OT: for the serious wood burners, where do you store your firewood?

[Ranger Dan]

There have been threads about who burns firewood, and I’m admittedly not as serious as many of you. We have a wood stove in our walkout basement and a regular fireplace on our first floor. I stack the wood outside the basement door, on a concrete patio that sits under our first floor deck. The problem is that the deck isn’t keeping the wood from getting rained on, or worse getting coated with freezing rain. If we were going to stay in this house, I’d build a woodshed as close to the basement door as possible. We are discussing the possibility of buying a lot (hopefully wooded) and build a house. I don’t know whether this will have a walk out basement or not, but want to incorporate a wood stove in the basement and a fireplace in the first floor. Considering that we are going to design and build per our wants, I was trying to figure out what some of the best set ups would be. Do any of you have any especially creative solution or otherwise have a recommendation?

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Not the outdoor solution, but a while back was walking through a model home and it had built in areas on BOTH sides of the fireplace itself to hold wood. Was set up with kindling on one side, logs on the other. Just thought that was rather cool and unique. Had seen many fireplaces with one area for wood, but never two.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Not the outdoor solution, but a while back was walking through a model home and it had built in areas on BOTH sides of the fireplace itself to hold wood. Was set up with kindling on one side, logs on the other. Just thought that was rather cool and unique. Had seen many fireplaces with one area for wood, but never two.

I’m talking about where to store X cords of wood. I don’t think making room in the living room would be very cost effective.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

I’m talking about where to store X cords of wood. I don’t think making room in the living room would be very cost effective.

I understand that’s why I noted not the outdoor solution. Just thought since you’re designing and building I’d throw the unique fireplace at you. Meant for 10-15 pieces of wood on each side of the fireplace, not cords.

 

[PSU87]

Back when we burned wood, we would lay two long logs on the ground and stack on top of those to keep the bottom row off the ground. Cover with tarps. Would usually get 2 or 3 seasons out of the tarps

 

[ForesterGump]

I have several out buildings. My 3 car garage is where I would store cutoff pieces from the sawmill. They would be things like ends from railroad ties, or pieces that had metal in it. I stored them in there until I split them up. Then I moved them to an old chicken shed that I have. I can put about 4 cords in there and kindling. I keep my wood separated by species, as some woods burn longer and are better to save for the cold periods. I have some wood that has been under roof for up to 5 years. Dry wood means less creosote.

Since I retired, I've had trees that I've cut on my property. That goes to a corner of my yard where it is cut, split and stacked. It will stay there at least a year before being moved to the wood shed.

If you are burning wood, you should have it aged at least 6 months to a year before you burn it. There are stacking methods that will keep the weather off your wood, and allow it to dry. Supposedly, the best is a round stack. I've never had to use anything like that, since I have the buildings.

 

[fairgambit]

There have been threads about who burns firewood, and I’m admittedly not as serious as many of you. We have a wood stove in our walkout basement and a regular fireplace on our first floor. I stack the wood outside the basement door, on a concrete patio that sits under our first floor deck. The problem is that the deck isn’t keeping the wood from getting rained on, or worse getting coated with freezing rain. If we were going to stay in this house, I’d build a woodshed as close to the basement door as possible. We are discussing the possibility of buying a lot (hopefully wooded) and build a house. I don’t know whether this will have a walk out basement or not, but want to incorporate a wood stove in the basement and a fireplace in the first floor. Considering that we are going to design and build per our wants, I was trying to figure out what some of the best set ups would be. Do any of you have any especially creative solution or otherwise have a recommendation?

Consider the Board of Trustees solution and get way from burning wood altogether. Their fuel source is actually best stored inside.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I understand that’s why I noted not the outdoor solution. Just thought since you’re designing and building I’d throw the unique fireplace at you. Meant for 10-15 pieces of wood on each side of the fireplace, not cords.

Yeah, I’ve seen the cubby holes for kindling and a couple logs. I appreciate your trying to contribute, however.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I have several out buildings. My 3 car garage is where I would store cutoff pieces from the sawmill. They would be things like ends from railroad ties, or pieces that had metal in it. I stored them in there until I split them up. Then I moved them to an old chicken shed that I have. I can put about 4 cords in there and kindling. I keep my wood separated by species, as some woods burn longer and are better to save for the cold periods. I have some wood that has been under roof for up to 5 years. Dry wood means less creosote.

Since I retired, I've had trees that I've cut on my property. That goes to a corner of my yard where it is cut, split and stacked. It will stay there at least a year before being moved to the wood shed.

If you are burning wood, you should have it aged at least 6 months to a year before you burn it. There are stacking methods that will keep the weather off your wood, and allow it to dry. Supposedly, the best is a round stack. I've never had to use anything like that, since I have the buildings.

Yeah, I’ve seen the Nordic method of storing wood in circular stacks. They put the bark side up, and the stacks getting wider as it goes up, both to keep the wood dry.

The problem I have today wouldn’t be solved by that technique. We had freezing rain on Sunday and there is an eighth of an inch of frozen rain on the logs. The tarp idea is pretty easy to implement, but not that pretty. The outbuilding idea is good, but for some reason my wife doesn’t like outbuildings and I’ll have to sell her on that idea.

 

[gamblepsu]

My dad had a large pile outside and a smaller pile (that would last a month or so) in the garage.

 

[BudatPSU]

There are some interesting You Tube videos that show some unique ways to handle firewood. It has been some years since I saw them, so I cannot provide a link. A search for firewood storage or firewood splitters should get you into the library.

The best one I remember was a guy who had built a ramp with a slight downhill slope, and he stacked wood on face cord sleds, built on wheels that were backed up one behind the other and when he emptied one sled and pulled it out of the way, the next one rolled into place via gravity. Somehow he had a brake that prevented all the sleds from rolling forward, so he was only dealing with one face cord at a time. He was using an outdoor furnace, located at one end of the shed that transferred the heat inside via hot water, and if I remember correctly he had several zones each controlled with independent thermostats.

I believe he had roof over top of all the wood storage that was supported by 4 X 4 posts with open sides and ends. I think he stored about 3 or 4 full cords of split wood under the shed. Once the wood is dried, rain and snow is only a nuisance and steams off quickly when you add those logs to the fire. Green wood is another issue.

His splitting area was at the other end of the shed from the furnace, so as he split the wood, he stacked it on the open sled. The next time he handled it was to put it in the furnace.

Remember that moving wood indoors also brings all the insects with it. So minimize how much you store indoors. Also, be mindful of how close to the house you build your woodpile. I have found bees and mice nests, and snakes in my woodpile. Working at the woodpile one summer is how I found out I am allergic to bees.

We used to burn wood and I loved the warmth from the wood stove. But now I am too old for all that work, so I pay the natural gas bill every month.

 

[Ranger Dan]

There are some interesting You Tube videos that show some unique ways to handle firewood. It has been some years since I saw them, so I cannot provide a link. A search for firewood storage or firewood splitters should get you into the library.

The best one I remember was a guy who had built a ramp with a slight downhill slope, and he stacked wood on face cord sleds, built on wheels that were backed up one behind the other and when he emptied one sled and pulled it out of the way, the next one rolled into place via gravity. Somehow he had a brake that prevented all the sleds from rolling forward, so he was only dealing with one face cord at a time. He was using an outdoor furnace, located at one end of the shed that transferred the heat inside via hot water, and if I remember correctly he had several zones each controlled with independent thermostats.

I believe he had roof over top of all the wood storage that was supported by 4 X 4 posts with open sides and ends. I think he stored about 3 or 4 full cords of split wood under the shed. Once the wood is dried, rain and snow is only a nuisance and steams off quickly when you add those logs to the fire. Green wood is another issue.

His splitting area was at the other end of the shed from the furnace, so as he split the wood, he stacked it on the open sled. The next time he handled it was to put it in the furnace.

Remember that moving wood indoors also brings all the insects with it. So minimize how much you store indoors. Also, be mindful of how close to the house you build your woodpile. I have found bees and mice nests, and snakes in my woodpile. Working at the woodpile one summer is how I found out I am allergic to bees.

We used to burn wood and I loved the warmth from the wood stove. But now I am too old for all that work, so I pay the natural gas bill every month.

Very helpful input. Thanks. I’m 50 now and don’t have plans for cutting, splitting, and stacking wood when I’m 80, but have some good years left.

 

[BudatPSU]

Very helpful input. Thanks. I’m 50 now and don’t have plans for cutting, splitting, and stacking wood when I’m 80, but have some good years left.

Well, an alternative would be a pellet stove with a water jacket. Put the stove in the basement, build a garage large enough to store the bags of pellets, put in a ramp or a dumb waiter to move the pellets to the basement, or store them in the cellar. Pipe the hot water to baseboard heaters upstairs, or heat the upstairs by running H2O radiant heating between each of the floor joists in the basement ceiling. Tie in a boiler to provide heat when you are away.

Then just cut enough wood to enjoy in the upstairs fireplace.

With a new house you have many alternatives.

 

[MAJoePa]

I am pretty simplistic. We typically go through 2 cords of wood in the winter. I cleared off a spot off the top of the driveway, put down some brick and just stack the wood there. I stack the wood in traditional towers and cover it with a tarp.

 

[Nittany.Lion]

There have been threads about who burns firewood, and I’m admittedly not as serious as many of you. We have a wood stove in our walkout basement and a regular fireplace on our first floor. I stack the wood outside the basement door, on a concrete patio that sits under our first floor deck. The problem is that the deck isn’t keeping the wood from getting rained on, or worse getting coated with freezing rain. If we were going to stay in this house, I’d build a woodshed as close to the basement door as possible. We are discussing the possibility of buying a lot (hopefully wooded) and build a house. I don’t know whether this will have a walk out basement or not, but want to incorporate a wood stove in the basement and a fireplace in the first floor. Considering that we are going to design and build per our wants, I was trying to figure out what some of the best set ups would be. Do any of you have any especially creative solution or otherwise have a recommendation?

You could look at putting in a system like this to protect the lumber under the deck
http://underdeck.com/

 

[2thruPSU]

I burn 6 cords every year and have been doing this since 1977. Tarps are the easiest way to cover wood unless you are building permanent sheds. If you slant the stacks, water and snow will run off. Use the wood closest to your basement door first, so the remaining wood is away from the house when it gets warm. Insects will inhabit whatever is there and you will meet them the next season. I do not stack more than I use in a season for this reason.

 

[ForesterGump]

The problem with tarps are that they are good at keeping water out, but they limit air circulation. Without air circulation, your wood won't dry very well. Lots of crib designs that puts a roof over it, but doesn't hurt the air circulation.

 

[demlion]

There have been threads about who burns firewood, and I’m admittedly not as serious as many of you. We have a wood stove in our walkout basement and a regular fireplace on our first floor. I stack the wood outside the basement door, on a concrete patio that sits under our first floor deck. The problem is that the deck isn’t keeping the wood from getting rained on, or worse getting coated with freezing rain. If we were going to stay in this house, I’d build a woodshed as close to the basement door as possible. We are discussing the possibility of buying a lot (hopefully wooded) and build a house. I don’t know whether this will have a walk out basement or not, but want to incorporate a wood stove in the basement and a fireplace in the first floor. Considering that we are going to design and build per our wants, I was trying to figure out what some of the best set ups would be. Do any of you have any especially creative solution or otherwise have a recommendation?

When you walk out of my basement, there is a slope up to ground level. Some years ago I installed a peaked roof over the door that extends about 8 feet from the door. In this space i can stack over a cord of wood, which is subject to humidity but not precip.

I also store almost a cord in the basement itself, because my downstairs stove is a MONSTER. It is homemade from a piece of gas transmission line and will take a 30 inch piece of wood. The bsmt is unfinished, and stacking wood there gets it dirty. Since the floor is concrete, it's easy to sweep up.
Wet wood is never a problem.

 

[FLLION]

I got some used pallets..and bought some concrete blocks..

I put the pallets on the blocks so everything was off the ground..

then stacked the wood and on the pallet and covered with a tarp

cheap and quick and works well..

helps dry the wood since you get air under the pallets

 

[Ranger Dan]

You could look at putting in a system like this to protect the lumber under the deck
http://underdeck.com/

Thats a good thought, and we talked to out deck guy about waterproofing it so we could enclose below it for a screened in porch. We are hoping to move and build, so if we end up having a walk out basement with a deck over it we will consider this. Thanks.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Well, an alternative would be a pellet stove with a water jacket. Put the stove in the basement, build a garage large enough to store the bags of pellets, put in a ramp or a dumb waiter to move the pellets to the basement, or store them in the cellar. Pipe the hot water to baseboard heaters upstairs, or heat the upstairs by running H2O radiant heating between each of the floor joists in the basement ceiling. Tie in a boiler to provide heat when you are away.

Then just cut enough wood to enjoy in the upstairs fireplace.

With a new house you have many alternatives.

That is actually something I considered... switching to wood pellets. I am hoping to find a wooded lot that the wife is agreeable to, and then get free firewood (not counting my labor). I'm also planning on building a DIY Russian furnace (large masonry heat sink) style wood stove and I'm not sure that there is a conversion for pellet stoves. I'll look into that, however.

 

[demlion]

I cant get this to load right, but youll see the roof over the extended basement walls here.

RangerDan, this is how I stack the wood when it is green.

There have been threads about who burns firewood, and I’m admittedly not as serious as many of you. We have a wood stove in our walkout basement and a regular fireplace on our first floor. I stack the wood outside the basement door, on a concrete patio that sits under our first floor deck. The problem is that the deck isn’t keeping the wood from getting rained on, or worse getting coated with freezing rain. If we were going to stay in this house, I’d build a woodshed as close to the basement door as possible. We are discussing the possibility of buying a lot (hopefully wooded) and build a house. I don’t know whether this will have a walk out basement or not, but want to incorporate a wood stove in the basement and a fireplace in the first floor. Considering that we are going to design and build per our wants, I was trying to figure out what some of the best set ups would be. Do any of you have any especially creative solution or otherwise have a recommendation?

 

[kgilbert78]

Back when we burned wood, we would lay two long logs on the ground and stack on top of those to keep the bottom row off the ground. Cover with tarps. Would usually get 2 or 3 seasons out of the tarps

My FIL did something very similar to this. He liked his "free" heating (he had 5 acres about 2/3rds of which was wooded). Of course, the time we (the whole family) spent over there to cut and split the wood was not counted in.... Still, I think the work kept him healthier until the cancer got him and he loved the outdoors.

But the tarps worked pretty well for the 10+ years they lived there. He also set up a tent by his garage which he used for splitting more wood as needed.

 

[kgilbert78]

Very helpful input. Thanks. I’m 50 now and don’t have plans for cutting, splitting, and stacking wood when I’m 80, but have some good years left.

My FIL did that until he got too sick (at 86). I think it kept him in better shape than he would have been otherwise.

 

[PearlSUJam]

I cant get this to load right, but youll see the roof over the extended basement walls here.

RangerDan, this is how I stack the wood when it is green.

There will BEE no comment from myself.

 

[TrevYoung]

The problem with tarps are that they are good at keeping water out, but they limit air circulation. Without air circulation, your wood won't dry very well. Lots of crib designs that puts a roof over it, but doesn't hurt the air circulation.

If you fold the tarps so they only cover the top of the log pile, there should be plenty of air circulation to dry out the wood.

 

[demlion]

There will BEE no comment from myself.

As you look at the picture of the holzhausens, the one on the extreme left is the one that had the yellow jackets.

 

[Carl Spackler]

In the third bay of our garage. We did this with firewood when we had available space and now we use EcoBrick, a compressed sawdust product that costs us a similar price to firewood, takes up far less space, is easier to carry and isn't dirty to the level of firewood plus, no insects.

We stored five tons of EcoBrick this winter and that should about do us through warmer weather, heat pump weather. We have an insert and a total electric household with dual heat pumps. The pumps work well down to about 30 degrees, below that they strain to grab some heat from the air so we fire up the insert and burn, burn, burn. With the cost of electricity ever increasing here, a rural electric coop., our monthly electric costs to use the emergency heat funtion of the heat pump system would cost us over $600 to $700 a month in Dec, Jan, Feb......so we burn and drop the cost down to the mid $200's.

 

[Ranger Dan]

RangerDan, this is how I stack the wood when it is green.

Beautiful job of wood stacking there!

When I was stacking my first load of wood this past fall I starting thinking about how much pride I took in having the ends stable and limiting the amount of large gaps between logs. I came to the conclusion that there should be competitions for wood stacking, not that I would be world class or anything, but I believe that there clearly are better wood stackers, and other people who barely do more than pile it up randomly. That same weekend that I was thinking about the idea of wood stacking contests, I am in Lowes and heading to the restroom. They have a book case between the check out aisles and the rest rooms, and as I walked by I saw this book: Amazon product ASIN 1419717987
At first I was disappointed because I hadn't really thought of a new and great way for people to compete, but then I started wondering whether there were any contests near me...

 

[demlion]

Beautiful job of wood stacking there!

When I was stacking my first load of wood this past fall I starting thinking about how much pride I took in having the ends stable and limiting the amount of large gaps between logs. I came to the conclusion that there should be competitions for wood stacking, not that I would be world class or anything, but I believe that there clearly are better wood stackers, and other people who barely do more than pile it up randomly. That same weekend that I was thinking about the idea of wood stacking contests, I am in Lowes and heading to the restroom. They have a book case between the check out aisles and the rest rooms, and as I walked by I saw this book:

View embedded media

At first I was disappointed because I hadn't really thought of a new and great way for people to compete, but then I started wondering whether there were any contests near me...

Just read that book. Very cool.

 

[demlion]

Beautiful job of wood stacking there!

When I was stacking my first load of wood this past fall I starting thinking about how much pride I took in having the ends stable and limiting the amount of large gaps between logs. I came to the conclusion that there should be competitions for wood stacking, not that I would be world class or anything, but I believe that there clearly are better wood stackers, and other people who barely do more than pile it up randomly. That same weekend that I was thinking about the idea of wood stacking contests, I am in Lowes and heading to the restroom. They have a book case between the check out aisles and the rest rooms, and as I walked by I saw this book:

View embedded media

At first I was disappointed because I hadn't really thought of a new and great way for people to compete, but then I started wondering whether there were any contests near me...

When I was a kid the old European farmers (Swedes, mostly) stacked their wood that way. Always loved how they looked, so when I started burning wood, I started stacking that way too. Each of those stacks you see is more or less 6' high x 6' across...roughly a full cord.

In 2016, for a variety of reasons, I did not have access to a lot of wood, so I had a timber guy drop off a tandem load of logs, so all we had to do was cut it to length and split and stack it.
What you see is basically the contours of the log pile they dumped.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Dem, gotta admit, those stacks are pretty damn impressive. Will you go through all that wood in one winter?

 

[Ranger Dan]

When I was a kid the old European farmers (Swedes, mostly) stacked their wood that way. Always loved how they looked, so when I started burning wood, I started stacking that way too. Each of those stacks you see is more or less 6' high x 6' across...roughly a full cord.

In 2016, for a variety of reasons, I did not have access to a lot of wood, so I had a timber guy drop off a tandem load of logs, so all we had to do was cut it to length and split and stack it.
What you see is basically the contours of the log pile they dumped.

The only suggestions that I could make, based upon my research, is for you to have the diameter of the stacks increase as you go higher and to make sure that the top logs have bark and are laid bark side up. These things protect from rain, although rain-wet is temporary issue as opposed to green-wet. I've also seen some of these circular stacks with the center completely open to encourage more air circulation and faster drying.

 

[demlion]

The only suggestions that I could make, based upon my research, is for you to have the diameter of the stacks increase as you go higher and to make sure that the top logs have bark and are laid bark side up. These things protect from rain, although rain-wet is temporary issue as opposed to green-wet. I've also seen some of these circular stacks with the center completely open to encourage more air circulation and faster drying.

My old granddad used to say that you stack green wood out in the wind and rain to season it. When you first cut it, the grain is very tight. As it seasons, cracks or checks appear in the ends. Over time these checks permit the wood to let go of the rainwater. As far as the seasoned wood being wet from rain or snow when you bring it in, about 24 hours in the same room as a hot fire in the downstairs monster, and they let that water go. I brag to my wife that it drying the wood before burning this way is a home-brew humidifier.

MUCH tougher to build a 6 foot high stack that is hollow inside.

 

[alexpsu7]

 

[ClarkstonMark]

Blue tarp. Used to store 30-40 cord under multiple tarps.
Cheap at Harbor Freight etc
Just throw tarp over stacks and weigh it down with some wood spaced along the top of stacks

Also had room in the garage where we stored a couple cord, and re-filled it as it got low.

 

[demlion]

Dem, gotta admit, those stacks are pretty damn impressive. Will you go through all that wood in one winter?

What you see in the picture is 5 stacks~5 cords, which is approx 10 full size pickup loads. Usually I'm good for about 12-15 pu loads per winter. One year i burned 18--9 cords!! One year, half that amount.

Unseen in the picture are about 8 MORE stacks dispersed about the property. I'm flush with firewood! Way ahead this year.