similar material, but does have the downside of shrinkage which could cause problems. however, buildings have been built with green lumber far longer than they have with kiln-dried. we could stack and air-dry the decking on site until fall when it would be substantially dry and we would then be able to apply the insulation layer immediately since by that time we surely will have received the insulation.

as far as the overall project goes, we can tarp the rafters as a temporary measure to protect work underneath. we've been working successfully and dryly under a tarped structure all last fall and this spring and summer. while it's not as secure as a deck roof with metal atop, i think it will do until fall, and whether or not we let the green lumber dry, we'll be about $2000 better off on the bottom line.