storing firewood in garage

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rmcfall

Feeling the Heat
Nov 28, 2005
308
Anyone ever have any trouble with storing firewood in their garage? I've got an extra deep garage and am trying to decide whether it would be a good place to store firewood. It is an attached, unheated garage.
 
Wood needs air circulation to cure properly .
Is your wood already seasoned?
A lean-to off the back of the garage with protection from wind blown rain would be ideal.
 
rmcfall said:
Anyone ever have any trouble with storing firewood in their garage? I've got an extra deep garage and am trying to decide whether it would be a good place to store firewood. It is an attached, unheated garage.
My parents do this and have done so for years with no problems. Let the wood dry out side all season like normal and after the first freeze bring it on in . They have a log rack that is 5' high X 8' long single row. They also store a wood crate next to the fire wood with small wood scrap . Its also a good idea to spray your wood pile 1-2 times a years for bugs anyhow. Go 4 it .
 
I tried it once, with fresh split wood in the spring, and ended up burning wet wood in the fall. Like Roo said, make sure it's dry first then bring it in. Wood doesn't seem to dry as well if it isn't exposed to the wind and sun.
 
DonCT said:
Roospike said:
Its also a good idea to spray your wood pile 1-2 times a years for bugs anyhow. Go 4 it .

What do you recommend spraying with? I had thought about this, but was worried about the chemicals. I don't have children, but I do have pets.
We will spray the wood piles with liquid SEVEN , as Seven is made for bugs and such for gardens to be used. You can spray your garden plants and it dont hurt the fruit after days of once being sprayed. I will also spray the more potent termite type of sprays "around" the wood pile and the grass area . The brand Seven in powder form is also recommended to put on your pets to help control fleas and ticks as the bag states and also as per our vet we take our dogs to.
 
As Roo said, SEVEN is great. Earlier in the season I use a Permetherin base since it lasts longer. Also more effective on ticks and we have a lot of them around here.
 
Having a catalytic stove, I won't spray much of anything ON my wood, even Sevin, but I am willing to put borax around the base and I also use those ant spikes just in case carpenter ants enjoy them.
 
Our wood is aged outside for 18-20 months either in well ventilated wood shed or under tin outside. We store little less than a cord in the unheated attached garage-basement..this is enough wood for about 10-13 days..works fine..been doing it for 6 years.
 
I haven't had a wood pile for long, but what I've noticed is that the mosquitoes grow quickly if your tarp catches water... I've got a wasp nest on the side of it too... but I don't really care about that stuff. I just make sure that there are no puddles now.

Unless I get a major infestation of africanized honey bees, I'm going to try for zero maintenance on the thing. Does anybody else feel that way?

EDIT: You guys are talking about Sevin right?
http://www.bayercropscienceus.com/products/view:sevin/
 
I too store about a half cord at a time in my garage in the winter. I have two racks I put end to end down the center between the two bays. When one rack is empty I reload it from my wood pile outside and start burning from the other. If it just has some surface moisture (ie a little snow or something) it really dries out quickly in the garage even though its not heated. Two weeks or so is good. I do have a very high ceiling in there though (enough to put in a bonus type room maybe in the future) so I'm sure that extra air up above helps a lot or circulation.

No problems with bugs and I try to keep the floor swept each time I reload.
 
Probably all the honeybees and lady bugs have already been killed in the yards of those of you who poison bugs you don't even know if you have. But I am an organic gardener, with plenty of nice bugs and birds and things living in my yard, and there is no way I am spraying chemicals on my wood. Just doing a quick google on Sevin I found this (Sevin is the brand name for carbaryl.) I find that if you don't poison your patch of nature, the good and bad things keep each other in check. And there are few enough honeybees left in our country to start with . . .

"We do know that carbaryl is quite toxic to honey bees, certain beneficial insects such as lady beetles, and parasitic wasps and bees, certain species of aquatic insects, and some forms of shellfish such as shrimp and crabs. Care must be taken when using carbaryl in areas where these organisms exist."

Marcia
 
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