Help needed with covering wood stacks - Plastic.

[DexterDay]

I only cover for Snow. Nov-April

That's why I made note of the T-posts leaning outwards. Unless in a ventilated shed. I wouldn't cover year round either.

Pics to come soon. Will edit them here.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

Since I can only keep 2 years worth of wood at my home at a time, I cover just the tops of my stacks with clear plastic. The following years (to about 2017ish) are stacked in crude rows offsite and have no coverings right now. The wood at home is dry and ready to use. The plastic is held down by splits about 2-3 ft apart and rolled down the end of the stack slightly. The wind doesn't bother it much.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

My wood splits that are fairly new, in the sun and wind and split small, i can tell they are drying, changed color, getting a hollow sound when you knock on them. Here is my question, when a piece of wood is on its way to drying and it gets rained on, how does that affect the dryness level when it gets sunny and dries back out. I'm asking this because I'm trying to keep the plastic off as much as possible and putting it on when rain is called for, but it rained heavily today, I came home and the top wood was saturated, are you going backwards in the drying process or does it really not matter?

 

[bogydave]

Like some here, I used to use tarps,
but they never made it thru a winter.

Plastic below zero is brittle,cracks & splits,

I built a shed
& don't cover the stacks out back seasoning . Would like to, but nothing would make it thru the winter.
I stack double rows because the wind will blow over single rows.
IMO not covering them work well.
Then to the shed when ready.

 

[MrWhoopee]

My wood splits that are fairly new, in the sun and wind and split small, i can tell they are drying, changed color, getting a hollow sound when you knock on them. Here is my question, when a piece of wood is on its way to drying and it gets rained on, how does that affect the dryness level when it gets sunny and dries back out. I'm asking this because I'm trying to keep the plastic off as much as possible and putting it on when rain is called for, but it rained heavily today, I came home and the top wood was saturated, are you going backwards in the drying process or does it really not matter?

When I lived in town, I had my almond wood dumped in the front yard and kept it uncovered. I would fill the rack on the porch, which held about 2 weeks worth of wood, when the weather had been dry for a few days. Never had any problems with wet wood. In short, I don't think rain wetting penetrates very deeply because water wicks along the grain rather than across it. I have cut standing dead oak, dead enough too have lost all it's bark, which was quite wet 10 ft. above ground. I assume that was due to wicking action up through the grain. If you stack your wood on end, rain might be a problem.

I'd like to see some moisture content measurements regarding this.

Edit: This is in California, where rain is rare and humidity very low thru the summer months, YMMV

 

[HDRock]

I had some pieces of dry wood, 3-4in dia, that by accident were floating in a tub of water about a month, took em out set em out in the open, after a couple of weeks of nice weather, I split and checked em , they were 18% MC , It was chilly that night and they burned just fine in the stove.

My stacks are uncovered now but I will cover the tops soon, just to keep all the sticks, leafs n crap out of the stacks.

Pallets on top is not a bad idea.

Tarps from last winter are in good shape, but I will have a lot more wood stacked this year so , I think I will use plastic on what will be setting for a long time, as I have nothing else to use

I assume U guys buy the plastic in rolls but what mill thickness, will hold up ?

I do have a little of some roll roofing (Not felt), and was thinking of buying some more but ,I haven't checked what it would cost for what I need , and I am not sure it would work well and hold up.

 

[pyroholic]

It would be expensive but 3/4" exterior plywood cut in 2' strips.
about 8 bucks per strip. Drive a couple of nails into the top few
pieces of firewood. Hopefully not oak. Maybe an idea. I don't
cover until December with clear plastic.

You haven't priced plywood lately have you? 1/2" OSB is $18/sheet right now. I would guess treated 3/4" CDX must be over $30.

 

[Ashful]

Wood absorbs or releases moisture at a rate proportional to the difference between it's moisture content and relative humidity. Because the wood itself is heavy, even at 0% moisture content, it can only reach a certain maximum moisture content at saturation.

So, wood does absorb a small bit of water sitting out in a rain storm. However, knowing your wood takes 2 years to dry from 40% to 20% MC in an environment with average relative humidity of 68% (Philadelphia), you can be sure it's not going to absorb much moisture content with a day or two at 100% relative humidity (raining). With a day or two back at 60% RH, your wood's MC will be back where it started before the rain storm.

 

[Paulywalnut]

You haven't priced plywood lately have you? 1/2" OSB is $18/sheet right now. I would guess treated 3/4" CDX must be over $30.

well I was thinking cutting it in 4 strips 2 feet wide. 32..00 per sheet would be about 8.00 bucks for 4 -2 foot strips. It would eventually warp up in the weather 24/7 anyway.

 

[pyroholic]

well I was thinking cutting it in 4 strips 2 feet wide. 32..00 per sheet would be about 8.00 bucks for 4 -2 foot strips. It would eventually warp up in the weather 24/7 anyway.

I see... I was thinking you meant 2'x8' rips resulting in 2 strips per sheet.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

My wood splits that are fairly new, in the sun and wind and split small, i can tell they are drying, changed color, getting a hollow sound when you knock on them. Here is my question, when a piece of wood is on its way to drying and it gets rained on, how does that affect the dryness level when it gets sunny and dries back out. I'm asking this because I'm trying to keep the plastic off as much as possible and putting it on when rain is called for, but it rained heavily today, I came home and the top wood was saturated, are you going backwards in the drying process or does it really not matter?

Generally speaking, wood is not a sponge and will soak up very little moisture when it rains. We simply have never concerned ourselves with rain on the wood stacks. The top row definitely gets the brunt of the rain but that evaporates really fast; usually within 24 hours or less.

However, in some areas I understand why they want to cover their wood early. But I would never go to the trouble of covering and uncovering depending upon the weather. Once covered, it would stay covered.