- Dec 9, 2009
- 1,495
I've seen the recommendations to get wood out where the wind can get at it, makes sense. However, I've still got knee-deep snow here, and wood piled in my driveway, and we've got good seasoning weather now. Trying to get some of it ready to burn in six months.
I was hoping to get pallets, and get it split and stacked, but there's a big snow machine race going on, and the pallets are getting snatched up for a big bonfire.
My garage roof has an overhang about 8' deep and 30' long that faces south and gets direct sun most of the day (it's at a lower angle here than further south), and gets pretty hot because of the heat bouncing off the garage wall. I'm considering stacking the wood there, even though it will be cut off from the wind that comes over the ridge from the north. However, it'll also be sheltered from the rain. Some summers it's nothing but drizzle for weeks, and other summers it's hot and dry--usually a mix of both. I'm wondering if the trade-off of the heat from the sun and the protection from the rain would outweigh the loss of evaporation by wind movement.
Also, the wood could just sit there until it gets moved in next to the house for immediate use. It would also be easy to access this spot right now, vs. moving the wood through melting snow to set it on top of melting snow.
If I do stack it in this area next to the garage, would it be worth leaving a 5-8" gap between wood and garage to faciliatate airflow and speed up seasoning?
I'm planning to buy a logging load in June or July, and that will be a lot easier to deal with--I'll have time to get pallets, easy access to a long-term storage area, and can set stuff out to season for a few years before use. But right now the clock is ticking on this load/snow/seasoning weather/impending winter and I've got to figure out a solution to the immediate need.
One other factor to consider is the wisdom, or lack thereof, of stacking wood next to a building in an area prone to forest fires.
I was hoping to get pallets, and get it split and stacked, but there's a big snow machine race going on, and the pallets are getting snatched up for a big bonfire.
My garage roof has an overhang about 8' deep and 30' long that faces south and gets direct sun most of the day (it's at a lower angle here than further south), and gets pretty hot because of the heat bouncing off the garage wall. I'm considering stacking the wood there, even though it will be cut off from the wind that comes over the ridge from the north. However, it'll also be sheltered from the rain. Some summers it's nothing but drizzle for weeks, and other summers it's hot and dry--usually a mix of both. I'm wondering if the trade-off of the heat from the sun and the protection from the rain would outweigh the loss of evaporation by wind movement.
Also, the wood could just sit there until it gets moved in next to the house for immediate use. It would also be easy to access this spot right now, vs. moving the wood through melting snow to set it on top of melting snow.
If I do stack it in this area next to the garage, would it be worth leaving a 5-8" gap between wood and garage to faciliatate airflow and speed up seasoning?
I'm planning to buy a logging load in June or July, and that will be a lot easier to deal with--I'll have time to get pallets, easy access to a long-term storage area, and can set stuff out to season for a few years before use. But right now the clock is ticking on this load/snow/seasoning weather/impending winter and I've got to figure out a solution to the immediate need.
One other factor to consider is the wisdom, or lack thereof, of stacking wood next to a building in an area prone to forest fires.