- Dec 9, 2009
- 1,495
I've asked this before, but never got a clear answer. In terms of protecting your buildings in an area where summer wildfire is a danger, how close to a house/garage is it safe to store wood? Anyone? Jake?
I'd like to keep my wood stacks 50-100 yards away, but I doubt my neighbors would go for me stacking my wood in their yards. So I keep it in my woodshed across the driveway from my back/side door, about 14 ft away from the house. I hope it never catches fire.TreePointer said:Wildfires really aren't a problem here, but we like to keep piles of wood, brush, etc. at least 50-100 yards from any building. This helps to keep the bugs, rodents, and other critters away. Of course, it helps to have that extra space on a farm.
When I first started doing firewood I was processing in the woods where I thought it was a good idea to keep the mess. Problem I was loosing wood to rot in one year. Then I got wise and move the operation out in the open. Now wood that can stay aired out will last what seems indefinitely. As time went on I learned more about it. It also applies to things we keep outside like brushhogs ect. Let weeds grow up around stuff and it will rot or rust away in a few years. Keep it away from a wooded area and keep the vegetation away and it will last 100yrs. Its all about eliminating the moisture trap. I use roundup all year around my wood pile and all my outdoor stored items to keep the vegetation away. Plus I would imagine the bare dirt theory may be another reason I see very little bugs in my wood. My neighbor stores his out in the open on pallets but has grass growing right next to the wood and the bugs eat his wood something fierce. Friend of mine bought a new brush hog and complained when the deck rotted in just a couple years. I said let me guess, it sitting in the weeds right, he said yes. My brushhog I've had for 15yrs sits outside all the time and except for a little paint fade is solid as the day I bought it. It works for wood too is my point. Some of the simplest solutions to life are just too easy.snowleopard said:I probably didn't make myself clear. I am thinking about where to locate the seasoning piles rather than the wood-du-jour, so I'm not worried about keeping the snow off the piles for easy grabbing during the winter. I've got some pallets they can sit on, and corrugated roofing to put on top of the piles. It will be sitting there for at least a couple of years--I'm thinking this through because I don't want to have to move the wood any more often than I must.
A woodshed would be a sweet amenity, but I'm on a sidehill and limited in level space near the back door. The under-deck storage was great--a few steps out the back door. I loaded a utility sled with splits, and pulled it into the sunroom to the interior wood rack, which held about three day's worth of wood. A couple of sled-loads filled that rack, and I was set.
Big difference for me will be having all this dry, split wood on hand and easy to reach. I figure that I'll have to refill that underdeck area two or three times over the course of the winter. Easy as pie.
Wkpoor, why the roundup? Are you trying to keep the weeds down so the wood will season faster? Or to keep bugs away? Also, you brought up something I've thought about regarding a wildfire. Not only could stacked wood make a fire move more easily to a house, but losing your firewood in a forest fire would be very painful indeed.
snowleopard said:I probably didn't make myself clear. I am thinking about where to locate the seasoning piles rather than the wood-du-jour, so I'm not worried about keeping the snow off the piles for easy grabbing during the winter. I've got some pallets they can sit on, and corrugated roofing to put on top of the piles. It will be sitting there for at least a couple of years--I'm thinking this through because I don't want to have to move the wood any more often than I must.
A woodshed would be a sweet amenity, but I'm on a sidehill and limited in level space near the back door. The under-deck storage was great--a few steps out the back door. I loaded a utility sled with splits, and pulled it into the sunroom to the interior wood rack, which held about three day's worth of wood. A couple of sled-loads filled that rack, and I was set.
Big difference for me will be having all this dry, split wood on hand and easy to reach. I figure that I'll have to refill that underdeck area two or three times over the course of the winter. Easy as pie.
Wkpoor, why the roundup? Are you trying to keep the weeds down so the wood will season faster? Or to keep bugs away? Also, you brought up something I've thought about regarding a wildfire. Not only could stacked wood make a fire move more easily to a house, but losing your firewood in a forest fire would be very painful indeed.
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