Can wood sheds be too big?

[thunderhead]

I'm thinking of building a simple woodshed 24x8x8 feet. This would be divided into 3 bays(8x8x8) of 4 cords each... this year, next year, and 2 years out. Its just under the footprint that does not require a permit in this town. Plus this is just under the max length that would fit in the sunny part of my yard. Seems like an ideal size for me. I think we will generally burn about 4 cords a year...

But do you think this is too dense/compact? Would the very center dry? I was going to leave the south facing side(one of the long sides) open for access and max sun, and make the other 3 sides slatted.

Thanks!

 

[sweedish]

Have not measured exactly, but my setup is similar but slightly bigger, 6.5 cords pre bay, 4 bays. The ends are not open, but north and south sides are open and slotted, It’s not in a sunny or windy area either. My feeling is get it off the ground and give it time and you should be fine. If you wanted to get fancy put that clear plastic skylight roof stuff on it vs steel/tin. I almost did that.

I’d say if you have any seasoned/partly seasoned/standing dead, Or whatever is the driest, put that in the middles And the wet stuff to the sides For max sun/wind.

I try to cut only what I have that’s standing/laying dead, so that helps too

 

[WoodBurnerInWI]

My woodshed is around 75 ft long and contains 8 bays that sit on 10 ft long pallets that holds around 1.8 cords of wood each. The wood is stacked in two rows, front and back. Everything is basically open and the shed is covered with old corrugated metal roofing sections. I feel like my shed gets good air flow and in the summer the stacks in the front get a couple of hours of sun.

Your design idea may make the stacks of wood a bit too dense for reasonable drying times, I think having 4 cords or so in one bay would make middle sections take way too long to dry. Unless time isn't a concern or you are super far ahead with your wood storage. Otherwise the design sounds good!

 

[Woodsplitter67]

So one thing that you didn't mention is the shed facing the prevailing summer winds. I I think your saying that the wood will have approximately 2 years to season. How may rows of wood do you plan on putting in the 8ft space.. This all has alot to do with a good answer to your question..

 

[Poindexter]

No, wood sheds cannot be too big.

 

[Grizzerbear]

No shop or shed can ever be too big. Eventually you will fill it up.

 

[begreen]

I'm thinking of building a simple woodshed 24x8x8 feet. This would be divided into 3 bays(8x8x8) of 4 cords each... this year, next year, and 2 years out. Its just under the footprint that does not require a permit in this town. Plus this is just under the max length that would fit in the sunny part of my yard. Seems like an ideal size for me. I think we will generally burn about 4 cords a year...

But do you think this is too dense/compact? Would the very center dry? I was going to leave the south facing side(one of the long sides) open for access and max sun, and make the other 3 sides slatted.

Thanks!

Sounds good. Ours is 8'x16' with 2 bays. The slope of the roof drops capacity to 3 cords per bay. Even if you don't use the 3d bay it will be a nice place to park the mower, splitter etc.

 

[thunderhead]

So one thing that you didn't mention is the shed facing the prevailing summer winds. I I think your saying that the wood will have approximately 2 years to season. How may rows of wood do you plan on putting in the 8ft space.. This all has alot to do with a good answer to your question..

With the hills and big trees around, we get nearly zero wind in the summer, and when we do get it, I think direction is pretty variable, so I am going to line it up with the sun. I was going to fill the bays up completely... should I leave a little space here and there to promote airflow? Mostly these are going to be fast-drying species... bigleaf maple and doug fir will generally be the densest types.

I was also thinking about the clear corrugated plastic for roofing... let in as much light as possible. Just have to make sure they will stand up to the anticipated snow loads.

Thanks!

Rough sketch:

 

[peakbagger]

My thoughts are incorporate a solar kiln design into the wood shed. since it sounds like you have an ideal location. The solar kiln creates its own air flow

 

[firefighterjake]

No. Wood sheds cannot be too big. Any wood left over from one winter can be used the next.

That said . . . the wood that goes into my woodshed has already been seasoned outside in a stack 1-3 years previously so all the woodshed does in my case is keep it from getting wet, snow covered and allows a little more seasoning time. I have something like 2 1/2 seasons of wood under cover.

 

[StihlKicking]

Sheds or shops size should only be limited by your funds and the space you have available to build them.

 

[Prof]

I built a 10X12 shed last year. I use it to keep seasoned wood dry, so I'm not too worried about packing it tight. A tax assessor shows up a few months back. The shed showed up on GIS and she wanted to take measurements. Fortunately, without knowing, anything 10X12 or smaller doesn't increase my tax bill. She said if I wanted more storage I should just make a bunch of small sheds instead on one large one. I won't get on a soap box about property taxes , but it might be something to look into.

 

[Nealm66]

I’m hoping to get time to go over to a friends house that showed off his wood shed to me about 15 years ago. He had it set up In a masterful way but at the time I wasn’t burning and didn’t pay much attention. One thing I wonder about is facing anything south in western Washington may require quite an overhang to help keep the sideways rain at bay somewhat.

 

[thunderhead]

Ya, im going to have to give the roof quite an overhang! So much rain... Thats why i was thinking clear plastic... let some sun in despite the overhang.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I built a 10X12 shed last year. I use it to keep seasoned wood dry, so I'm not too worried about packing it tight. A tax assessor shows up a few months back. The shed showed up on GIS and she wanted to take measurements. Fortunately, without knowing, anything 10X12 or smaller doesn't increase my tax bill. She said if I wanted more storage I should just make a bunch of small sheds instead on one large one. I won't get on a soap box about property taxes , but it might be something to look into.

This exact thing happened to us this summer. I built a 18'x 25' steel framed shop this spring. Wouldn't you know while I'm at work the tax lady pulls up down our 1/4 mile drive and said they need to measure my new shop. My wife says "how did you know.....we just finished building it". "Google earth" the lady replies. She asked if it had a concrete floor which was obvious. I guess they expected her to lie.....I dunno. It just amazed me because we live in the middle of nowhere and you cant see our place from the road. Definitely felt spied on by the government lol.

 

[peakbagger]

Long before Google Earth, governments would take aerial photos every few years after the leaves are down. There is device that "blinks" rapidly between the images,. The changes that have occurred on the ground from one year to the next are very noticeable. I think the state of Maine used on this on waterfrontage lots to make sure folks didnt clear their frontage without a permit.

 

[MainePatsFan]

Two responses here saying town governments are eyeballing aerial photos of your property like the CIA on a mission to take out the Taliban leadership. For real? I hope not. Anything besides a barn or garage are not going to raise the value of your property in my mind. In fact my woodshed would probably take away from the value for all the Boston urbanites invading Southern Maine right now.

 

[peakbagger]

Yes they can and do, it depends on how desperate the town and state is for revenue. Folks dont realize that Google is not doing low level flyowners of your backyard what they are doing is providing access to other public and private imaging that others have taken.

A small rural town may not use such high tech approaches and may ignore accessory structures but it has the right an if they are short on the budget its source of revenue. Of course the voters have the right to vote the selectman out of office but if there is revenue shortfall the choice is squeeze the budget even harder or find more revenue.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

No such thing as too big of a woodshed.

 

[thunderhead]

Too dense or too compact might have been better wording on my part. Would 12 cords arranged 8by8by24 feet be too dense to dry well?

 

[Poindexter]

Too dense or too compact might have been better wording on my part. Would 12 cords arranged 8by8by24 feet be too dense to dry well?

8x8x24 = 1536 cubic feet
4x4x8x12 = 1536 cubic feet

I have only ever visited Seattle, and only ever visited Arizona. In Arizona, you could probably get away with that. In Seattle I _expect_ you would have to not pack that quite so tightly to get better airflow through your stacks. I would _expect_ 8-10 cords would be a reasonable upper limit to season wood in a shed that size. We have a few users here from the Seattle area, who would be better able to guide you than little old me.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I a, not familiar with the climate in Seattle. I am in WI. I think if you kept a few inches between the rows or limited it to 6 ft wide, it would be better, but you shouldn't have too much trouble with 8 ft. We are stacking our piles that we split later this summer. The big pile is 10 cord and the smaller one is 5 cord. Both have pretty dry wood in the center, and they have not been covered from the rain. We can dry most wood here in 2-8 months, depending on the species and the weather. We just got a foot of snow yesterday, and most of it has melted, so everything is soaked, but the wood is still ok.

I would have no problem with a 8 ft woodshed. Air moves through the wood pretty well, and it doesn't have to be doing 20 mph. As long as it is moving it will be fine.

 

[gggvan]

my woodshed would probably take away from the value for all the Boston urbanites invading Southern Maine right now.

yea, those massholes are the worse!

 

[Highbeam]

I’m in western Washington and stuffed one bay which is half of my 10x20 shed tight with large split, green, Doug fir two years ago. Will burn it this year. The stacks are tall too, like 7 feet in front.

Even a light breeze blows all the way through 10 feet of wood. I think it’s 6 rows.

Good wood sheds have lots of ventilation and deep overhangs. You don’t need sun but a breeze sure helps.

My wood is up on pallets so no ground contact.

 

[kennyp2339]

My woodshed is an L shape 40ft x5ft, its 4 bays, each bay 10ft wide, can stack (3) rows deep 18"-20" average split length and go about 7ft high. I was worried about making it to deep and not having air circulation, mind you other then a roof the front is open, the sides are open, the back, backs up to a 4ft cement retaining wall.
Each bay holds just under 2 cords, so I use 2 bays a season, allowing my wood supply to dry out for 2 years by alternating, it works really well for me and on average my splits are in the 16% range when burning starts, all hardwoods.

My wood shed project

I've finally got sick and tired of the constant struggle of dealing with tarps and have messy wood piles, so I've embarked on a woodshed building mission, this is pic heavy and I hope you all enjoy it

www.hearth.com