Time to Cover Up

Nice Holzhaufen on the end of the shed!

Personally, I wouldn't have the plastic down the sides, I'd just cover the top. That condensation you might see would be additional moisture still leaving the logs. Let the air continue to flow through. A bit of rain wetting the log ends will dry quite quickly. Its the residual moisture deep in the wood you're trying to get rid of.

If it is truly dry, you shouldnt get condensation. Looks OK to me. Looks like alota hard work there. Nice job! :roll:

I did similar with 3.5 mil plastic and a lot of staples to a couple stacks I want to keep dry indefinitely (many years). We'll see how long it lasts, the black plastic tends to disintegrate in the sun in a few years, but maybe the clear will last longer. I have found that the wind isn't a problem if the plastic is attached lots of places and there aren't any lips or free-hanging sections for the wind to get under or grab. That's one reason to go all the way down to the pallets, the other is that those piles will be completely lost in snow come february.

Clear plastic tends to last shorter times than black when exposed to the weather - the UV in sunlight is a major degradation cause, and the black is put in to block the UV from the inner parts of the plastic. FWIW, my preference is the high grade silver tarps from HF - their "best" quality. They are much thicker than the blue jobs, and the HF silvers cost about as much as the local store blues. I've only been using them for about a year, so I don't know how long they will last, but I know that a blue would start looking a bit worn after just one winter covering my beehives, while a silver after one winter didn't seem to show any wear at all.

My wood goes into my covered, but open sided woodsheds as it's split, in the very late fall / early winter I hang tarps off the sides to keep snow from blowing in on the piles, but beyond that don't try to cover the sides.

Gooserider

Burn-1 said:

Nice Holzhaufen on the end of the shed!

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I second that! Good sized HH! Looks like it's bowing/bulging at the side tho...have you had a collapse yet?

Yep...I've had my fun re-stacking a collapsed HH...luckily they only partially fall apart and you can mend and rebuild without starting from scratch. I had my 8x7 give way just earlier today while trying to top it off...sigh. it's almost back to where it needs to be...they are fun to build until you get near the top...then they are tedious...I'm sure my wife loves watching me teeter on top of the HH trying to get the interior stacking properly! ;-)

This weekend has been about as perfect as it could be for drying wood. A nice steady breeze, lots of sun, and was down to 25% humidity (a little dry for me - but good for the wood). In the NE - I still wouldn't really be covering anything too much yet - lots of good drying days ahead.

I'd never put plastic over my wood,...it will reverse the drying effect. If one is in the dessert, they can make water with plastic,..oh well,..that is me!

detmurds said:

I'd never put plastic over my wood,...it will reverse the drying effect. If one is in the dessert, they can make water with plastic,..oh well,..that is me!

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You know, I did not think of that. I do not have a vapor barrier under the wood, just pallets over sandy dirt. Certainly seems possible that water could evaporate from the ground (wood is already dry) and condense inside the plastic. Would certainly defeat the purpose. I will have to check for signs of that next summer; this is the first time I've covered that completely. The ends are open, at least.