Updated satellite imagery had finally discovered my wood stache ~ 10 cords. Now heading into year #4 of burning, I accepted that a shed was the only way to go, especially in the Pacific NW. Plus, single-file rows stacked all over my yard didn't ease my concerns about my toddler daughter someday climbing up one... See red boxes for previous stack locations.
Part of my plan was to free up the yard on the north side of the house (up in the image). There was a basketball court under the majority of the stacks (now demo'd) and a shed that will be moved in a month or so. In order to accomplish this, all the wood needed to go on the space constrained south side of the house that has little sun and wind due to neighboring "hedges" that are 20ft tall.
Shed 1 is my main shed. It's a lean-to secured to the house. It's 24ft long with a 5ft wide roof at a 4 pitch. I couldn't put the roof as high as I wanted to due to conflict with a window, so one end of the shed is a bit low and requires me to duck a bit. Pallets are used for the ground support and are placed on top of a sand base (should've used crushed rock). I added a gutter to limit splashing from the roof onto the existing sidewalk which would wet the bottom course of wood. Posts are reused and spaced 8ft OC. Roof is mostly reused 2x4s. 1/2" plywood sheathing. Holds a little over 4 cords and is as close as I can get to the door leading into my fireplace room. The worst part of this shed was expanding the path so I could haul a yard cart back to process wood. I removed 40ft of retaining wall block, then dug out another 2ft of dirt near the hedge, then rebuilt the wall and added some gravel. Very tedious, but given the space constraints, I did not have much choice. It took 3/4 of a day to build the framing, 1/2 day for the bedding and pallets, and then many evenings with 15 minutes here or there to load it all up.
Shed 2 was a compromise with my wife. I had wanted to do another 4 cord shed along a fence line, but she wasn't down with it (understandably). Instead, I got a little more creative and wedged a shed between some other fence line where we have a swinging gate. It holds about 2.5 cords and has a cantilevered roof. All reused 2x4s with a new double 2x10 header for the cantilevered roof that sits on the existing fences. 15ft long, 2-3 rows deep, and 6ft+ tall. Gravel base for this one, plus pallets. I added some cables to the front to hopefully prevent the wood from developing too much of a lean since it's not crammed in as tightly as shed 1 (cables not fully complete in the picture). I had to notch out the pallet to accommodate the swinging gate and I got lucky and cleared the wood by about 1/2" (the gate had to be reversed so I was just eyeballing things). It took a day to build the structure and roof it. A day for the bedding and pallets, and maybe a day to load.
Shed 3 (not yet pictured) is another lean-to. I didn't want to build this one, but had to move one remaining cord that was in the center of the yard so I could advance my yard leveling project. It's 6ft wide and 6ft+ tall and 2 rows deep. All reused 2x4s for the framing. Single sheet of 1/2" plywood for the roof. 3.5 pitch. It took 1/2 day to build the framing, a day for the gravel base and little retaining wall, and a few hours to load.
Shed 4 (not yet pictured) is some crappy space under the deck. I have to stoop to get in here. Right now it's filled with 1.5 cords of kindling and uglies; I'm hoping to kill off both early this year. Next year, I will improve the roof which is a mix of systems and far from water resistant.
Overall goal is 2 seasons of wood - all softwood - under the sheds; I'm basically there once I get through the under-deck wood. We burned about 4 cords last winter (about 6+ months) and it was okay wood to start, but got wetter as the season went on due to crappy covering of the wood. I'm looking forward to a season of good dry wood and a future of splitting, then stacking the wood only 1 time instead of 2.
Part of my plan was to free up the yard on the north side of the house (up in the image). There was a basketball court under the majority of the stacks (now demo'd) and a shed that will be moved in a month or so. In order to accomplish this, all the wood needed to go on the space constrained south side of the house that has little sun and wind due to neighboring "hedges" that are 20ft tall.
Shed 1 is my main shed. It's a lean-to secured to the house. It's 24ft long with a 5ft wide roof at a 4 pitch. I couldn't put the roof as high as I wanted to due to conflict with a window, so one end of the shed is a bit low and requires me to duck a bit. Pallets are used for the ground support and are placed on top of a sand base (should've used crushed rock). I added a gutter to limit splashing from the roof onto the existing sidewalk which would wet the bottom course of wood. Posts are reused and spaced 8ft OC. Roof is mostly reused 2x4s. 1/2" plywood sheathing. Holds a little over 4 cords and is as close as I can get to the door leading into my fireplace room. The worst part of this shed was expanding the path so I could haul a yard cart back to process wood. I removed 40ft of retaining wall block, then dug out another 2ft of dirt near the hedge, then rebuilt the wall and added some gravel. Very tedious, but given the space constraints, I did not have much choice. It took 3/4 of a day to build the framing, 1/2 day for the bedding and pallets, and then many evenings with 15 minutes here or there to load it all up.
Shed 2 was a compromise with my wife. I had wanted to do another 4 cord shed along a fence line, but she wasn't down with it (understandably). Instead, I got a little more creative and wedged a shed between some other fence line where we have a swinging gate. It holds about 2.5 cords and has a cantilevered roof. All reused 2x4s with a new double 2x10 header for the cantilevered roof that sits on the existing fences. 15ft long, 2-3 rows deep, and 6ft+ tall. Gravel base for this one, plus pallets. I added some cables to the front to hopefully prevent the wood from developing too much of a lean since it's not crammed in as tightly as shed 1 (cables not fully complete in the picture). I had to notch out the pallet to accommodate the swinging gate and I got lucky and cleared the wood by about 1/2" (the gate had to be reversed so I was just eyeballing things). It took a day to build the structure and roof it. A day for the bedding and pallets, and maybe a day to load.
Shed 3 (not yet pictured) is another lean-to. I didn't want to build this one, but had to move one remaining cord that was in the center of the yard so I could advance my yard leveling project. It's 6ft wide and 6ft+ tall and 2 rows deep. All reused 2x4s for the framing. Single sheet of 1/2" plywood for the roof. 3.5 pitch. It took 1/2 day to build the framing, a day for the gravel base and little retaining wall, and a few hours to load.
Shed 4 (not yet pictured) is some crappy space under the deck. I have to stoop to get in here. Right now it's filled with 1.5 cords of kindling and uglies; I'm hoping to kill off both early this year. Next year, I will improve the roof which is a mix of systems and far from water resistant.
Overall goal is 2 seasons of wood - all softwood - under the sheds; I'm basically there once I get through the under-deck wood. We burned about 4 cords last winter (about 6+ months) and it was okay wood to start, but got wetter as the season went on due to crappy covering of the wood. I'm looking forward to a season of good dry wood and a future of splitting, then stacking the wood only 1 time instead of 2.
1st shed is the best, now the real question... are you going to rotate from shed to shed or are you going to pull from shed 1 in one season then the other sheds for the other season?
