Firewood storage

[4dimad]

How far from the house should I place a firewood rack?
I just moved to the house and the previouse owner left some wood sitting next to the house (5-7 feet).
Also, is it safe to keep it next to the trees?

 

[N/A N/A]

Living in Mass. put your wood where you want outside. My only concern with wood close to your home would be insects. If you can spare more than five feet do it. If not no big deal. Just watch that the carpenter ants dont infest any part of your home. Trees, wood? Trees and wood are fine together unless you want fresh splits out in the sun to season.

 

[billb3]

If you keep a pile near willow or cherry they may begin to weep.
That moaning all Winter will drive you crazy.


If it's 11Pm and you're sitting in your shorts in a 78 degree room in January when it's 0 degrees snowing and howling outside and you forgot to get the overnite load earlier, how far away do you want that pile to be ?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Our wood pile starts only about 30 feet from the house and goes on from there (around 21 cords total). We don't use a rack either. Just pile it on the ground. If we decide to pile it where it might get wet, then we cut some 3-4" poles and pile the wood on them.

Around November 1, I start bringing wood to the porch and pile it there throughout the winter months. That is, the really dry wood gets stacked there to burn. Handy to just walk out on the porch and grab a couple logs for the fire.

 

[Ken45]

If you keep a pile near willow or cherry they may begin to weep.
That moaning all Winter will drive you crazy.

Likewise the bark from dogwood....

Oh, back to the OP, our firewood storage/seasoning is about 1000' from the house, on a nice windy, clear hilltop. Come cold weather, I'll bring in a week's supply into the garage.

I would not store wood right up next to the house in warm weather unless I was totally sure it was bug free.

Ken

 

[begreen]

Don't you just hate it when you're woken up with the sound of your trees pining?

 

[RedRanger]

My woodsheds are a hundred feet from the house,however I store a 10 day supply under my covered sundeck. There is a concrete retaining wall (3ft high) between the stored firewood and the basement door. Sweet setup!! I keep an eye on the weather and if it looks like some snow coming then I top up that close supply. Been caught only twice with having to trudge thru the snow out to the sheds in the past 20 years.

 

[labrador]

I store my wood in a woodshed I built ten feet from the house It is enclosed by lattice (to let as much air in as possible and very little snow). From there I move as much as I need to fill the wood rack (extra large) which is in my garage which is attached to the house. My wife or I have never had to go out in the middle of a cold snowy night to get wood. It is a perfect setup. The shed is 12x4x8.

 

[woodburn]

I think it is best to store the wood as far from the house as possible. I only move smaller loads close to the house after the first freeze. Also, living on Long Island, I have to disagree with Backwoods Savage about storing directly on the ground. One word- TERMITES! Also, the wood seasons much better with air moving under it. But with 21 cords on hand, I guess you always have stuff that is seasoned. Man, that's a lot of wood! How much do you burn each year?

 

[BJ64]

Man, that's a lot of wood! How much do you burn each year?

No kidding!

I am begining to understand why he calls himself the Backwoods Savage.

I bet he is building a cord wood fort!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We burned just a tad under 3 cords last winter thanks to the new Fireview Soapstone stove.

We can get away with stacking on the ground as we are high and on yellow sand. It's just that bottom row that is a problem. Can't get it out until in May because it freezes in! No problem though. We just throw that on the top of the next pile for next year.

EDIT: My wife says I should also tell you where I store the atv. I have a garage built out of cordwood that I store the atv in Works like a charm. Heck, I could probably build a regular barn if needed. lol

 

[WoodMann]

I could only say what I'm personally fomfortable with. My main rack is like 50 ft from the house, while I have another, amller rack on the porch for easy grabbing after the initial cure/ seasoning. But even B4 the wood goes on the rack 50ft away I put a pile of splits on a large rock for the iitial curing...............

 

[Todd]

The only place I have room to stack my firewood is right up next to the garage which is attached to the house. Never had a problem with termites but have seen some carpenter ants this year so I put out ant poison stakes and the ants disappeared.

 

[WoodMann]

The only place I have room to stack my firewood is right up next to the garage which is attached to the house. Never had a problem with termites but have seen some carpenter ants this year so I put out ant poison stakes and the ants disappeared.

That's another possibility, Infact I've been thinking about ant precautions; Borax etc.... I sometimes forget that we don't all have limitless space..............