Top Covering Done Right

Highbeam said:

I live in wet western WA and have found that top covering with plastic leads to wet wood. The water runs down the sides of the splits and keeps them wet. Farther down you go, the wetter it is. Rain doesn't just fall down it blows sideways.

Metal roofing is much better because it hangs over and extends beyond the wood. Weigh it down so the metal doesn't blow away. Still, the bottom portion of the stacks will get wet from windblown rain.

A woodshed is the answer. Only needs to be big enough for one year's wood but a shed divided in half with each half large enough for a full winter's wood is ideal. Then you can skip the lame covering issues.

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highbeam: do you then leave your stacks uncovered for a year of seasoning before moving them into the shed for the next year?

this is my first year burning wood (started collecting in august). my plastic covering seems to be fine so far. my stacks are next to a cedar fence (property line) so i think the overall wind is lower there. not great for air circulation, but seems to be okay for keeping the worst of the pacific NW ferocity off the wood.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/where-to-stack-next-what-would-you-do.153232/

iron said:

highbeam: do you then leave your stacks uncovered for a year of seasoning before moving them into the shed for the next year?

this is my first year burning wood (started collecting in august). my plastic covering seems to be fine so far. my stacks are next to a cedar fence (property line) so i think the overall wind is lower there. not great for air circulation, but seems to be okay for keeping the worst of the pacific NW ferocity off the wood.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/where-to-stack-next-what-would-you-do.153232/

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No wood shed yet for me. I leave the stacks uncovered (over two years) until the fall before I plan to burn that wood and then I top cover. The metal roofing works much better than the 6 mil plastic.

The wood top covered with either plastic or metal is good enough to burn but with the cat stove I really notice the difference that dry wood makes. Since I have a non-cat stove also, I save wetter pieces for the non-cat. They dry out faster than green wood once brought inside the barn but they sometimes still hiss.

If you are going to top cover only, I really like Jason753's rack method in this thread: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/my-drying-racks.153913/

His racks are build single width and with metal roofing screwed on top of the racks so that you don't have to shuffle the covers around when you use the wood or add wood. It's nearly as effective as a shed and probably a good solution for a lot of climates. And being single wide there is not excuse for insufficient air flow, although it would take a lot more space that way.

I've had good luck with lumber tarps stapled to the top row of splits. As someone else mentioned, folding the tarp/plastic over itself a few times helps keep it from ripping through.

jeffesonm said:

I've had good luck with lumber tarps stapled to the top row of splits. As someone else mentioned, folding the tarp/plastic over itself a few times helps keep it from ripping through.

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Ive heard lots of people trying this with pretty good success but Ive never actually asked for any at the lumber store. Maybe I should satisfy my curiosity.

The first 10 years I was burning deadfalls and tops from before we bought the property. Built a shed that held a little over 3 bush cords. Then we added another house and started cutting live trees so I built two more sheds which were roof and back wall only. The first year I used a wood processor and filled the sheds in April with wood from logs cut the summer before. A lot of sizzle in the fireplace.
The next year I blocked the logs in the summer, then split and filled the sheds the following spring. When I went to use the wood, mostly maple, birch etc I found that the second row in was all moldy on the ends. It is being burnt in an OWB so it works fine but I wouldn't want that mold in a house....
Ideal would be to stack and dry it, then move it to the sheds, then carry it to the OWB with the tractor but that is a couple more steps ....

I've found this thread interesting since I have my own covering woes. I prefer to top cover it all. I have a "ready to burn" shed by the house that holds 2 chords. The rest (10 chords) is on pallets with tarps. I like the milk jug idea, but have found something I plan to use exclusively. Purchased 4.5'X16'X3/16" rubber roofing roll ($40) at the restore this winter for my oak stack. Just finished splitting and stacking yesterday and rolled the stuff on. Barring a tornado this stuff is not coming off as the total weight was almost several hundred pounds. Laid a few 4X4's on top and it's good. Totally waterproof and no way a stout wind is even budging it. I know others do this and I will be going back for more.

I cannot imagine how rotted my 6 year old wood would be if not top covered. I use $7 sheets of OSB which are tarped. much cheaper than a shed and almost as good.

fire_man said:

I cannot imagine how rotted my 6 year old wood would be if not top covered. I use $7 sheets of OSB which are tarped. much cheaper than a shed and almost as good.

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This sounds decent to me. Just using plywood on long runs means that each 8' section allows for water to infiltrate unless your real good at your sloping. Covering the plywood with tarps would be a good solution to this although as you remove wood your tarps would be frozen to the osb. My double rows of 18 inches would mean Im going to use more plywood since I cant get 2 pieces out of a 4 x 8 that would do the trick.

7acres said:

Well I purchased 100' X 10' of black 6 mil plastic to cover my stacks. I cut it down the middle so I had 2 5' wide pieces. I top covered my loooong stack (probably 75' long) and my short stack (~20'). I stack on pallets three splits deep. That makes for pretty much exactly 5' wide front to back. I was doubtful the splits I put on top to act as paperweights would hold it down in high wind.

Well today we got high wind. And my covers blew off. The thought occurred to me last week that a nice solution might be to staple it down to the wood (with a plastic card in between so the wind wouldn't just pop the plastic right through the staple). And have staples every 2' the entire circumference. Is that a good idea? Do you have an even better idea?

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I'm a firm believer in top cover in the following way. I probably got the 50'x3' clear plastic. I keep two cords on 32' of landscape timbers, single stacked. I roll and unfold the plastic and pull the sides down equally about 8". Then I staple the sides about every two feet. We get plenty of high winds here in Dayton, and the stuff stays on. And it lasts for many years. I keep 3.5 cords under a carport, and I keep 4.5 cords in a woodshed.

It's just impossible to predict what you're going to need perfectly, so I definitely support going with a soft, cheap solution until you can be pretty sure about the best system. I built my woodshed and I sure do wish I'd figured out how to get access to the back and why didn't I move it three feet to the right???

Take your time.

fire_man said:

I cannot imagine how rotted my 6 year old wood would be if not top covered. I use $7 sheets of OSB which are tarped. much cheaper than a shed and almost as good.

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I cannot not imagine storing 6 years worth of wood.

Vikestand said:

I cannot not imagine storing 6 years worth of wood.

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Yep, me too.

If you are 6 years ahead, you can stop cutting and go do something else for a while. Either that, or start selling it.