Is it necessary to cover in "off" season??

Boozie said:

I just moved some firewood I had left over to the other side of my large concrete patio. It is stacked in a metal log rack and the excess on treated wood laying on stacks of firebrick. I had pulled the tarp off the wood and had started to move the wood. Another project came up and it rained on the wood before I got it moved or covered back up. OK, now that I have it moved do I cover it while it is a bit damp? Do I wait til it dries out again? Do I need to cover it at all? I see my neighbor has his seasoning wood stacked outside all the time with no cover on it.

Barb

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Hi Barb;


If it's wood that will not be used until the next heating season I wOOd leave it uncovered, the only wood we have covered is some that we might use this week.





Zap

what Zap said or +1

I leave my wood uncovered right until the first snow, then I just cover what Im using for that year, I dont like the hassle of snow and ice on my splits.

Barb, it is good to see you post again.

The way I've always looked at this is that wood is not a sponge (unless it is punky) and it won't soak up the moisture. The water will just run off of it and the surface may be wet but that dries super fast once it is done raining. I have lots of wood out there now that is uncovered and lots more that is covered on the top but the covered stuff is all over a year in the stack.

Barb, the stove is hot right now! Most of the uncovered wood is what we cut this past winter. I'll leave it uncovered until probably early November or early December. Then I'll lay galvanized roofing on the top.

I would let it dry out uncovered for as long as you can. Here in California it hardly rains all Summer so I leave uncovered. If it rains a lot where you are, I would not let it get soaked, so cover it if you know it's going to be a wet period. A little surface moisture will dry out quickly, though, in the heat.

Uncovered is fine. My stacks remain uncovered all the time. What I will be burning for the season is either in the wood shed or covered in the wood racks by the deck furing winter. But even the racks by the deck stay uncovered all summer long, the get covered up a few weeks before burning season begins.

Shawn

jimosufan said:

what Zap said or +1

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+1 again

Mine is all uncovered. I sometimes wish I had it covered when it gets snowy, but I don't worry about rain. I think unless you have a nice open shed or a rigid cover, covering the wood is more likely to do harm (keep the wood damp) than good (keep the rain off).

Interesting "consensus" about leaving stacks uncovered. Reading references pertaining to lumber industry, uncovered storage of finished product is a last resort. Higher quality product merits better protection from rain. (Ash & locust is highest here.)
Air drying of lumber generally merits shed roofing over the stickered stacks (sorry, couldn't help myself) to keep sun from damaging top layers AND "to keep rain and snow off the stacks." (per Ed Williston,"Lumber Manufacturing")
Since wetting is opposite of drying, tarps on top work here.

We are not dealing with lumber.

I am thorughly convinced that covering keeps dirt and debris from collecting on the wood. Dirt then retains moisture and attracts bugs. From my little experience, covered wood is dryer and much cleaner.

oldspark said:

We are not dealing with lumber.

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Okay. I'll bite. What are we dealing with?

Not chopped liver obviously. Wood fiber is wood fiber, and lignin is lignin. Did I miss something?

(Trying to be nice responding to clearly "not intended to be factual" comment.)

MDfireguy said:

I am thorughly convinced that covering keeps dirt and debris from collecting on the wood. Dirt then retains moisture and attracts bugs. From my little experience, covered wood is dryer and much cleaner.

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Now, if I could only convince a friend that it doesn't help to cover a stack with carpet scraps. She's going for the camouflage effect, and feeding it to fireplace anyway.

If I had lumber it is already dry and would want to keep it that way, firewood needs to be dried.

MDfireguy said:

I am thorughly convinced that covering keeps dirt and debris from collecting on the wood. Dirt then retains moisture and attracts bugs. From my little experience, covered wood is dryer and much cleaner.

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I think this is the main reason to cover wood stacks - to keep stuff, particularly fall leaves - out of the stacks. I see a lot of wood that is stacked under trees and after a couple of years, enough leaves have accumulated to create something close to soil in the top couple of layers of splits, and those top splits are rotten. In those stacks, the wood near the top is often in worse shape than wood below (although wood resting on the ground is always the worst).

My wood is not stacked near trees, so few leaves get into the stacks and uncovered is fine. If I was under trees, I'd cover to keep leaves out. Rain runs right through the stacks, leaves don't.

I don't bother covering my wood for the first year or two . . . but it does go in the woodshed for another year . . . or two . . . before use. No issues with bugs, moisture or dirt . . . some debris, evidence of mice nests, etc. but nothing that affects the quality of my wood.

To chime in a little, my past and current observation on my stuff could indicate that if a plastic cover is draped over the wood, and it's in a shady spot, mushrooms could grow from the ends of the wood. Still planning on burning it this winter, but just saying.

I like rigid tops that shed water and don't drape over the sides. As far as I can tell, on my stacked pallets I simply want to keep masses of water from pouring down the middle.

My wood is still uncovered, but I have an eye on covering it in another month or two for the remainder of the year.

Boozie said:

I just moved some firewood I had left over to the other side of my large concrete patio. It is stacked in a metal log rack and the excess on treated wood laying on stacks of firebrick. I had pulled the tarp off the wood and had started to move the wood. Another project came up and it rained on the wood before I got it moved or covered back up. OK, now that I have it moved do I cover it while it is a bit damp? Do I wait til it dries out again? Do I need to cover it at all? I see my neighbor has his seasoning wood stacked outside all the time with no cover on it.

Barb

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Unless you put it in the equivalent of a giant zip-loc bag I wouldn't worry about it one way or the other

I was not planning on covering next year's wood while it seasons....but, if this weather continues to be so wet I may cover them sometime in the summer after a dry out spell for a few months before moving to the shed.

I think a major benefit of covering the top only, is that the bugs are not as happy. My understanding is that the bugs need moisture so dry wood is less condusive to infestation. I have a 30 x 15 tarp that covers about 6 rows of stacked wood. Need to unpack my other tarp soon due to the recent scrounging efforts.