Wet Stacks

[peakbagger]

The high winds and rain in northern NH flipped the old sheets of galvanized roofing I use to top cover right off my stacks and set them on the ground. We got around 4" of rain in about 12 hours with high winds. The sheets where weighed down with logs but I guess the wind just got under it. Its a long stack and the roofing was fine on the other end.

I figure it was the piles way of getting back at me, I was just looking at it a few days before the storm to move it down into my bulkhead for the first load of the winter .

I am going to leave it uncovered for a few days and let it dry out before I put the tin back on.

I had a couple of other piles that I screw 3 uprights on each side of the stack to the the log ends and then run cross pieces front to back that are screwed to the uprights. I then screw the sheeting down to the cross pieces. It give about 4" inches of space to let any moisture coming out of the top of the stacks to escape without condensing. Both stacks rigged that way were fine.

Worse case is I have 2 cords in a woodshed with a tarp on front but normally leave that for later in the winter when I dont want to deal with snow in the stacks.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

The high winds and rain in northern NH flipped the old sheets of galvanized roofing I use to top cover right off my stacks and set them on the ground. We got around 4" of rain in about 12 hours with high winds. The sheets where weighed down with logs but I guess the wind just got under it. Its a long stack and the roofing was fine on the other end.

I figure it was the piles way of getting back at me, I was just looking at it a few days before the storm to move it down into my bulkhead for the first load of the winter .

I am going to leave it uncovered for a few days and let it dry out before I put the tin back on.

I had a couple of other piles that I screw 3 uprights on each side of the stack to the the log ends and then run cross pieces front to back that are screwed to the uprights. I then screw the sheeting down to the cross pieces. It give about 4" inches of space to let any moisture coming out of the top of the stacks to escape without condensing. Both stacks rigged that way were fine.

Worse case is I have 2 cords in a woodshed with a tarp on front but normally leave that for later in the winter when I dont want to deal with snow in the stacks.

It'll dry out, no worries. Does sound like you could use a nice 4 cord woodshed. I'm in a similar boat, have been the last 2 seasons. Periodic stress when rain and wind get everything wet, and when it snows a bunch. But, we've managed. I do look forward to having a shed one day...

 

[Soundchasm]

It's frustrating, isn't it? You go to all this trouble to get the stuff dry and something out of the ordinary happens. I'd have to think that if it was dry in the first place, that unless you throw it in a pool overnight, that a night of rain will be offset with a few weeks of some wind. Best of luck!

 

[SeanBB]

As long as the wood is off the ground with good ventilation then it will dry out. You are right to leave the tin off until it dries. Hope you get no more rain for a few days.

 

[peakbagger]

No worries about this stack Since I started using a mini split for shoulder season heating my wood usage is under 4 cords closer to 3 cords. The stack that lost the tin only lost it on one end. There are about 2 cords that were still covered. More annoying than anything else.

 

[Destructor]

Around half my wood is uncovered but most of it is well past seasoned. Depending how the weather is in November I’ll be covering them soon. I’ve put wet wood in my shed and had no problem burning it a few weeks later. Drying wood takes a lot less time than seasoning wood.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

All of my wood is uncovered. It will be fine in a day with sun and wind.

 

[fire_man]

I feel Peakbacker's pain. We live just south of NH in deep woods and do our darndest to keep the seasoned stacks dry. Even when seasoned, if the stacks get wet they can take on moisture under the bark that takes warmth and time to dry which is hard to come by in November.

Burn the dry stuff first and if things don't get cold too fast the wet stuff will hopefully dry.

 

[tsquini]

I dint cover any of my wood. Just keep it stacked off the ground. When it rains it is just surface moisture on the wood. It will dry out quickly on the next sunny day.

 

[maple1]

Mine sits top covered and drying in my open back yard for a couple of years, and then I put my entire winters wood into my dry basement after a dry spell of a few days usually in September. It's really nice having all that very dry wood there for the whole winter only a few feet from the firebox.

 

[sportbikerider78]

A day of rain on wood doesn't get wood wet any more than a day of sun gets the wood dry. It's all going to even out and your surface water will be gone soon.

 

[fire_man]

A day of rain on wood doesn't get wood wet any more than a day of sun gets the wood dry. It's all going to even out and your surface water will be gone soon.

Unless you live in the woods and get no sun. Then the loose bark traps moisture and it takes a LOOOONNNNGGGGG time to dry.

 

[Sodbuster]

Agree with all the above, remember it's wood, not a sponge. Only the first few mm absorbed water, it will dry back out in no time.