# Seasoned wood that got wet



## ikessky (Jan 27, 2010)

I went to throw some more wood into the basement the other night and realized that the weekend rain storm had exposed a huge flaw in one of my tarps.  So needless to say, now I have a bunch of wood that was nice and seasoned and dry, and now it is wet.  In your experience, how long does it usually take for this wood to get back to a burnable state?  It is in the same room as my wood furnace so it is exposed to radiant heat and I have a fan circulating air in the room right now.


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## Danno77 (Jan 27, 2010)

ikessky said:
			
		

> I went to throw some more wood into the basement the other night and realized that the weekend rain storm had exposed a huge flaw in one of my tarps.  So needless to say, now I have a bunch of wood that was nice and seasoned and dry, and now it is wet.  In your experience, how long does it usually take for this wood to get back to a burnable state?  It is in the same room as my wood furnace so it is exposed to radiant heat and I have a fan circulating air in the room right now.


i bet a few days ought to do it. i dunno.


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## Wood Duck (Jan 27, 2010)

If it was solid, not punky, it should be dry already.


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## Vic99 (Jan 27, 2010)

Near the stove should be a few days to a week . . . unless water got under the bark.  Might be worth it to take some bark off a pieces and check.


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## smokinj (Jan 27, 2010)

ikessky said:
			
		

> I went to throw some more wood into the basement the other night and realized that the weekend rain storm had exposed a huge flaw in one of my tarps. So needless to say, now I have a bunch of wood that was nice and seasoned and dry, and now it is wet. In your experience, how long does it usually take for this wood to get back to a burnable state? It is in the same room as my wood furnace so it is exposed to radiant heat and I have a fan circulating air in the room right now.



really wet wood in my furnace room will be dry in 24-72 hours I rotate a cord of wood in 3 different stacks so wet wood doesn't touch any dry wood.


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## PNWBurner (Jan 27, 2010)

Surface moisture dries out pretty much overnight if the wood is indoors and not stacked too tightly.  Outside can take a week or two depending.


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## ikessky (Jan 27, 2010)

Most of the pieces looked pretty good the next day.  There are a couple pieces that had big ice chunks frozen to them that are taking a little longer.  I don't have to use the stuff for another week or two, so I'm guessing my worrying is for not.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 27, 2010)

I agree. You should do fine.


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## Battenkiller (Jan 27, 2010)

It'll help a wee bit with the dryness in the room for a couple days and then it will be like nothing ever happened to it. After a week, it will be even drier than it was under cover outside.


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## Danno77 (Jan 27, 2010)

it's probably nice to get some of that moisture into the air. my house gets pretty dry (but it's not unbearable right now)


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## ikessky (Jan 27, 2010)

I threw a couple pieces on the coals that were in the stove when I got home for lunch.  It lit up just fine and took off like normal.  Looks like I'll have to brave the cold tonight and get more wood into the basement.


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## quads (Jan 27, 2010)

ikessky said:
			
		

> I threw a couple pieces on the coals that were in the stove when I got home for lunch.  It lit up just fine and took off like normal.  Looks like I'll have to brave the cold tonight and get more wood into the basement.


If the wood was seasoned long enough to being with, don't worry too much about surface dampness from rain/snow.  Throw it in the stove and that dampness will be gone in a flash.


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## billb3 (Jan 27, 2010)

When I've had to bust splits out of the pile with a sledge hammer due to (melted)snow/frozen ice, tossed in a hot stove or onto a burning fire would be OK, but trying to light a fire with it was NG. Overnite on the cellar floor usually melted enough of the ice.
Unless it was waterlogged punky stuff, that would take longer.


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## savageactor7 (Jan 27, 2010)

We pile the seasoned wet wood on one side or the other the draw from the dry side. Before you know it the wet stuff is dry the dry indoor atmosphere just sucks the moisture out of everything.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 28, 2010)

As you discovered it's not a big deal if the seasoned wood gets wet, covered in snow or ice . . . just give the wood a few hours inside and they'll burn fine. Last year I was hauling in many a piece of wood that had chunks of ice or snow attached to it from being on the bottom of the stack of wood and in no time at all the wood was ice and snow-free and good to burn.


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## Battenkiller (Jan 28, 2010)

quads said:
			
		

> If the wood was seasoned long enough to being with, don't worry too much about surface dampness from rain/snow.  Throw it in the stove and that dampness will be gone in a flash.



Except....

.... Don't throw a split with a mega hunk of ice or snow still attached to it directly into a hot cast iron stove without melting it off first.  Extremes of temperature like that can crack the stove.  I've done it countless times before I found out it was a big no-no, and I always got away with it.  Only takes one time for it not to be OK, though.


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## quads (Jan 28, 2010)

Battenkiller said:
			
		

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Yes, that could be a concern possibly, especially with thinner/cheaper cast iron.  No worries here.  My stove is steel.  And it's a 7 cubic foot firebox, so nothing ever touches the sides anyway.


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## ikessky (Jan 28, 2010)

I threw some more in last night and checked it later.  The snow and ice was gone in a matter of a few hours.  Surface was dry to the touch this morning.


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## Battenkiller (Jan 28, 2010)

quads said:
			
		

> No worries here.  My stove is steel.  And it's a 7 cubic foot firebox, so nothing ever touches the sides anyway.



7 cu.ft.?   That's not a stove, Quads, that's a crematory!


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## quads (Jan 29, 2010)

Battenkiller said:
			
		

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Ha!  Possibly.


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## Shari (Jan 29, 2010)

quads said:
			
		

> No worries here.  My stove is steel.  And it's a 7 cubic foot firebox, so nothing ever touches the sides anyway.



Sheesh, Quads!  Did you recycle an old silo and fab up your own stove?   

Shari


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## quads (Jan 29, 2010)

Shari said:
			
		

> quads said:
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Half a silo.

Not really!  It was bought new in about 1970 in Wisconsin Rapids, which I believe is where it was also made.  It's much like a Fisher.


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## Bootlegger (Jan 29, 2010)

My seasoned wood sits uncovered until it comes up to my backdoor rack.  When it does come in the house wet it burns just fine.  I also usually bring in the next load and leave it next to the stove during the burn cycle and its dry and ready to go 4-6 hours later when its time to load it.


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## ikessky (Jan 29, 2010)

Thanks for all the replies!  I was getting nervous because I have to go away on business next week and my wife insists that she can run the wood furnace while I'm gone.  It's not hard, but I didn't want to leave a bunch of wet wood for her to deal with.


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