Wood Shed from a Metal Carport

[eric-holmes]

Currently, my wood storage sucks. I have it stacked in 3 different places, 3 different ways. I want to convert my old metal carport into a place to store all of my wood in one place. I was thinking that I would just put gravel on the bottom and then I could lay pallets in rows and stack it the length of the shed.

I am also looking for input as well.

My shed is 20x20.

 

[BrotherBart]

I have wanted to do that for years. You are gonna have to figure out how to support the ends of the stacks.

 

[Bad LP]

Nothing new for use in Maine. Tie the verticals together for greater strength but DO NOT RELY on them to hold up the ends of the rows.

 

[eric-holmes]

Nothing new for use in Maine. Tie the verticals together for greater strength but DO NOT RELY on them to hold up the ends of the rows.

I was thinking about sinking a 4x4 with concrete on each end and then securing them together with wire and a turnbuckle.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

That's how we store our wood. I have three of those, each 30x30 and they work great. They top cover entirely and allow for sun and wind to get to the stacks. Definitely end post them. We use concrete block as bases for the piles.

 

[eric-holmes]

Explain the concrete blocks as bases. Do you have a pic?

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Our house in built into the ground and when we built it, I ended up with a few tons of left over concrete blocks. I simply line them up on the ground and put the wood on top of those. They don't rot, are super strong, and break the chain between your wood and the dirt where the ants commute from. I would take a picture but it is pouring outside right now and I'm comfortable in front of the stove

 

[eric-holmes]

So, are we just talking about an 8x8x16 block? Do you use one row or two? It seems like it would be hard to balance them on one row.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

That's correct. I do two rows with air space in between so the pieces are supported at both ends. I do multiple rows of double stacked rows and I can get my stacks all the way up to almost the ceiling of the carport as they are more stable than single rows. Some may argue they don't dry as well as single stacked rows but my moisture measurements and burning observations show no difference.

 

[eric-holmes]

This definitely sounds like a good plan. When you double stack the rows, do you just use 3 rows of blocks and share the third row?

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

This definitely sounds like a good plan. When you double stack the rows, do you just use 3 rows of blocks and share the third row?

You got it. It works great. The air flow seems to be just fine between the double stacked rows because the wood is always dry and seasoned just fine. The key to having the double stacked row work is how you stack your individual pieces. I make sure to purposefully not stack my pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. This way there is plenty of air space between them. If you look in one side of the stack you should be able to see air spaces through the second side on out.

 

[williaty]

I think you guys just saved me a LOT of money by mentioning the CMUs. I've got an additional 5-ish cord to stack in the next few weeks that I don't have any way to keep off the ground. The CMUs will be hundreds of dollars cheaper than anything else I was thinking of.