# Firewood wall pass-through (air lock)



## semipro (Jan 16, 2009)

I want to build a firewood storage "pass-through" into a wall near an insert in our living area.  I'm not sure I'm calling it the right things so I'll explain a little.   I envision basically a small room hanging off the side of my house that is 20" or 40" deep (1 or 2 log lengths), 4' wide and 6' tall.  I'd have a door on the outside and inside walls.  I'd open the outer door, fill it with wood, and then access the wood for loading the stove from the inside.  

Sounds pretty simple but I thought I'd ask those that might have already built one for advice: "do"s and "don't"s, etc.   

Thanks in advance.


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## semipro (Jan 16, 2009)

Oh yeah.  I don't mean to rehash covered topics but I didn't find much in a quick search of the forums.  If its already been covered feel free to just let me know.


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## kenny chaos (Jan 16, 2009)

Semipro said:
			
		

> Oh yeah.  I don't mean to rehash covered topics but I didn't find much in a quick search of the forums.  If its already been covered feel free to just let me know.



Go down a dozen or so threads.  It was just discussed.
Goodluck-


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## FireaddictSC (Jan 17, 2009)

i have a wood storage bin pass through built into my hearth wall behind to the right of the stove.  it works great.  The brick layers framed it out as they built the foundation and chiminy.


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## hensonconst1 (Jan 17, 2009)

FireaddictSC said:
			
		

> i have a wood storage bin pass through built into my hearth wall behind to the right of the stove.  it works great.  The brick layers framed it out as they built the foundation and chiminy.


 obviously it is not built out of wood get some brick that matches your house if you are not confident enough to do yourself than get a "guy" but I can do it all you have to do is put a header in to support the studs above which may be tricky for a novice 2x 10 doubled. for whatever size wide you want than with either brick or block build however tall. inside there needs to be a slight slope of the floor higher on the outside. Enough for the wood to slide at least slightly you might have to help it slide.


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## semipro (Jan 17, 2009)

I did find a prior post where this was discussed to some degree. I couldn't find it earlier because "pass thru" was used instead of "pass through". https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/33063/

I'm competent with the building part but was looking for ideas just like Family Man's comment about incorporating a slope in the bottom of the pass-through. I'm also thinking I want the bottom of the "box" to be lower than the indoor access to keep detritus from falling into the house (as much as that's possible anyway). If the bottom of the box is above the bottom of the outer access door then it would be easier to clean out. However, that slope that Family Man mentioned would work against me then. 

A reply in the previous post mentioned insulating only the inside access door. That make sense. I was thinking of insulating the whole box but there doesn't seem to be a lot of sense in that. It will be well sealed. 

Any comments on depth, overall height, height above floor/ground? Obviously, there's aesthetics to consider. Keeping it one log length deep would keep the box smaller. Making it 2 deep would allow twice as much storage but would it be difficult to get to the 2nd stack from the inside? 

I also want to camouflage the access doors as much as possible. I'm thinking of building the inside access into a bookcase. Any ideas on the outer or doors that could be use. It seems like I need a door that's about 36" wide by 40" tall (half height). I can build or modify a stock one but wonder if there's any short stock stores out there.  The exterior is horizontal lap cedar. 

There's amazingly little info on this on the web. This seems like such a great idea I"m not sure why its not used more. We waste energy and make an amazing amount of mess dragging wood in the doorway nearest the wood stove.


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## kenny chaos (Jan 17, 2009)

Don't know why there would be much info.  It's just a door and a box.  It's up to the creativity of the carpenter to make an individual pass thru which is apporiate for a specific house.
Maybe you'd like to make an outside door which you wouldn't even see when closed (matched siding and all) and build a cute little bench or bookcase as you mentioned, inside, that would hide the wood?  Maybe you could use a nice looking old cedar chest and cut the back out?
The options are yours.
Be creative, find something that matches your style, and have fun with it.
If you hang a box on the ouside, make sure your framing is going to support the weight of the wood and all the knocking around the box will take.
Lots of luck and please, let us know how you make out.
Also, feel free to share ideas and ask more questions.
Ken


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## LLigetfa (Jan 17, 2009)

Just add on a small porch.  Inside door swinging in as normal and outside door swinging out.  Stack wood wall to wall, inside the "porch".


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## hensonconst1 (Jan 19, 2009)

Make carts. Say you have one stack inside one outside put them on a cart when you exhaust the inside stack remove the cart and pull the outside stack in then take the cart you pulled out and put it on the outside to put wood on


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## semipro (Jan 1, 2011)

Well, its functional.  It took a while to get it to this point but its working.  I got distracted by some water damage on the house and life in general.  See attached pics.  Thanks for the advice.


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## project240 (Jan 1, 2011)

Looks great!!  Very nicely hidden with the bookcase.


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## semipro (Jan 1, 2011)

Thanks.  I still have to work out how to hold the outer door up while I'm loading it up.  The outer door is heavy and could put the hurt on someone if it fell.


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## Cluttermagnet (Jan 1, 2011)

Nice job! I think you'll inspire some others to try this method. Way too
practical, though. Doesn't let out near enough heated air in the winter.


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## SolarAndWood (Jan 1, 2011)

Looks great.  Maybe mount a block up on the chimney and use a boat trailer winch to operate the door?


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## semipro (Jan 1, 2011)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> Looks great.  Maybe mount a block up on the chimney and use a boat trailer winch to operate the door?



Thanks. I'm glad you suggested that.  I was thinking of using gas struts or some sort of metal brace between the door and box.  I was thinking "inside the box", literally.  

While I may not use a boat winch I may simply attach a cable to the outside of the chimney so that I can "clip" the door open with something like a carabineer while I'm loading.  The door, though heavy, is not that hard to lift but it is heavy enough to hurt if it came down unexpectedly.


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## davmor (Jan 1, 2011)

I have often thought about doing this. The only problem I see is making something that looks good, and does not leak a lot of air. I have thought it would be good to frame the opening, then build a box to slide into the opening. This would be a lot easier to do then to trying to build something on the side of the house. You could just build the box in the garage or shop,  put in the proper insulation, and make good doors. Slide it in the opening secure it and put the siding of your choice on it. Dave.


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## RoseRedHoofbeats (Jan 1, 2011)

I built my woodshed in front of a window. Problem solved! =P

~Rose


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## btuser (Jan 1, 2011)

Semipro said:
			
		

> Thanks.  I still have to work out how to hold the outer door up while I'm loading it up.  The outer door is heavy and could put the hurt on someone if it fell.



I thought of doing this about 3 years ago and glad to see it works.   The inside bookshelf idea is wonderfull, and it looks great.

Maybe just a pully and counterweight on the outside door?  A nice old iron wheel and some window weights.


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## Danno77 (Jan 1, 2011)

Semipro said:
			
		

> SolarAndWood said:
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I think gas struts would probably work well for this. everything is still hidden inside this way.


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## Thistle (Jan 1, 2011)

Something similar to closers used on commercial entrance doors might be useful.


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## semipro (Jan 2, 2011)

davmor said:
			
		

> I have often thought about doing this. The only problem I see is making something that looks good, and does not leak a lot of air. I have thought it would be good to frame the opening, then build a box to slide into the opening. This would be a lot easier to do then to trying to build something on the side of the house. You could just build the box in the garage or shop,  put in the proper insulation, and make good doors. Slide it in the opening secure it and put the siding of your choice on it. Dave.



I got this one sealed up pretty tight.   So tight in fact that you can't shut the inner door (bookcase) very fast because of the built up air pressure.  The inner door is entirely weatherstripped.  The outer door is sealed on all but the bottom edge.  I left it open so snow/ice melting off the wood could drain out.  The floor is sloped towards the outside.


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## CALJREICH (Jan 2, 2011)

Pretty cool. How many days worth of wood does it hold?


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## bogydave (Jan 2, 2011)

Mine goes into an unfinished basement, into a wood box, into the stove.
About 10 days worth (when it's cold)
1 row, stacked 4'6" high X 6' long 18" splits (roughly 1/3 cord (+/-)
I empty the stove right before a new load comes in & the ash
bucket goes out the opening.
Now using 7 lag bolts with washers  to hold the insulated door on but to be a hinged door, it's
on the "to do " list. when I figure out how to do it. Bolts are  a PIA. I use a drill & it's workable.
But it helps keep the house cleaner.
Holds 2 trailer loads.


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## OhioBurner© (Jan 2, 2011)

Great job both of you! I've been trying to come up with something since the insert is pretty far into the house from the doors, was thinking of building a porch and putting in a doorway but maybe just something small for a week or two worth of wood would be fine.


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## semipro (Jan 2, 2011)

CALJREICH said:
			
		

> Pretty cool. How many days worth of wood does it hold?



Of course it depends on the weather but it holds about 2-3 days worth.  My thought is that usually in any 3 day period I'll have a stretch of decent weather when I can reload it.  I used a wheelbarrow for the first load but that was a lesson in misery given the snow still on the ground.  I plan to use the front end loader on my tractor in the future.  

Now if I could only figure out a system for using pallets and my front end loader to load the pass-through...


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## semipro (Jan 2, 2011)

bogydave said:
			
		

> Mine goes into an unfinished basement, into a wood box, into the stove.
> About 10 days worth (when it's cold)
> 1 row, stacked 4'6" high X 6' long 18" splits (roughly 1/3 cord (+/-)
> I empty the stove right before a new load comes in & the ash
> ...



Nice setup.  Kind of reminds me of a coal chute.


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## OhioBurner© (Jan 2, 2011)

Semipro said:
			
		

> ...I plan to use the front end loader on my tractor in the future.
> 
> Now if I could only figure out a system for using pallets and my front end loader to load the pass-through...



If you have a tractor with loader maybe you should have done this: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65541/


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## semipro (Jan 3, 2011)

â–ºâ–ºOhioBurnerâ—„â—„â„¢ said:
			
		

> Semipro said:
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That's impressive.  That's what I want to just on a smaller scale.


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## SolarAndWood (Jan 3, 2011)

Semipro said:
			
		

> Now if I could only figure out a system for using pallets and my front end loader to load the pass-through...



I don't know, I think your system is just about perfect and it looks good on both sides.  If you had your loader at a nice working height, how long and how much effort would it take to fill the pass-through?  And, you don't have to worry about a little sway in a tight space with the front end of your tractor in the snow or slop.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 3, 2011)

Very cool bookshelf/wood storage . . . there's probably a reason for this . . . but why didn't you simply put the hinge on the side instead of at the top of the outer door?


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## semipro (Jan 3, 2011)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> Semipro said:
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I think you've found the bug in any plans to use pallets and the tractor; I'd probably damage the structure with the tractor when the wheels or my hands slips.  

I'm just going to stick with the the FEL without pallets for now.


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## semipro (Jan 3, 2011)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> Very cool bookshelf/wood storage . . . there's probably a reason for this . . . but why didn't you simply put the hinge on the side instead of at the top of the outer door?



The door is pretty heavy and I was concerned about sagging, fit, hiding the hinges, and stresses on the structure.  I also though it might be nice to have a roof over my head while loading.


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## JustWood (Jan 3, 2011)

Both very nice setups.
I have a similar set up into my furnace room.


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## RAY_PA (Jan 3, 2011)

I'll get some pics of mine tonight and post them.


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## gpcollen1 (Jan 3, 2011)

Yeah, I would use some rear hatch/door struts for that one.  Couldn't be heavier than my 4runner rear door I bet...

http://www.monroe.com/products/accessories_maxlift.asp


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## semipro (Jan 3, 2011)

CTwoodburner said:
			
		

> Yeah, I would use some rear hatch/door struts for that one.  Couldn't be heavier than my 4runner rear door I bet...
> 
> http://www.monroe.com/products/accessories_maxlift.asp



That was my original plan but I'm still undecided.  The struts would be the slickest I think..other than something motorized.


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## RAY_PA (Jan 12, 2011)

sorry it took so long. My memory isnt what it used to be. 
This was in the house when we bought it, so I cant take credit. But it is the cats hindend for keeping the dirt to a minimum and having the wood close to the Summit. (we did install the summit in the existing fireplace). This pass through goes into a hallway from the garage to the basement. So I keep a weeks worth of wood in the garage and fill this bin every morning. I really like it and would have no idea what to do if it wernt there.


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## struggle (Jan 13, 2011)

OUr house had a built in area to the left of the fireplace with the same idea in mind. Door on the outside and one trimmed out wainscotting on the inside. THe problem for us was that when it was built there was no house to the the east of us. No that landscaping has matured and a homeis to our eaast it makes the door worthless since you cannot drive up to it with a trailer and in the winter that side of the house is not accessible by vehicle or wheel barrow. 

When I recovered the chimney exterior with vinly siding after removing improperly installed facsia (cast stone with water intrusion from not having a wicking system in place). I also removed the exterior access door at that time as well since the design allowed water to get behind the door and was creating a water issue to the structure. So that is all corrected now. 

We leave a trailer full in the garage and bring in muck bucket of wood in when burning and it works better and faster than the door thing ever did for us.


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## Cowboy Billy (Jan 13, 2011)

Cool Very nice Job!

   I am think about how I want to build a cabin in the next few years at the farm. Since I am going to store the wood in the basement I am thinking of making a dumb waiter to lift my wood up and next to the stove.

Billy


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## SolarAndWood (Jan 13, 2011)

Cowboy Billy said:
			
		

> Since I am going to store the wood in the basement I am thinking of making a dumb waiter to lift my wood up and next to the stove.



Our neighbor has one that goes from his lower level into a cabinet right next to the stove in the living room on the main floor.  It is sweet.


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## semipro (Feb 1, 2011)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

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This seems to be the way to do it.  One load in the tractor almost fills it and is pretty easy to transfer.  The chains I had to install on the tractor made a world of difference too. 

Although overall not going out at night to haul in wood is better I do still kind of miss the experience... except for the one night when that coon tried to shinny up my leg.


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