# Drying Snow Covered Wood



## firecracker_77 (Jan 13, 2012)

My piles are covered in snow now.  I have about a day's worth of dry wood indoors prior to the snow in preparation for this.  In the meantime, I brought in a bunch of snow covered wood and piled it up around the stove to dry out and warm up.  I think being in close proximity to the stove for 24 hours should dry it out enough.  Anyone else employ this technique?  The smart thing to do would be to tarp the stacks, but since I didn't, this will have to do for the time being.  On a positive note, the extra moisture from the wood will add to the room.  I don't imagine it'll take long to dry.


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## katwillny (Jan 13, 2012)

As long as you keep the wood at a safe distance you should be OK. depending upon how much snow they may still have you may want to catch that water so that it doesnt make a mess. Fortunately like our friend Backwoods Savage says, wood is not a sponge so water will only penetrate but so deep. So the warmth of the stove should dry it out quickly.


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## Beer Belly (Jan 13, 2012)

We do the same....works for us


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## midwestcoast (Jan 13, 2012)

As long as it's nice & cold I just knock 2 pieces together before throwing them in the bin to bring in.  Most the snow is knocked off outside.  Wet sticky snow is another matter tho.  Tarps are as much a PITA as snow-covered stacks I've found.
If you've got a blower on the stove just an hour or 2 in the airflow is plenty to dry the surface of those splits.  Keep them back as far as the minimum clearances that the stove calls for& farther if they are getting too warm.


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## firecracker_77 (Jan 13, 2012)

midwestcoast said:
			
		

> As long as it's nice & cold I just knock 2 pieces together before throwing them in the bin to bring in.  Most the snow is knocked off outside.  Wet sticky snow is another matter tho.  Tarps are as much a PITA as snow-covered stacks I've found.
> If you've got a blower on the stove just an hour or 2 in the airflow is plenty to dry the surface of those splits.  Keep them back as far as the minimum clearances that the stove calls for& farther if they are getting too warm.



Good point.  I repositioned the wood back a little bit.  If that stove is about 500 degrees, and it's going to be re-stoked in the middle of the night, that radiant heat will surely dry the pieces out pretty well...at least surface moisture from snow.


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## artmos (Jan 13, 2012)

before i built my woodshed next to the cabin i did as midwest coast does-bang the splits together and haul them into the house. they'll be dry in a day.art


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## Lumber-Jack (Jan 13, 2012)

midwestcoast said:
			
		

> *Tarps are as much a PITA as snow-covered stacks I've found.*


That all depends on how you cover your stacks, and with what. You guys have obviously never had snow melt and re-freeze turning your wood pile into a solid block of ice.
What I find hard to believe is how eager people are to run out and spend their hard earned money on stuff (plywood, tarps, plastic, ropes, bungees, etc..) to cover their wood piles, when almost everybody who is able to buy these things has a *free* supply of good durable wood covering material. To find out what that is, go to any lumber yard and ask them what they cover their "wood" with and why. Then ask them what they do with that material when they are done with it.

Of course the best solution is to build a woodshed.


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## Fredo (Jan 13, 2012)

I set a days worth of Ash on my hearth next to stove. IMO, this technique works for me and helps dry Ash somewhat...


Fredo


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## cptoneleg (Jan 13, 2012)

Maybe the Gangsters on bicycles will leave your wood along.


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## nate379 (Jan 14, 2012)

Yes and I found it's much easier to bang apart the top couple layers of wood with a sledghammer vs trying to rip off/apart a tarp that is stuck to that mess too.

[/quote]
That all depends on how you cover your stacks, and with what. You guys have obviously never had snow melt and re-freeze turning your wood pile into a solid block of ice.
[/quote]


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## Lumber-Jack (Jan 14, 2012)

NATE379 said:
			
		

> Yes and I found it's much easier to bang apart the top couple layers of wood with a sledghammer vs trying to rip off/apart a tarp that is stuck to that mess too.


That ice is good though Nate, at least you finally found the perfect way to secure those tarps from blowing off all the time in those fierce Alaskan winds.   ;-)


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## firecracker_77 (Jan 14, 2012)

All that wood is bone dry after being indoors since Thursday night.  I've been bringing in a little bit more at a time since then.  The other issue I have with this wood is that I usually split my pieces again before bringing them in, but I have zero desire to stand outside and do that in the snow right now, so the pieces are a little larger to work with.


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## nate379 (Jan 14, 2012)

Tarps was last year and they lasted about 2 weeks.  This year I tried sheets of OSB and they lasted about a month till flying off.  I just gave up.  I might cover over the summer to keep all the rain off, but once fall/winter hits the wind is going to pull anything off.



			
				Carbon_Liberator said:
			
		

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## bogydave (Jan 15, 2012)

If your wood is dry enough to burn well before it gets snow covered, it will be good to burn when ever needed.
You may have to burn it a little hot for a few minutes in the stove to evaporate the surface moisture, but none of very little will soak into the wood.
Like BWSavage says, "Wood isn't a sponge".
From what I hear of your area ("The Windy City") you may have trouble with tarps like we do here, almost not worth the effort.

Having some indoors is what I do, about a weeks supply.
But I'm one of the lucky ones & built a shed 1-1/2 years ago & am loving it


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## Jack22 (Jan 15, 2012)

Carbon_Liberator said:
			
		

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You got me wondering what the lumber yards use. Can you save me the trip and just tell me?


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## JrCRXHF (Jan 15, 2012)

i just brush off the snow and toss it in the boiler. The little bit that is on there is not going to hurt anything.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 15, 2012)

I've seen folks lay down several splits and use a broom to sweep the snow off before taking it into the house.


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## firecracker_77 (Jan 15, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> I've seen folks lay down several splits and use a broom to sweep the snow off before taking it into the house.



Not a bad plan.  I usually toss the wood onto the sidewalk and that knocks alot of the snow off.


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## cptoneleg (Jan 15, 2012)

Jack22 said:
			
		

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  There is no comparison to bld. lumber and firewood.


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## Fredo (Jan 15, 2012)

This coming summer my neighbor which is a custom builder is going to build me a wood shed. Not just an ordinary wood shed but one that is going to be built into the side of my garage. He is going to open up the side of my garage, add headers for support and build an attractive outside but functional inside wood shed. The outside will be enclosed and vinyl sided to match my house and garage.

Wood shed will be accessible from inside my garage where I will be able to split, store and obtain my firewood right from within my garage. I will rotate my seasoned firewood from my backyard into this wood shed and not have to be concerned about weather elements. 



Fredo


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## firecracker_77 (Jan 15, 2012)

Fredo said:
			
		

> This coming summer my neighbor which is a custom builder is going to build me a wood shed. Not just an ordinary wood shed but one that is going to be built into the side of my garage. He is going to open up the side of my garage, add headers for support and build an attractive outside but functional inside wood shed. The outside will be enclosed and vinyl sided to match my house and garage.
> 
> Wood shed will be accessible from inside my garage where I will be able to split, store and obtain my firewood right from within my garage. I will rotate my seasoned firewood from my backyard into this wood shed and not have to be concerned about weather elements.
> 
> ...



i'm jealous


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## firefighterjake (Jan 16, 2012)

Fredo said:
			
		

> This coming summer my neighbor which is a custom builder is going to build me a wood shed. Not just an ordinary wood shed but one that is going to be built into the side of my garage. He is going to open up the side of my garage, add headers for support and build an attractive outside but functional inside wood shed. The outside will be enclosed and vinyl sided to match my house and garage.
> 
> Wood shed will be accessible from inside my garage where I will be able to split, store and obtain my firewood right from within my garage. I will rotate my seasoned firewood from my backyard into this wood shed and not have to be concerned about weather elements.
> 
> ...



Sounds good . . . a well built wood shed is truly a beautiful thing . . . once you have one you'll never want to go back to dealing with stacks.


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## nate379 (Jan 17, 2012)

I take it that this isn't a heated garage?



			
				Fredo said:
			
		

> This coming summer my neighbor which is a custom builder is going to build me a wood shed. Not just an ordinary wood shed but one that is going to be built into the side of my garage. He is going to open up the side of my garage, add headers for support and build an attractive outside but functional inside wood shed. The outside will be enclosed and vinyl sided to match my house and garage.
> 
> Wood shed will be accessible from inside my garage where I will be able to split, store and obtain my firewood right from within my garage. I will rotate my seasoned firewood from my backyard into this wood shed and not have to be concerned about weather elements.
> 
> ...


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## Fredo (Jan 17, 2012)

My garage is not heated but woodshed that will be attached to it will be in at least 7 hours of direct sunlight. 


Fredo


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## firecracker_77 (Jan 20, 2012)

Fredo said:
			
		

> My garage is not heated but woodshed that will be attached to it will be in at least 7 hours of direct sunlight.
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Hopefully, it dries pretty well.


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## barn burner (Jan 21, 2012)

Jack22 said:
			
		

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It's a waterproof, tear resistant covering similar to house wrap that covers a good bit of their lumber when it's transported in. This get torn off each stack and goes straight to the dumpster. It's great for covering wood......and free.


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## snowleopard (Jan 21, 2012)

I had planned  a woodshed, but after consideration, I started evaluating the overhangs available on my existing buildings.  I realized I could probably store about two winters' worth of wood in the space available.  This is more than I would expect most people to have, but I bet there's at least something you could make use of.  You need to evaluate the climate, insect and rodent issues, etc., to determine whether this is a safe way to go, but it's worth considering.  I only suggest this because I was oblivious to this as an option because I had become so fixated on a woodshed as a solution.  Look around and see if there's something you hadn't considered. 

Nice thing about going this route is that the wood is easily accessible, mostly dry, and the wood storage solution magically goes away in the summer months.  

I also recommend having an indoor rack like Dave's that will hold several days worth of wood.  That way you don't have all the `soldiers' lined up around your stove.  Have the rest of us done that?  You betcha--and if I find a split that needs a little extra drying, I don't hesitate.  It's just nice not to have to.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 22, 2012)

Fredo said:
			
		

> This coming summer my neighbor which is a custom builder is going to build me a wood shed. Not just an ordinary wood shed but one that is going to be built into the side of my garage. He is going to open up the side of my garage, add headers for support and build an attractive outside but functional inside wood shed. The outside will be enclosed and vinyl sided to match my house and garage.
> 
> Wood shed will be accessible from inside my garage where I will be able to split, store and obtain my firewood right from within my garage. I will rotate my seasoned firewood from my backyard into this wood shed and not have to be concerned about weather elements.
> Fredo



Makes all the difference in the world.  Just make sure it's got lots of air circulation through the slats.

My 150-y/o farmhouse has an attached enclosed woodshed at the back of it, which the previous owners were using for a hot tub, of all idiotic things.  I made them take it out before I bought the place, but I didn't have a clue at the time that the shed would turn out to be the single most valuable (to me) feature of the house.  I can throw a coat over my bathrobe first thing in the AM in a howling blizzard if I need to, pad out there in my slippers and bring in the wood I need for the day.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 22, 2012)

Fredo said:
			
		

> This coming summer my neighbor which is a custom builder is going to build me a wood shed. Not just an ordinary wood shed but one that is going to be built into the side of my garage. He is going to open up the side of my garage, add headers for support and build an attractive outside but functional inside wood shed. The outside will be enclosed and vinyl sided to match my house and garage.
> 
> Fredo



Just a suggestion.  If your builder doesn't know from woodsheds, get an opinion from someone who does before you build.  Vinyl siding does not sound like a good idea to me.  You need lots of air circulation for good wood storage, even when it's dry.  (It's similar to building a chicken coop for a cold climate, actually.) Mine was built as an addition to my house about 100 years ago, and it's got quite handsome painted wide vertical boards that don't fit together tightly.  It's not particularly drafty in there even in a wind storm, but it lets enough air come in and out to keep the humidity down where it should be for wood.


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## Fredo (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks for suggestions concerning woodshed. My neighbor will be adding Vinyl Siding, Soffit Vents, and is well aware of PROPER air circulation for this particular woodshed that is going to be attached to my garage.
My neighbor that has jumped on board the Wood Stove Express is going to have my neighbor build Him this Wood Shed...

Fredo


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## Lumber-Jack (Jan 22, 2012)

cptoneleg said:
			
		

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Huh?   Both are made out of the same material, *wood*, and you want to keep both of them dry while they are stored outside. How is there no comparison?


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## Lumber-Jack (Jan 22, 2012)

barn burner said:
			
		

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I might add to barn burner's accurate description of lumber tarps, that these tarps used for cover building lumber besides having super tear resistance also have excellent UV resistance and can sit in the sun for years before breaking down. Contrast that with those cheap blue or orange tarps, that are often sold (NOT free) in hardware stores, often have no UV rating at all, and will actually begin breaking down after just a few days in direct sunlight. Which is probably why so many people in this forum report having problems with them.


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## ruserious2008 (Jan 22, 2012)

Howdy Firecracker,.
Thought I'd tell you what I do so that I don't have snow covered wood for your consideration
I built a 4' wide, 10' long shed with a sloped roof at 10' in the front sloping down to 5 ft in the rear. This is 5 feet from the door into my room with the wood stove. That way the wood is nice and dry and I have a tarp set up on the front of the shed to keep the rain and snow out. Works well for me.  So I keep about a cord in there at a time with kindling and some pine and when its getting low I use my lawn tractor and a small trailer to get wood from my covered wood piles about 30 yards away (I keep paths to the piles clear with my snowblower. )I don't have the problems or aversion to tarps that most here seem to have . 
I cover the top and about one foot down the sides and use pieces of wood (usually some big honker oak splits since they are nice and heavy and need several years to dry anyway   on the top to weight it down and I use pieces of pallet slats on the ends and side and just use my cordless drill and some sheetrock screws and use that set up to secure the tarps right to the wood splits. Securing them about every 5 ft seems to do the trick. When time comes to uncover a section its just a few spins of the cordless drill and the tarp comes off and its that easy to secure it again. Not had any problems with it blowing off and so far I'd say 60mph, when we got the remnants of a hurricane last fall, was the max wind it has withstood. I just cover for "hurricanes" near my burn season and the winter snow season. Rest of the spring/summer/fall its uncovered. 
And fyi if you hate those ugly blue tarps Harbor Freight sells camo tarps! Not as fugly as the blue ones. 
Sounds like you are careful  but I always cringe a little when I hear people "drying" wood near their stove. I have a few friends that are firefighters and they wince and then cringe when they hear of peeps doing that based upon experience so a better and safer plan would be to figure out a way to keep the snow off in the long run. 
Safe and happy burning too you.


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 22, 2012)

ruserious2008 said:
			
		

> side and just use my cordless drill and some sheetrock screws and use that set up to secure the tarps right to the wood splits. Securing them about every 5 ft seems to do the trick. When time comes to uncover a section its just a few spins of the cordless drill and the tarp comes off and its that easy to secure it again. Not had any problems with it blowing off and so far I'd say 60mph, when we got the remnants of a hurricane last fall, was the max wind it has withstood. I just cover for "hurricanes" near my burn season and the winter snow season..



Great idea, but it's really a matter of personal preference whether screwing and unscrewing those tarps is more or less of a PITA than banging some snow off the top pieces. 



			
				ruserious2008 said:
			
		

> Sounds like you are careful  but I always cringe a little when I hear people "drying" wood near their stove. I have a few friends that are firefighters and they wince and then cringe when they hear of peeps doing that based upon experience so a better and safer plan would be to figure out a way to keep the snow off in the long run.



And FYI, mandatory distances to combustibles are well established for each stove model.  Stashing wood just outside that limit, damp wood will dry nearly as fast, and it's perfectly safe.


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## firecracker_77 (Jan 22, 2012)

ruserious2008 said:
			
		

> Howdy Firecracker,.
> Thought I'd tell you what I do so that I don't have snow covered wood for your consideration
> I built a 4' wide, 10' long shed with a sloped roof at 10' in the front sloping down to 5 ft in the rear. This is 5 feet from the door into my room with the wood stove. That way the wood is nice and dry and I have a tarp set up on the front of the shed to keep the rain and snow out. Works well for me.  So I keep about a cord in there at a time with kindling and some pine and when its getting low I use my lawn tractor and a small trailer to get wood from my covered wood piles about 30 yards away (I keep paths to the piles clear with my snowblower. )I don't have the problems or aversion to tarps that most here seem to have .
> I cover the top and about one foot down the sides and use pieces of wood (usually some big honker oak splits since they are nice and heavy and need several years to dry anyway   on the top to weight it down and I use pieces of pallet slats on the ends and side and just use my cordless drill and some sheetrock screws and use that set up to secure the tarps right to the wood splits. Securing them about every 5 ft seems to do the trick. When time comes to uncover a section its just a few spins of the cordless drill and the tarp comes off and its that easy to secure it again. Not had any problems with it blowing off and so far I'd say 60mph, when we got the remnants of a hurricane last fall, was the max wind it has withstood. I just cover for "hurricanes" near my burn season and the winter snow season. Rest of the spring/summer/fall its uncovered.
> ...



Sounds like a alot of good advice.  Your shed sounds nice and dry.


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