Drying Snow Covered Wood

[barn burner]

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.

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

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.

 

[snowleopard]

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.

 

[gyrfalcon]

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.

 

[gyrfalcon]

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.

 

[Fredo]

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

 

[Lumber-Jack]

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.

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

There is no comparison to bld. lumber and firewood.

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?

 

[Lumber-Jack]

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.

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

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.

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.

 

[ruserious2008]

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.

 

[gyrfalcon]

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.

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.

 

[firecracker_77]

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.

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