Wood shed designs - if you were doing it again

[madison]

I am considering the construction of a woodshed, and was looking for opinions from woodshed owners: What would you do differently, or what do you like or dislike about your current design. I am considering long and narrow, ie 48' long, 4' deep to facilitate "rotation" of old wood and new wood. I really am thinking of copying something like "Carbon_Liberators"

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/563296/

As it seems to me that the squared sheds, would lead to hassles as far as loading and unloading wood from one season to the next.

Please opine, pictures are always nice. Thanks

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That shed of Carbon's is a dandy.

If I were to build a shed strictly for wood, I'd build it long and narrow. I'd also not put the siding up tight but leave about a 2" gap between the boards. That could be done on the sides and on the floor and would allow better air circulation. An old rectangular corn crib works just fine. We once made a corn crib using poles and then fastening snow fence to the poles. We used it for corn a few years and then used it for storing wood. It worked out great. We had a door in the center and there was enough room to store 2 years wood supply; half on one side and half on the other.

 

[madison]

Thanks Backwoods, I recall seeing pictures of your shed, i think corn crib came to my mind when I first saw it, how to you handle the "rotation", or is the wood already seasoned in another location, then moved to the "crib" prior to burning?

I only want to stack once, and limit the moving of wood stacks multiple times.

Thanks

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I am considering the construction of a woodshed, and was looking for opinions from woodshed owners: What would you do differently, or what do you like or dislike about your current design. I am considering long and narrow, ie 48' long, 4' deep to facilitate "rotation" of old wood and new wood. I really am thinking of copying something like "Carbon_Liberators"

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/563296/

As it seems to me that the squared sheds, would lead to hassles as far as loading and unloading wood from one season to the next.

Please opine, pictures are always nice. Thanks

My new woodshed is in the preconstruction phase but the plan is an 8' x 24' rectangle built on 6 posts in a standard post&beam; fashion with no walls.

Why? Several reasons - 1) If I build under 200 sq ft the project requires no building permit - 2) 8' x 24' fit in the exact place I want to put my shed and requires the least amount of sawing lumber - 3) I figure I can get 4+ cord (or one year's supply) in each half (8' x 12') and who doesn't want a symmetrical 2 year woodshed? - 3) Post&beam; can be built hell-for-stout for very little $$$. I had planned to use old power/phone poles but the local utility quit giving away their old poles. But I found a place that sells 8'-14' railroad ties for $1 per foot so railroad ties it will be.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thanks Backwoods, I recall seeing pictures of your shed, i think corn crib came to my mind when I first saw it, how to you handle the "rotation", or is the wood already seasoned in another location, then moved to the "crib" prior to burning?

I only want to stack once, and limit the moving of wood stacks multiple times.

Thanks

Madison, you might be thinking of someone else's woodshed. This is what we are stacking a year's supply in right now:

Or perhaps you saw this:

The second picture is perhaps what you saw. For several years we've just stacked wood at the end of the porch and some on the porch which is in the carport. We then put tarp along the east side to stop the snow from blowing in. Stacking the wood like this proved to be really handy as we can just step out the door and the wood is right there. Plus, it gave us a nice wind break. However, that carport will be changing into an addition onto the house very soon so then I'll just take wood from the shed and put it on another porch, which is yet to be built. That will be even closer to the stove and I'll build some type of rack to store a small amount of wood on that porch and it will be covered.

However it is done, it is still best to season your wood at least through one summer before stacking it inside a shed. Put simply, inside the shed it doesn't get as much drying. The shed is nice so that you don't have to fight the snow and ice but it is still a poor place to dry wood. However, if you have time on your side, then a corncrib type structure like I described works really nice.

Good luck.

 

[WES999]

Here are some pics of my shed, pretty simple but gets the job done.
It's built with about 80%recycled material so the price was right

If I had to do it over some things I would change would be to add a bit more pitch to the roof so the snow slides off. I saw someone post a pic of their shed where the pallets were set on blocks, I may do this in the future. Also the strapping around the sides is not strong enough, the wood is bulging out.

 

[madison]

Backwoods, correct, after a bunch of searching, I was confusing yours with this one, https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/616915/, owner is LLigetfa.

There was some great advice within the thread regarding slabs with rebar vs posts holes etc.... https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/55040/

 

[PapaDave]

If my space was a little different (tree in the way), I would have made it longer, and not as deep (it's 16x10'). The roof pitch may prove to be a tad shallow, but I guess I'll find out this winter. I think I may also redo the walls next year, since I also have a little bowing in the side walls. I changed stacking technique to help that, but not until the last 2 rows went in. Next year.
I'd also make it big enough for 2 years of wood. Mine holds about 1.5 yrs. right now. With a new stove, I should have 2yrs. no problem, but I don't have a new stove.

 

[firefighterjake]

I really put some thought into my woodshed before building it and quite honestly I wouldn't change anything with its size or design . . . large enough for two years worth of wood (which is always nice to see a bunch of wood sitting under cover even at the end of winter), made largely with free materials from tearing down a camp, gapped sides to allow air flow (but narrow enough so that wind blown snow is not an issue) . . . it's pretty much perfect for my needs.

I guess if it came down to it the only thing I would have done differently if I had extra money would have been to put metal roofing on the shed . . . either that or I should have taken the multi-colored shingles that I used and spelled out "SOS", "Aliens Land Here" or something else witty for the passing pilots to see. Oh yeah, adding power for exterior and interior lights and an outlet so I could set up a TV, refrigerator and stereo would have also been pretty cool . . . but otherwise it works pretty well for me.

 

[madison]

hmmmm, power, never thought of that, thanks jake. what are the dimensions of yours?

 

[firefighterjake]

hmmmm, power, never thought of that, thanks jake. what are the dimensions of yours?

12 x 20 feet

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/41416/

 

[rottiman]

We can get 14 rows 8.5' wide x 7.5' high in this one. Have it facing so the predominant wind starts @ one end and blow thru to the other all year

 

[SolarAndWood]

The shed I burn out of is 32' wide x 5' deep and I stack close to 10' tall. It works very well for rotation. It is just deep enough for two rows of 18-20" and then just enough roof to keep you under it while loading the bucket.

 

[raybonz]

We can get 14 rows 8.5' wide x 7.5' high in this one. Have it facing so the predominant wind starts @ one end and blow thru to the other all year

Good idea with the wood retaining fences on the ends of the wood rows.. Mine could use that so I could eliminate the cross stacked ends a real pain in the butt..

Ray

 

[raybonz]

The shed I burn out of is 32' wide x 5' deep and I stack close to 10' tall. It works very well for rotation. It is just deep enough for two rows of 18-20" and then just enough roof to keep you under it while loading the bucket.

Wow! Nice!

Was out in Syracuse a couple weeks ago visiting our son at Syracuse University.. Nice area especially the ride into Syracuse..

Ray

 

[SolarAndWood]

Thanks Ray and congrats on sending your son to a fine school. We are just a few miles away and most of my scrounging is done on SU hill which is conveniently located on my commute to work.

 

[raybonz]

Thanks Ray and congrats on sending your son to a fine school. We are just a few miles away and most of my scrounging is done on SU hill which is conveniently located on my commute to work.

Thanx but he deserves all the credit as he worked very hard in HS to get in with some very good academic scholarships.. The University is simply awesome and I was amazed at how large it was and how they mixed in buildings from 1871 to present.. The Carrier dome was very cool too and the football game was fun to see.. Syracuse won against Colgate 42 to 7... Go Orange

Ray

 

[madison]

Solar: Thanks first off, curious to how you rotate, it may just be the night time picture, but is the 32 ft length divided? or 32' solid rows of wood?

Rott: Same sort of question, I am curious how you "get to" the wood, and rotation, Do you access it from the left and right (looking at the picture) or is there an opening row down the middle of the shed. I admire the stacks Rott, but I would personally be afraid of a chain reaction catastrophe of one stack tipping/knocking down into the other stack. But, the upside is you have a "chit load" of wood in a small area.

I personally was thinking about 48' long and 48" deep (~ one pallet deep) and divide the 48' lengths into 8 foot sections rows of wood on each 8 ft section, with rails like Rott's, to help stabilize a facilitate keeping old wood from new wood organized. Much like Carbon_Liberator's // https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/newreply/60511/

any comments on construction the shed on a slab floor vs post holes and a gravel floor?

Thanks again,

 

[SolarAndWood]

Solar: Thanks first off, curious to how you rotate, it may just be the night time picture, but is the 32 ft length divided? or 32' solid rows of wood?

It is currently 2 32' wide rows. I stack different sections with different purposes: pine, mid range stuff and overnighters. I am siding the house in the next few weeks and will likely divide it similarly to Carbon_Liberator's. It was originally going to be the front porch until it was reallocated to being the woodshed. My other shed is 5 rows deep and is a PIA to rotate/separate/etc.

 

[madison]

Thanks Solar, you better get that siding on as the first "nor'easter" is on the way.

 

[bogydave]

I don't know if mine is called a "woodshed" , "covered wood pile" or a "roofed wood pile".
Not having any sides makes it just a cover over the wood.
To be a woodshed, my thinking, is it needs sides. ??
I call it a wood shed but more accurate may be "covered stacks of wood"
Maybe just plain ole "roof" , is even more accurate. As in:
My wood stacks have a "roof".

What is the official "Hearth definition" of "wood shed",
& does it need sides to be one ?

Mines is a "wood-roof" (not a roof made of wood, but a roof over wood)

 

[madison]

Thanks dave, appreciate it, shed, woof, roof as long as it gets the job done.

Dimensions? looks like two pallets deep by ? Length? And I notice the cross stacking intermittantly throughout, is that for stability, airflow, all of the above. Would you divide the length to add row stabilization? I see cross pieces on each end. Is that approx two yrs of wood ?

Footings vs slab?

 

[bogydave]

Roof is 8'X48'.
Inside wood is 80" deep, (4 rows) X 8' high X 47' long (+/-)

Stability, separate wood types
I also put in some rope from the back row to the front row in the middle of each section for stability
& safety. When my wood stacks gets this high, they wanted to move some. link:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/57345/

Hoping for it to be 2 yrs worth of wood.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

My woodshed is 4x8x16, so it will hold about 4.5 cords with enough space to walk around. It's right up against my house- you can see pics in the picture forum under my thread about my remodel.

Honestly, having stacked some firewood in it a bit today, I would have made it wider just to have room to really turn around in it with a load of wood in your arms- though you won't have this problem unless you run it up against a structure. As far as building it, the design we used was very basic. 2x4 frame with one down the middle for stability, cedar planking up the side (if you know someone with a cedar fence they want to take down, ask them for it! Home Depot and Lowe's and the like also will sell stuff that has chipped corners or splits or whatever for cheap-cheap), then OSB for the roof, painted with an exterior latex and then polyurethane on top of that so it's super waterproof (we'll get snow that'll stick to roofs in probably a few weeks). I used pressure-treated lumber for everything that was gonna possibly get wet (except the cedar since it's fairly rot resistant) and then just regular for the uprights.

We were kinda making it up as we went along, and since I needed the ends to be open since it was up against the house, the hardest was making it not sway width-wise. We ended up just putting rafters up and that solved it pretty well.

Good luck! It took me and my dad about a week to build, but I had three kids running around wanting to "help", so it'll probably go faster for you!

~Rose

 

[madison]

Thanks Rose and Dave. Muchos Garcia's