Covering The Wood

[BrotherBart]

"And the Lord said unto Isaiah 'Top cover thine wood from splitting til burning lest thy wood be required to be dried a multitude of times.'"

"And henceforth He looked upon Isaiah's top covered stacks, as dry as the desert bleached jaw bone of an ass, and saw that they were good."

 

[oldspark]

I just do what works you guys can do what ever you want.

 

[quads]

I just do what works you guys can do what ever you want.

+1 Ha ha!

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I season my wood out in the open, uncovered. After a couple of years of that, it's ready to go into the shed for the upcoming burning season. Fetching wood from a stack under a snow & ice covered tarp got really really old for me. Here's a pic of my "tarp". Rick

Ja, me too except I only cover the top, not the sides. Never been much of a problem.

LLigetfa, it looks like your shed has seasoned nicely as well as the wood. It has that beautiful gray look.

 

[precaud]

As said many times I top cover mine with rubber roofing

That's what I use too. It can be bought quite reasonably at HD if you pick your spots. I wait until I see a damaged roll - their mishandling sometimes crushes one end - and then ask for a discount on it. They typically come back with 10-25% off, I offer them 50% and they take it. Just got another one yesterday.

 

[BrotherBart]

As said many times I top cover mine with rubber roofing

That's what I use too. It can be bought quite reasonably at HD if you pick your spots. I wait until I see a damaged roll - their mishandling sometimes crushes one end - and then ask for a discount on it. They typically come back with 10-25% off, I offer them 50% and they take it. Just got another one yesterday.

You don't want to hear about me getting a 75' X 20' roll for five bucks because nobody at the landscape company bankruptcy auction but me knew what it was. :coolgrin:

 

[fossil]

I can tell you that a lot depends on where you live. I lived for 12 years in Northern Virginia, and the annual rainfall, snowfall and average relative humidity were all vastly higher than out here where I live now in the central Oregon high desert. In Virginia, I always covered the tops of stacks for seasoning. Here where I live now, I just don't see the need. Yeah, the wood gets some rain and some snow on it from time to time over the course of a couple of years, but before it goes into the shed in the summertime before burning season, all that superficial moisture is long gone, and the wood's ready to go. Like so many other things, it's got a lot to do with your location and the prevailing conditions. Rick

 

[precaud]

You don't want to hear about me getting a 75' X 20' roll for five bucks because nobody at the landscape company bankruptcy auction but me knew what it was. :coolgrin:

I'm not liiissssennnninnnng...

 

[goosegunner]

Most of you must not ever get that sideways freezing rain. If I didn't cover in the winter I would have to chip off half an inch of ice at times.

gg

 

[oldspark]

Most of you must not ever get that sideways freezing rain. If I didn't cover in the winter I would have to chip off half an inch of ice at times.

gg

Yep thats why I cover mine sides and all before the first snow, I was digging wood out of the snow last winter and at least most of it was dry.

 

[vvvv]

Most of you must not ever get that sideways freezing rain. If I didn't cover in the winter I would have to chip off half an inch of ice at times.

gg

Yep thats why I cover mine sides and all before the first snow, I was digging wood out of the snow last winter and at least most of it was dry.

ma nature sez= a totally covered pile will be colder on top than at the bottom, then the moisture from the ground will migrate from warmer to colder, thru the woodpile

 

[BrotherBart]

I got in a bind with the rubber roofing cover last winter. I had six cord covered the year before and worked the front three off during that season. So I had a large hunk of that heavy rubber hanging down and laying in front of the working stack last season. No problem most of the time. Lift it up and fill the wheel barrow. Then three feet of snow fell on top of it. Luckily I had four days worth of wood already in the basement. It took me that long to dig out to the stacks and then dig all of that snow off the EPDM so I could lift it up.

Lesson learned. Built the shed.

 

[Chris S]

Yes, but then that snow was gone within 2 weeks.
I must confess here that I do not have all of my wood split yet, so I will fight high mc again (maybe) I had plans for a shed almost as nice as the ones shown on this thread, but other projects got in the way.
I can store almost 2 cords inside, and I own commercial dehumidifiers, so... I'm going to practice my structural drying techniques on my wood pile. Stay tuned...
We split our wood small, which helps a lot, I'll be sticking those loge with the moisture meter to see how effective this turns out.

 

[fire_man]

I don't understand this stacks uncovered thing. When I left mine uncovered and it rained, water got trapped under the semi-loose bark and made burning a PITA. And that trapple moisture would not dry in just a day or two or three. Perhaps its the catalyic converter in my stove that was the problem. I need bone dry wood and that means covered months before burning.

Its uncovered for the seasoning process not before it is taken inside to burn, mine is uncovered until late fall, and I do not cover wet or green wood it has to be dry.

I understand your method of seasoning it uncovered, but others leave it uncovered until it goes into the woodstove. That's the part I don't get - at least I can't do that.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Just read through this thread, and seeins how I'm a nice guy, I decided to post a picture of the CORRECT way to store firewood, you know, to help you ladies and gentleman out a bit, and this assuming one does NOT have a wood shed.....

 

[BrotherBart]

Just read through this thread, and seeins how I'm a nice guy, I decided to post a picture of the CORRECT way to store firewood, you know, to help you ladies and gentleman out a bit, and this assuming one does NOT have a wood shed.....

Thank you so much. It changed my life. Except for the part of having to put in a railroad spur to get it up to the house. :lol:

 

[precaud]

Seriously, don't we have better things to do than make our piles perfect?

 

[allhandsworking]

...Ja, me too except I only cover the top, not the sides. Never been much of a problem.

Yeah, mine's not as tight as the ¾ shot pic makes it look. The sides and the floor all have generous spacing for airflow. Everything that goes in there is ready to burn, anyway...plus we live in a region of nice low humidity. Rick

I didn't know Oregon had low humidity regions?

 

[ansehnlich1]

Naw, my house ain't far from the pile, and I can put a cord or more on the back porch for easy access

 

[BrotherBart]

...Ja, me too except I only cover the top, not the sides. Never been much of a problem.

Yeah, mine's not as tight as the ¾ shot pic makes it look. The sides and the floor all have generous spacing for airflow. Everything that goes in there is ready to burn, anyway...plus we live in a region of nice low humidity. Rick

I didn't know Oregon had low humidity regions?

He lives in a place they call the "High Desert".

 

[allhandsworking]

Just read through this thread, and seeins how I'm a nice guy, I decided to post a picture of the CORRECT way to store firewood, you know, to help you ladies and gentleman out a bit, and this assuming one does NOT have a wood shed.....

I guess its safe to say that you don't have any rusty tractor's or bath tubs on your lawn! That's the Tightest wood pile I have ever seen!

 

[ansehnlich1]

I guess its safe to say that you don't have any rusty tractor's or bath tubs on your lawn! That's the Tightest wood pile I have ever seen!

ain't that right, I only stack it twice, once where you see in the pics, and then another on the back porch when the weather gets nasty.

 

[BrotherBart]

A FIL is cheating. Don't they sell wheel barrows and snow shovels around there?

You know, real wood heating tools. :coolsmirk:

 

[ansehnlich1]

A FIL is cheating. Don't they sell wheel barrows and snow shovels around there?

You know, real wood heating tools. :coolsmirk:

I guess I'm busted! How'd you know I put that shovel next to the house to make it looked like it was used?

I'm startin' to feel bad for hijackin this great thread, sooooo, I'm outta here ;-P

 

[BrotherBart]

Thanks for the great pics. Somehow I think you are gonna be warm this winter.