To build or not to build: That is the question

I have been thinking of building a wood shed for myself. Here is my hesitation: My garage and outside covered entrance way hold roughly 5 face cords. I burn roughly 8 face cords a season. So is it worth the time,. money and space to build a wood shed? I cover about 12-14 face cords everywhere else and they seem fine. Thoughts and advice would be appreciated....

I'm kind of partial to using my garage as a garage for the car . . . makes dealing with snow and ice in the morning a whole lot easier.

I still fit my son's car and my minivan in the garage. All the wood is stacked on the back and side walls. No issue there...

Seek your answer from within and you will find that in the end Gasshoppeer, you and you alone hold the answer to the riddle. If it is worth your time and your money and your effort and the structure serves your needs then it is worth it.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Build the friggin shed!

you got half you yearly supply in there................when you burn a face cord bring in another face cord

There is some negatives and positives there. If you put up a wood shed you can keep the wood mess out there vs in the garage. If the garage is close to the house or attached you don't have to face the elements in winter.

Shed! Shed! Shed!

Not having to chase or replace tarps or covers made the wood shed choice for me worth it.
But I never had room in the garage to stack a 1/2 years worth.

My Dad thinks I should stack some wood in my garage. I'd have the room, but I'd never want that kind of fire hazard. Would just take ONE stray spark from welding or grinding on something and that's it.

I leave the wood outside were it belongs. Thought about building a woodshed, but I have no real reason to. The wood does just fine sitting out in the rain, snow, sun, etc. I don't really mind brushing off a bit of snow to get to it a few times during the winter. I keep about 1/2 a cord on the front porch and that lasts me easily a month.

If you have to think twice about it, then don't. The fact that you are asking us whether or not to do it, means you have doubt about it. On top of that, nobody here knows all the circumstances that go around your decision. As somebody already said, you and only you can really make this decision based upon all the facts pertaining to it.

Everybody in this forum pretty much has a love affair with wood. Cutting it, splitting it, burning it, etc. So, more saws, bigger splitters, big trucks, big trailers, etc. all sound wonderful. The question at the end of it all is whether it makes sense for your specific situation.

you have plenty undercover so just work off the outside piles until snow flies then use the inside piles, by the time you run out of inside wood you will be able to use your outside piles again cause the snow will be gone. So no I wouldn't bother with a woodshed.

Shed is my vote. I hate pulling wood out from under tarps and steel. Once the pile is down a bit the cover doesn't want to stay put, wind tries to blow it away, I have 2 sheds and I want more! I also keep my current stash of wood in my attached garage (in a trailer). Very convenient and I have another garage for the cars. Shed for sure- go for it!

+ 1 Sounds like what you have is working.

Both will work fine. Good points on here by everyone. What do you want? I would prefer the space in the garage to do other things with. But I work on different projects and my attached garage space is limited. That is my heated garage. My detached is where I keep my tractor, lawn mower, yard tools, kids outdoor toys, etc. If you want to free up some space in your garage and under the roof for other things you could go two ways. Wood shed, or just top cover everything. That can save you from having to brush off snow and helps to keep the major rain off. And you can always keep 1 of those face cord under the roof for what will be burned next. I use to use clear plastic on the top only of some of my piles. I don't even bother anymore. Dennis "Backwoods Savage" uses old metal roofing to cover the tops of some of his stacks. He has to keep that wood dry that he is going to burn in 2019. My wood stays outside for a year now and then goes in under the porch in October. I am keeping my eys open for something to keep one two row crib covered on top. That would be about 5 face cord covered. I may even build a simple roof connected to one of the cribs and make it real strong and have it permanent. So, lets see. I say you should build the shed to free up space for a new hobby you need to have. Or a new toy you have been striving for. Example, wood splitter, four wheeler, small used tractor with bucket for moving wood around with. And, no wait. I think you should just keep doing what you doing. There, how is that for some mighty fine advice for ya? Should be easy now.

You may want to consider a open sided lean-to off the garage...store a lot of things besides wood under there and it would help build up couple year supply of seasoned wood.

I considered building a shed a few years ago, but ultimately decided not to for two reasons. 1. The cost and 2. I have a deck to stack wood under. It didn't make sense to me to spend the money for something not needed. In your case, if the garage works for you, why build another building for the wood?

Shed it and forget it

Keep in mind there is nothing wrong with just leaving the wood stacked outside uncovered. Many of us do that.

That's what I did last summer. Mine is roughly 9x12 and holds about 4.5 cords. Cost me about $700 and a couple weekends of work, but I could have probably done it for about $500.

I enjoyed building it and it's great to have. To me, that's the key question for the OP: Would you enjoy the building process or would it be a PITA? If it's the former, go for it.

Build a shed and watch to see if your taxes go up....

or ask your township first.. could be your deciding factor.

That's another important consideration. Around here there's NO tax increase because lean-to's are open-sided.

...ps we have 2 lean-to's, but I don't stack wood in either. But it's a fact lean-to's are great for stacking wood and neat too. Neat is very important if you have close neighbors and want to remain on respectable terms with them.