I've got my wood outside and uncovered. I heard that rubber roofing works very well. I called around and nobody around seems to have scraps and it's $1/sq.ft. which isn't going to happen. Any good ideas on how to get my hands on some of this?
Covering Wood
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I'm guessing you called roofers? I've tried as well - and can't find any - and it is too expensive to buy for covering wood. I've begun leaving all of my wood uncovered. Current year's wood goes in the barn come October, so no worries about snow/ice during the winter. Cheers!
I would suggest sign companies . . . but seeing as you and I are both from Maine the chances of finding many billboard companies looking to dump their own billboard ad would be pretty slim. Best bet if you still want to cover with the roofing material is to keep asking . . . or maybe see some pool companies to see if they have some old liners you could have . . . actually I suspect that may be your best bet if you're looking for something similar to rubber roofing to cover your stacks.
Old spark. I don't have a shed yet and think the wood is too wet for being split and stacked for all most 2 years. It's time to getting dryer would as cheap as possible. But I'm not going to make our modest subdivision go through blue tarp alley. And the boat covers may work. I've got a nearby boat yard that uses the white stuff that sticks right to the boats. Maybe white plastic alley wouldn't be that offensive.?
I'm using the rubber roofing mat'l right now, works very well, doesn't blow around like tarps do, if you wait 'till spring, look around for flat roof construction jobs and approach a worker and offer a few $$ for scraps. If you go dumpster diving you still run the risk of either trespassing or theft (if they want to break b*lls)
The billboard vinyl tarps a very close second to the rubber, if you have no local connection to them, they are available on Ebay, see link.
(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/20-Mil-20-x-60-Vinyl-Tarp-16-oz-ReUsed-Billboard-Cover-/250533020636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a54ee83dc)
The billboard vinyl tarps a very close second to the rubber, if you have no local connection to them, they are available on Ebay, see link.
(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/20-Mil-20-x-60-Vinyl-Tarp-16-oz-ReUsed-Billboard-Cover-/250533020636?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a54ee83dc)
We have several bucket elevators at work and we have to change the belts periodically. That leaves about 400 ft of 24" wide and 1/2" thick rubber that is thrown away if no one wants it. Heavy as heck so I cut it in to 10 or 15 foot lengths. Covers the tops of woodpiles very nice and is heavy enough to not blow away. See if any companies near you use any type conveyor systems and ask about old belts.
Rob
Rob
i use the cheap plastic blue/brown "tarps" from box stores. last at least 2 years if i leave them out all year...longer, if i take them off in the summer. a 10 x 12 runs about $4; 5 x 7 on sale for .99
I found some cheapy "brown" firewood tarps at a local store. 3x19 for around $3. I bought a half dozen as they are the perfect width to fit over my stacks for the wet times of the year. I probably will peel off over the summer and extend my racks so I can utilize them fully next wet season. At least they did their job this winter and the color was "allowed" by the wife since they are technically in the front yard. I don't have a picture of them all covered, but you can at least see one.
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Arc_Dad said:
Nope. If the wood isn't ready to burn, it isn't because it's water-wet. I never cover my wood, even in winter, and it seasons just fine. The only rational reason to cover the wood is to make it easier to keep the snow off in winter-- unless you live in Oregon or someplace where it rains constantly. Cover it if you wan't, but it won't make it season any faster.
Arc_Dad said:
Ah . . . perhaps some motivation to get a woodshed built . . . I tell ya . . . once you build one you'll never look back or miss uncovering the wood in middle of January and having to deal with that pile of snow or ice sliding off the top and all over you.
Arc_Dad said:
I agree with you in that I really hate those blue tarps. Besides, tarps will not last very long at all and many times you are better off not covering. You certainly do not want an eyesore in a subdivision.
Here is one idea. We use old galvanized roofing that we've scrounged. I've paid nothing for ours and we have lots.
(broken image removed)
In the picture you might notice the far stack is covered with the rubber roofing. It is okay, but I like the hard roofing much, much better. This was an experiment but we probably won't use any rubber roofing again unless we get too much wood and have to use it.
Arc_Dad said:
Gorgeous, isn't it? I can only look and sigh with envy. The part of my land that gets sun and wind is fairly steeply sloped and uneven, so I can only admire these beautiful stacks and hope mine fall over and have to be restacked no more than one or twice a year.
gyrfalcon said:
Thanks Arc_Dad and gryfalcon.
Actually several have commented on those stacks but I never thought they were all that great. But stacking seems to be a thing whereas either you have it or not. For example, I will not allow my wife to help me stack wood! She is great at many things but stacking wood is not one of them! Her stacks would fall all over the place and just look plain sloppy. Mine are not perfect, but they don't fall over and look at least half way decent.
The hard roofing indeed is the best way to go that we have found. Only one time have I had one of them blow off and that was last fall. I've always just thrown odd shaped pieces or pieces that are too long or whatever on the top to hold down the roofing. It has been suggested that I consider screwing them down to the wood and I have thought of that but so far have not done it. Maybe next year... Not sure if I'll do any stacking or not this year.
Backwoods Savage said:
I've always felt that a good wood stack is a thing of beauty, even before I was looking at it with greed as fuel. Something about it just appeals to my eye. Yours make me drool.
With sloped, uneven ground and short (14-inch) mostly quarter-splits, a lot of which is beech and therefore twisty, stacking takes me absolutely forever to do right. It's like an impossibly complicated jigsaw puzzle to get it solid enough to stand. Then it rains like heck for a couple of days, the ground softens unevenly, and over she goes with that odd sort of whoosh-whump.
As for stackers and non-stackers-- late this fall, facing the reality that I wasn't going to be able to get a couple cords of beech stacked by myself before snow fell, I hired a guy to help-- a country guy in his 50s who'd been stacking and burning his whole life. Working together, we got it done in a few hours. The next morning, a big section of one of his stacks had fallen over. Mine were still standing. (Of course, now it's all encased in a sarcophagus of snow and ice, so no worries about it falling over until mud season.)
gryfalcon, if we are able to get out there and have the time for a visit, maybe we'll do some stacking together! That might be fun....as long as my wife doesn't help. She really is that bad at stacking wood.
:lol:
:lol:
Backwoods Savage said:
C'mon over! We'll stash your wife in a nice chair with a cold drink and she can jeer at us stacking fussbudgets.
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