# Non-Tarp Wood Stack Covers: Where to Source?



## Mass. Wine Guy (Sep 30, 2010)

I have several wood racks in my back yard with hard woods. Some is quite seasoned, some is nearly there and needs another couple of months, and some is pretty green. I know that some people don't ever cover their wood, but I'm not a believer. I wouldn't mind leaving the piles uncovered until sometime in November or so. 

Eventually, I want to cover my wood but not with tarps, which are a PITA. Some here have mentioned corrugated steel roofing. Is this easy to find? I also like the idea of corrugated plastic or fiberglass, but here too, where do I find this?

I'd be grateful for your help.


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## Wood Duck (Sep 30, 2010)

Not a believer?? I don't cover wood and never will!! OK, I guess I would if I had a convenient way to do so. Check out your local builder's supply. There are several types of fairly heavy corrugated roofing other than metal that are offered for sale anyplace wood is sold. I think the main concern will be keeping the roofing in place in the wind, so only heavy stuff will do unless you plan to tie or weight it down. Metal is heavy, but that probably makes it a pain to move. Maybe you could use something a little lighter and add weights.


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## nate379 (Sep 30, 2010)

Probably would work better to use plywood instead.


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## kobudo (Sep 30, 2010)

I use treated plywood.  Rip it down the middle and you have two 2'X8' wood pile roofs ready to go.  Put a couple of stones on top in case the wind picks up.


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## SolarAndWood (Sep 30, 2010)

I'd like to see what would happen if someone put pallets on top of their stacks and fastened the tarps or rolled roofing to the top of the pallets.  Seems like you might be able to get the airflow benefit and keep control of the tarps in the wind.


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## Got Wood (Sep 30, 2010)

I helped a friend take down his mom's above the ground pool. The siding of the pool was metal and 4 foot wide, even painted brown on the outside - perfect for covering a pallet width stack. I cut to the length of the stacks and put rocks and/or "uglies" on top to keep it there during windy days. Its worked well thus far. I did have a couple blow offs early on w/o weighting it down. I still have tarps top covering a few stacks but the metal is much much better.


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## Skier76 (Sep 30, 2010)

Got Wood said:
			
		

> I helped a friend take down his mom's above the ground pool. The siding of the pool was metal and 4 foot wide, even painted brown on the outside - perfect for covering a pallet width stack. I cut to the length of the stacks and put rocks and/or "uglies" on top to keep it there during windy days. Its worked well thus far. I did have a couple blow offs early on w/o weighting it down. I still have tarps top covering a few stacks but the metal is much much better.



That's a great idea. My inlaws have an above ground pool and I have a feeling they'll take it down eventually.


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## Slow1 (Sep 30, 2010)

I've been using tarps.  Seems that the damage to them comes mostly from rubbing or flapping of the tarps.  

I had one tarp secured on a pile for a year as a bit of an unscientific experiment to see if I could tell any difference in drying rate (I couldn't).  That was not a particularly heavy duty tarp but it lasted fine - no new holes (It already had some before I started).  To secure it I simple stapled it to the splits all around the edge.  Since it was nice and tight no wind flapping happened.  

My active pile last year I covered with a slightly heavier duty (and larger) tarp.  To fasten this one down I hung larger splits or small rounds from various points using bungie cords.  This worked reasonably well - it blew up a couple times and I had to go pull it down after storms (the cords slipped or whatever - somehow didn't hold).  The other problem with this approach is that the whole tarp seems to like to shift/slide to one side or the other depending one how much weight was hanging from it.  Annoying to have to fix.

This year I've gone ahead and stapled my big tarp over the top of the main pile to burn this winter (the "Wood Borg" cube).  I'll just open up one corner/end as needed and use a bungied split hanging off that edge to hold it down and see how well that works for me.

My biggest problem with the tarps though is that I don't have a good way of keeping them tight enough to keep puddles from forming on top - during fall mosquitoes can breed in there, during winter I get ice pools which are annoying at a minimum.

I don't find that the staples damage the tarp much - I go through the reinforced edges and unless there is a lot of strain it doesn't seem to hurt the plastic.  On removal I make sure it is a warm day (really cold tarps do tear/break easier it seems) and then pull the staples out with pliers if possible or pull evenly with the tarp material on both sides of the staple and straight out to get it to come out.  If a staple or two remains (i.e. one end pulls out and other sides stays in wood) and I leave it in there I don't think it will hurt the stove, perhaps a hazard on handling the wood, but relatively minor overall.


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## bogydave (Sep 30, 2010)

I did the tarp thing for years. Now I have a shed, well a roof I guess is more accurate, no sides or back.
The wind always took/tore/shredded/mangled/ tangled,  well you get the picture. (we get serious winds)

+2 on just use painted CDX plywood, but wind is still going to reek havoc.
Throw some 6'  2X2s together for legs &  on the plywood & you have a roof (tall table) & don't have to remove it every time you get wood.
Stake the legs down good & solid or nail to the pallets, now you have end  braces to stack wood against, Good to go at minimum cost & effort.
Make 2 or 3 of them as long a 2 pallets.

Good to go at minimum cost & effort.


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## Shari (Sep 30, 2010)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> I'd like to see what would happen if someone put pallets on top of their stacks and fastened the tarps or rolled roofing to the top of the pallets.  Seems like you might be able to get the airflow benefit and keep control of the tarps in the wind.



You mean like I did last year? 







("Fall" view above.)






("Winter" view above.)

There are pallets on top of my wood stacks.  My tarps may be down a little lower than some people might suggest but the wood was fully seasoned so tarped like this is my 'imitation wood shed'.  The length of conduit acts as a handle to lift the tarp and lay it on top of the upper pallet when pulling out wood.  

Worked well last year - plan on doing the same this year.  

By the way, tarps come off in the Spring/Summer.  Pallets can stay up there.

Shari


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## Backhoe (Sep 30, 2010)

I use pallets to build cubes and put the wood in the cubes.  To cover the cubes I found used vinyl siding on Craigslist for free and screwed that down to the top pallet, or in some cases, just put some logs on top of the vinyl siding to hold it in place.  I build the cubes so there is a taper from left to right for water drainage.  It's cheap and worked pretty well for me for several years.


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## SolarAndWood (Sep 30, 2010)

Shari said:
			
		

> You mean like I did last year?
> 
> Worked well last year - plan on doing the same this year.
> 
> ...



I like it...how much wind do you get?  Are the tarps fastened or just draped and weighted?


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## Shari (Sep 30, 2010)

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> Shari said:
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> ...



Well, we can get winds 30+ miles per hour with temps down to the minus 30's.  Either last year or the year before we got 112+ inches of snow also.  

Tarps are tied and then bungee cords are are spaced around the stacks and hooked to the grommets.  Each bungee cord is run through the handle of a recycled milk gallon filled with water for 'down' weight.  

The 'opening side' of which ever stack I'm pulling wood from has a length of conduit on the 'down wind' side, the conduit giving enough 'down' weight to keep the tarp in place.  Have not lost a tarp to wind yet.  

I also have a grommet 'setter' so I can add grommets where ever they are needed.

Shari


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## SolarAndWood (Sep 30, 2010)

Cool thanks.  I used the gallon jugs on the sailboat cover but never thought of it for the wood stacks for some reason.


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## Ratman (Oct 1, 2010)

For some of my stacks I use old metal shelving which I picked-up free from Craigslist.
Don't need to be anchored or weighed down since they are heavy enough.


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## JustWood (Oct 1, 2010)

Craigslist ad for used metal roofing.
Sit in front of the scrap yard on Saturday morning waiting for someone with what you need and offer a few bucks before they cross the scale.


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 1, 2010)

Mass. Wine Guy said:
			
		

> I have several wood racks in my back yard with hard woods. Some is quite seasoned, some is nearly there and needs another couple of months, and some is pretty green. I know that some people don't ever cover their wood, but I'm not a believer. I wouldn't mind leaving the piles uncovered until sometime in November or so.
> 
> Eventually, I want to cover my wood but not with tarps, which are a PITA. Some here have mentioned corrugated steel roofing.* Is this easy to find*? I also like the idea of corrugated plastic or fiberglass, but here too, where do I find this?
> 
> I'd be grateful for your help.



It is not necessarily easy to find but it pays to stay on the lookout. I scored more this past summer when our township wanted an old building that was in one of the cemeteries torn down. So I spent a day tearing down this building and not only did I get some good old galvanized roofing, I also scored on a bunch of good 2 x 4's, a few 2 x 6's and some nice looking barnwood.

Then we put up a building, or had one put up for us. When they got near the end of the job I casually mentioned they would not have to haul back the scrap metal and they were happy to oblige. I got a nice score from that one! Maybe I'll get some pictures.


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## madrone (Oct 1, 2010)

Nice Shari. Also fools wood thieves. "Where'd the wood go? It was over there somewhere by that big rectangular pile of leaves."


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## billb3 (Oct 1, 2010)

I got galvanized  corrugated roofing from Lowes to replace a  roll roof rotten plywood shed roof.
I'm going to have to disassemble and move that roof this fall and being screwed to laths should make that easier.

I also removed a porch roof that was made of corrugated fiberglass panels. So I use those with either rocks or splits holding them in place. They don't blow too far away the few times they've gotten loose. They tend to crack and break though not being fastened securely like they would be on a real roof.



I've had tarps on pallets  and found some carpet pieces ( or even old clothes)  stapled at the corners helped with chafing and ripping there. Especially with cheaper tarps. Snow on top helps with the ripping, too, but we get mostly rain here- even at the end of many snow storms - makes for a slushy frozen mess - and why I tend to cover things. 

Some plywood pieces with some holes drilled in corners to pass some rope to weight down with water bottles or concrete blocks or tied down to the pallets the splits are stacked on  works, too.


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## AKSHADOW (Oct 1, 2010)

I was in the hardware store the other day and saw canvas oil-skin tarps that are water-resistant and are also quite heavy for a tarp, seems like wind would have a hard time moving it
(at least compared to other plastic tarps and obviously enough wind could move anything)


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## Slow1 (Oct 1, 2010)

Just curious here - all you folks using plywood or other solid roofing materials.  Has anyone tried screwing these types of material into the stacks instead of putting splits or rocks on top of the 'roof'?  I realize that you would have to put quite a few into different splits all over the place, but it seems the weight would help keep the roof down and would be less likely to slide off from sheer force of wind thus requiring the wind to actually lift the roof off.  More work, but if you are going to leave it for months or years, why not?

I'm watching for some free recycle-able material of this sort to put on my stacks and am debating if I would try this approach so looking to see if it has been tried...


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## madrone (Oct 1, 2010)

I'm using metal roofing on part of my stacks. I've also thought about screwing them down. Makes sense if you're not getting into it for a while. I don't have the space to leave stacks for that long, so I prefer weighing down with chunk wood. In the future, I'll build a dedicated drying rack for the first stage, before they go into the shed, that has a roof attached.


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## WoodPorn (Oct 1, 2010)

You can find fiberglass/plastic corrugated roofing at HD or Lowes, kind of pricey though. The best "tarp" methods I have found is scrap rubber roofing (very heavy) and used vinyl billboard signs (again very heavy) you can find these on ebay. I have yet to have to weight down either of these methods.


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## branchburner (Oct 1, 2010)

madrone said:
			
		

> I'm using metal roofing on part of my stacks. I've also thought about screwing them down. Makes sense if you're not getting into it for a while. I don't have the space to leave stacks for that long, so I prefer weighing down with chunk wood.



I switched from using chunk wood as a weight to using hardwood pallets to hold down my roofing tin. Works good, still uglier than a nice naked pile of wood.


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## precaud (Oct 2, 2010)

I use APP modified bitumen roll roofing to cover mine. I buy rolls that have crushed ends from Home Depot for half off, and cut them into the piece sizes I need. It's a perfect combo of waterproof, flexible enough, stiff enough, heavy enough, and durable.


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## Shari (Oct 4, 2010)

My top pallets are just sitting up there - not screwed down or anything.

Shari


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## westkywood (Oct 4, 2010)

Rubber roofing. It gets tore off buildings and thrown away. It does them a favor for someone to haul it off. I got 3 truckloads last time.. Its heavy, lasts for many years, cuts easy and its FREE...


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## Battenkiller (Oct 4, 2010)

Slow1 said:
			
		

> I had one tarp secured on a pile for a year as a bit of an unscientific experiment to see if I could tell any difference in drying rate (I couldn't).



Just curious, what method did you use to determine the drying rates?  How long a period of time did you keep records for?  Seems to me that covering would make little difference in drying rates in the beginning when the wood is very wet, but just might make a difference at the end when you are bringing it down to the final stages of dryness.

As far as covering material, you might drive around the country looking for stacks of old roofing on farms nearby.  Farmers around here are pretty smart, thrifty too.  Never throw anything out.  Maybe you can score some beat up used metal roofing for a few bucks just so they can get something out of it.  You'll need to weight it down, though.  A good, strong wind can pick the stuff up and send it off like a kite.


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 4, 2010)

Slow1 said:
			
		

> Just curious here - all you folks using plywood or other solid roofing materials.  Has anyone tried screwing these types of material into the stacks instead of putting splits or rocks on top of the 'roof'?  I realize that you would have to put quite a few into different splits all over the place, but it seems the weight would help keep the roof down and would be less likely to slide off from sheer force of wind thus requiring the wind to actually lift the roof off.  More work, but if you are going to leave it for months or years, why not?
> 
> I'm watching for some free recycle-able material of this sort to put on my stacks and am debating if I would try this approach so looking to see if it has been tried...



Slow, I have thought about doing this but have not done so yet. It seems that every year after splitting all the wood I have so many odd shaped splits or maybe some stuff I cut too long or whatever so I just throw it on top. I have not had any of the roofing blow off yet....but it has came close a few times.


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## Slow1 (Oct 5, 2010)

Battenkiller said:
			
		

> Slow1 said:
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> ...



Very poor 'method' - hardly an experiment at all.  I had the oak stacked green and I covered it with the tarp (stapled around the edges - looked a bit like a shower cap in a way).  This had the benefit of keeping leaves from working their way in as well as keeping rain from filtering into the stack - this was a 4'x8'x5' stack that was pretty solid.  I also had a few other stacks uncovered that were otherwise built in much the same manner.  After about a full year I re-stacked the piles (part of my stock rotation) and in so doing I re-split pieces and stuck the MM into them to see how dry they were.  I had expected to see a significant difference and I didn't really - all the oak was running around 30% whichever stack it came from. 

Now mind you I don't consider this conclusive either way - there are so many areas that I can find fault in the methods in the test.  For starters I didn't take good control measurements of all stacks so I don't know how much was lost in one stack vs another - it may well be that the covered did in fact lose more than the others.  Also, if you were to look at where my piles were the covered stack was more under cover (less sun) than the others so that could certainly make a difference.  Split sizes were not normalized (as a whole the covered stack had larger splits and many rounds).  Then of course the wood came from different trees and was split at different times etc... However, I still had expected (hoped?) to find a 5-10% difference in drying rate.  What I did walk away from it knowing is that the red oak was certainly not going to be ready after 12 months stacked in that location and in that manner.  I re-stacked that pile into single split rows with space (small though it is -about 12") between them and am leaving it for another year - I also have re-split it all to my preferred size and cut all of it down to 16" length (some was 24") so it should be ready for next year... (oh and it is now uncovered).



			
				Battenkiller said:
			
		

> As far as covering material, you might drive around the country looking for stacks of old roofing on farms nearby.  Farmers around here are pretty smart, thrifty too.  Never throw anything out.  Maybe you can score some beat up used metal roofing for a few bucks just so they can get something out of it.  You'll need to weight it down, though.  A good, strong wind can pick the stuff up and send it off like a kite.



I may have to try this - although not a lot of farmers too near me, very suburban around here.  If there are farmers near me they have managed to blend in well.  I'm watching CL to see what comes up although not sure what key words will hit for me - roofing, siding, etc.

What is very important for me is appearance.  Since all my stacks are very visible to neighbors and from the street I have to keep things looking as good as possible.  All my tarps (when I use them) are brown.  I stack as neat as possible to be sure nothing is an eyesore.  I don't know how many supporters I'd have if someone were to try and go after my burning/stacks/etc in the town as I don't see others around me who appear to be 24/7 burners.  

Thus recycled materials as great as they are would have to be in good shape and not look like scrap.  How I secure them is important - screwing them to the top of the piles is better than tossing anything on top to 'just hold them' as that simply has a different 'look' than a clean line.  All my stacks are on the property line so I can't make sheds out of them either (offset requirements).  If I were to build sheds and follow offsets then I'd have no yard and likely have stacks too close to my home for comfort for risk of bugs.  Can't have it all when living in small lots eh?


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 27, 2010)

I liked the idea of the rubber roofing material.  I have a flat roof for my office building and my roofer keeps wanting me to replace it.  It is big bucks so I have been putting it off and making repairs for now.  However I did ask him if he ever had good scraps and he said he does all the time and next week was replacing a rubber roof that was not that old.  He uses them on his stacks too.  Sure enough he called and I got a truckload and I might get more.  This stuff looks ideal, you can easily cut it to size, ideal water repelent, strong but flexible enought to mold to the shape of the woodpile with a littler overlap to keep the water off the sides better.  I will post pictures when I get them locked and loaded.


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## WoodPorn (Oct 27, 2010)

GOOD SCORE!! 
Make sure you support the middle or rain/snow WILL sink it right down in between the rows (unless you stack single row)


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 27, 2010)

WoodPorn said:
			
		

> GOOD SCORE!!
> Make sure you support the middle or rain/snow WILL sink it right down in between the rows (unless you stack single row)



Good idea, I guess I could go a couple of rows higher in the middle (most of my wood is on pallets).  We got a big rain last night so I will probably get started this evening.  Some of these pieces are big enough I could probably even put a roof over my Holtz Hauzen.  That would be interesting, but might ruin the look.  I never considered myself that green but I guess this is a good form of recycling.


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## WoodPorn (Oct 27, 2010)

I thought the idea behind  a Holtz Hausen was to create a chimney effect and draw the air in and up through the center (theoretically). If this is the case the rubber may not be a good idea. I could be wrong,.......... just ask my wife!


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## oldspark (Oct 27, 2010)

65 mph winds today here, would turn metal roofing into an "odd job" (Goldfinger) hat!


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 27, 2010)

WoodPorn said:
			
		

> I thought the idea behind  a Holtz Hausen was to create a chimney effect and draw the air in and up through the center (theoretically). If this is the case the rubber may not be a good idea. I could be wrong,.......... just ask my wife!



I was thinking of putting on the HH after the wood is already seasoned and waiting for its firey death.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 27, 2010)

WoodPorn said:
			
		

> I thought the idea behind  a Holtz Hausen was to create a chimney effect and draw the air in and up through the center (theoretically). If this is the case the rubber may not be a good idea. I could be wrong,.......... just ask my wife!



I've built two Holz Mietes . . . and personally I would be skeptical of any type of "chimney effect" happening . . . now in terms of providing a unique way to store a decent amount of wood in a small foot print . . . sure . . . but I'm not so sure that the chimney effect is happening here.


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 27, 2010)

I am with you Jake.  Never saw any smoke coming out of my HH chimney.  Now when I build one I find the center is a conveinent place to throw the odd sized pieces etc.  You cannot beat the look of HH if it is built right, but chimney efffect, don't bother to stack vertical in my opinion.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 27, 2010)

GolfandWoodNut said:
			
		

> I am with you Jake.  Never saw any smoke coming out of my HH chimney.  Now when I build one I find the center is a conveinent place to throw the odd sized pieces etc.  You cannot beat the look of HH if it is built right, but chimney efffect, don't bother to stack vertical in my opinion.



I do the same . . . my chunks, punks and uglies go into the center hole . . . nice way to "stack" them.


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