New to the game... Is it ok to put a whole cord of seasoned wood in my two car garage for the season? Just worried about moisture and insects... Or keeping it outside with a tarp over the top a better bet?
location of wood stack
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The easiest winter I ever had was when I filled my attached garage with firewood. Now it is my workshop and I have a woodshed across the yard.
Suck it up, Buttercup.Dune said:
Going out to the shed in Winter is just one of the many joys of wood burning.
Contemplative moment
I am not complaining. Just saying how easy it was that winter. I do miss Sonnyinbc though. Thanks for the reminder.
GREEN WOOD WILL DRY FASTER OUTSIDE THAN IN A UNHEATED GARAGE. AIR FLOW IS BEST! BUT IF YOU GOT SEASONED HARDWOOD THE ONLY ISSUE I SEE IS GETTING MORE OF IT ! THAT CORD WOULDN'T LAST LONG WERE I LIVE..
Welcome to the forums d1. How do you know it is seasoned? Year 1 I put 'seasoned' wood I bought early Fall in the attached garage. All I ended up with was easy access to unseasoned wood that never dried.
d1rek said:
Me . . . last year I did the stack and cover thing . . . this year I built a woodshed. I actually don't mind walking outside to get some wood . . . although I limit that to once a week as I hold a week's worth of wood on my covered porch.
I personally wouldn't want to give up space to wood in my garage . . . and I like the idea that the wood is continuing to season in the wind while in the shed vs. not being exposed to the wind in the garage. If the wood is seasoned I wouldn't worry too much about the moisture . . . or insects if it's cold enough . . . but in my case I would still prefer to let the wood season a bit longer.
That said, I have a buddy who brings his wood into the garage and he has few issues . . . although I suspect his wood is not as seasoned as mine . . . and he did mention he had a lot of insect eggs this past Summer after bringing the wood inside . . . although that was in the Summer and not now, which is notably cooler.
SEASONED WOOD SHOULD START BURNING AFTER IT'S PLACED ON BED OF HOT COALS IN LESS THAN A MINUTE !! FRESH CUT WOOD HAS A MOISTURE CONTENT OF UP TO 50 % GOOD SEASONED DRY HARDWOOD SHOULD BE 20% OR LESS !! YOU KNOW MOISTURE METERS ARE NOT THAT EXPENSIVE YOU CAN PICK ONE UP ON EBAY FOR 20.00 OR SO...IT'S FUN TO PLAY WITH. INTERESTING TO CHECK DIFFERENT LEVELS IN WOOD PELLETS ALSO ....
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- Jun 12, 2006
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Hi -
My lovely wife is willing and skilled at tending the stove. However she's NOT FOND of spiders, and certain other creepy crawlies...
The solution we've come up with is moving a face cord into the attached garage during October. Then setting off one of the fogger bombs (the kind you drop canister in cup with a little water). Seems to do a nice job on the bugs, and keeps spiders to a mimimum in the garage also.
Once the weather gets below freezing wood critters are still cold/sleepy when they enter the stove, so it's not an issue.
ATB,
Mike
My lovely wife is willing and skilled at tending the stove. However she's NOT FOND of spiders, and certain other creepy crawlies...
The solution we've come up with is moving a face cord into the attached garage during October. Then setting off one of the fogger bombs (the kind you drop canister in cup with a little water). Seems to do a nice job on the bugs, and keeps spiders to a mimimum in the garage also.
Once the weather gets below freezing wood critters are still cold/sleepy when they enter the stove, so it's not an issue.
ATB,
Mike
RAMSAY said:
Holy smokes man....our ears hurt from all the yelling. Try killing the caps lock next time!
My vote would be to keep the wood outside. It keeps drying even in the winter...
d1rek said:
Can you leave your garage door open? If yes then go for it. If not then just stack it on some pallets and throw a tarp over it.
d1rek said:
My set up:
Fully seasoned wood in the garage for current season.
Next year & following years wet wood outside top covered to dry.
My vote is to keep dry wood dry if you are going to use it this year. So put it in the garage. I have 2.5 cord in my garage - clean, dry, steady temps. It was about 25% moisture when I put it it a month ago.
I have wood still outside that I'm putting into my basement for the winter. It's not covered outside, so I'm waiting for 2-3 days in a row of dry weather in before I put it in. It is seasoned, but damp on the outside from rain/snow.
(I'm late putting my wood in this year - still working on my boiler install....)
Happy Burning.
I have wood still outside that I'm putting into my basement for the winter. It's not covered outside, so I'm waiting for 2-3 days in a row of dry weather in before I put it in. It is seasoned, but damp on the outside from rain/snow.
(I'm late putting my wood in this year - still working on my boiler install....)
Happy Burning.
Welcome to the forum to both d1rek and Ramsay.
I have no problem with putting wood indoors but I do have a problem with new burners doing it. That is because they have not had enough time yet to determine what the wood should be like when seasoned.
Of course, I do not use a moisture meter and never have. I still think it is much, much better to have enough wood on hand at all times so that you know for sure the wood is okay. That does not mean buying "seasoned" wood from a seller nor does it mean cutting your own wood and letting it sit for a couple months. 2-3 years in the stack you once you try this you won't go back to the old ways. You will get much more heat from the wood and have less problems with the stove and chimney.
I have no problem with putting wood indoors but I do have a problem with new burners doing it. That is because they have not had enough time yet to determine what the wood should be like when seasoned.
Of course, I do not use a moisture meter and never have. I still think it is much, much better to have enough wood on hand at all times so that you know for sure the wood is okay. That does not mean buying "seasoned" wood from a seller nor does it mean cutting your own wood and letting it sit for a couple months. 2-3 years in the stack you once you try this you won't go back to the old ways. You will get much more heat from the wood and have less problems with the stove and chimney.
With the old stove I would store a face cord of wood in the garage. This smount would last from 7-14 days depending on the weather and burning etc. It doesn't take up that much room, 6ft long but about 5.5 ft high. Doing it this way works out well with my schedule. I can use a cart to bring all the wood into the garage in one shot on one of my days off and not worry about running outside in the cold and sometimes icy weather. This year I'm thinking of bringing in a full cord to free some space in the shed. That way I can split a cord of White Oak for 2011-12. I never would have thought that I could need more space than 6 cords when I built it 2 years ago. I'm planning on getting some pallets and holding another cord or two out in open to give the wood the full 2 years of seasoning.
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