Dangers of storing wood indoors (garage) - Thoughts?

[NYCPrincess]

HI everyone,

Are there any concerns with storing my firewood in my garage (attached to my home) or against my house outside? Termites? or any other potential threats like mold, etc?

Very interested in your thoughts, experiences, opinions.

Thanks.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I think it is drier outside under good cover than in an attached garage. If you park your cars in the garage, the garage will get large temp fluctuations and condensation.

I like to keep the mess outside.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I wouldn't bring wood that needs to be seasoned, or wood that has significant rot or mold on it already, into my house or garage. But if the wood is dry and clean and relatively insect free the I wouldn't have a problem with it. So it depends on the wood.
As for leaning against the house, make sure the water isn't dripping off your roof onto the wood, and don't leave it there for more then a season at a time, otherwise critters and insect can and will make nests between the wood and your house and may eventually do some damage to your house. In other words, clear it away from the house and check for problems frequently.

 

[maple1]

Likely depends on your situation/climate/native bugs, etc.

I bring my entire winters wood into my basement every fall. Just finished this years last weekend, actually. It goes in dry. Have done that for almost 20 years with no issues that I'm aware of.

I don't think I would pile it outside against my house though.

 

[Snotrocket]

Likely depends on your situation/climate/native bugs, etc.

I bring my entire winters wood into my basement every fall. Just finished this years last weekend, actually. It goes in dry. Have done that for almost 20 years with no issues that I'm aware of.

I don't think I would pile it outside against my house though.

I do the exact same thing and have for years with no problems. Once it's in there's no running outside to dig through the snow to fill the rack next to the stove.

 

[NYCPrincess]

I think it is drier outside under good cover than in an attached garage. If you park your cars in the garage, the garage will get large temp fluctuations and condensation.

I like to keep the mess outside.

We don't park our cars in the garage. It's used mostly for storage...Now firewood storage.

 

[gzecc]

I personally would never store wood in a living structure or against a living structure for longer than the heating season. The wood would also have to be of the "clean" and truely seasoned, I would only move it into the area after the temps have dropped below freezing for at least a week.
I personally have repaired termite damage in peoples homes in the past. Not from wood storage.
IMO your asking for trouble.

 

[maple1]

We don't park our cars in the garage. It's used mostly for storage...Now firewood storage.

Like mentioned above, my winter supply sits in my basement all winter, until it all gets burned.

But I have some procedures I follow.

First & foremost is bringing it in while it is dry - and dry also means seasoned, not just surface dry.

Second, I don't stack it right against the walls. I leave a space between. That is mostly because my septic drain also runs along that wall, but I would do it anyway to leave room for air movement.

Third, it is on pallets. That is mostly because I stack it on pallets off the splitter, then bring them in with a pallet jack when it's time, but I would do it anyway to also leave room for air movement underneath.

All the air movement is sort of a 'just in case', just in case there is some moisture in the wood when I do bring it in. But it also helps to get the wood even drier over the course of the winter, which serves two purposes - it burns much better (of course), and also helps to humidify the house all winter.

 

[BobUrban]

That is in my basement. 5+ cord and hopefully a full winter plus!! Last year I did my standard 4ish cord and ran out due to polar vortex and never ending cold spring. 3 years and no problems so far.

I like the convenience vs. moving it a little at a time all winter. Others opinions vary.

 

[Andy S.]

I keep a facecord in the attached garage in a store-bought metal rack and two FC or so under cover on the back patio well away from the house to rotate into the garage. The rest is along a tree line in the back of the property to rotate to the patio.

 

[maple1]

Have to add, I would also make sure that the wood you stack outside that you plan on bringing inside, is stacked off the ground while out there, the farther the better. Along with the wood being piled on pallets, my pallets are up on blocks off the ground. So along with not stacking outside against a house, I also don't think I would bring in wood that has been sitting on the ground outside.

 

[BigCountryNY]

I am not a fan of bringing wood inside unless its about a week's worth of seasoned wood that goes in the stove. The rest I keep away from my house to reduce the risk of pest infestation. Do you have any other storage options?

 

[GibsonJ45]

Do not bring firewood into your house to store..... unless you're going to burn it in a couple or three days... and even then make sure the wood is dry, you regularly spray for pests, and it's below 40 degrees outside air temp.

 

[red oak]

Do not bring firewood into your house to store..... unless you're going to burn it in a couple or three days... and even then make sure the wood is dry, you regularly spray for pests, and it's below 40 degrees outside air temp.

I bring in about a week's worth at a time and store in the basement close to the stove. I bring it in as is, with snow or rain or whatever on it, as being close to the stove dries it pretty quick. I have not noticed any insects coming in with the wood, but my wood has been split and stacked for several years. As for termites, they need contact with the ground to survive, they will build tunnels connecting to the ground. Google some pics and learn what they look like, but I figure they're not going to tunnel through my concrete basement floor.

 

[NYCPrincess]

Thanks for all for your input. Just to give you a little more color to my current situation, I only have one cord of wood piled on three 8' log racks. Logs are cut, split and seasoned -- I used a local vendor who delivered it last night. Some of the logs seemed to be a little damp, probably because it rained at some point prior to delivery. My house is on a slab so we don't have the benefit of a basement. We thought keeping 2 racks in the garage would be ideal, so it wouldnt get wet prior to burning an it's easy access during snowy days. The third rack is outside against the garage wall (a few inches off it).

Being as this is our first year with a wood stove, we are unsure how much we will go thru, but I know we will go through at least the one cord. So I don't expect the firewood to last longer than the winter. i was just wondering if I decision to keep it inside the garage our against the house (a few inches off) was a risky choice. I would hate to be invested with termites our any other bugs.

Our only other option would be in the back yard far from either door, which would be a pain, particularly in rainy/snowy days, lugging in wet wood.

 

[DoubleB]

Maple1,
I've considered bringing stacked pallets into my garage, but am worried about rodents hitching a ride. Do you have advice to mitigate that?

 

[Seanm]

I keep about a weeks worth of dry wood in my attached garage. Its a great location because I don't have to go out in the snow every time I need an arm load of wood. I also store half a cord up against the house on the back side of the garage on dunage and top covered with poly, the wood is dry and ready to burn. Once I've used that up the space sits empty for the rest of the year and gives us more patio room in the summer. I use the ice fishing sled to haul another weeks worth of wood in to the garage from the stacks in the back 40. I would be concerned storing large amounts of wood against a house or in an attached garage from an insurance stand point and I guess a few bugs that might wake up in the warmer temps present inside.

 

[Seanm]

Logs are cut, split and seasoned -- I used a local vendor who delivered it last night

If you havent seen all the threads on here about how so many people get disappointed when they get a delivery of what is considered seasoned wood you should check them out. Maybe in this case you have been lucky. A moisture meter is a cheap and easy tool, lots of threads on here about how to use them correctly. I wish you the best of luck and welcome to the forum!

 

[NYCPrincess]

Thanks again every one. Greatly appreciate the time everyone took to respond.

 

[BigCountryNY]

You're certainly welcome! There is wealth of information on these forums thanks to all the members - especially those that have been here for a long time. The only silly question is the one that isn't asked.

 

[maple1]

Maple1,
I've considered bringing stacked pallets into my garage, but am worried about rodents hitching a ride. Do you have advice to mitigate that?

Not really. Not sure what your rodent situation is like in Wisconsin though. I have found a couple of old mice nests in a stack, but never any animals. Mice are an ongoing issue here wood or not, and I have a trapline going around the house, mainly the basement, that I check every couple of days. 10 traps in total. They seem to be able to get in under my basement roll-up door, where there are a couple of small cracks due to uneven floor surface. That goes on all summer, when I have no wood down there, so it's not the wood. Haven't seen one in a couple weeks now though.

About the only advice I can think to give about anything that might be an issue (wetness, bugs, mice) is keep the wood as far off the ground as possible when it's outside.

Everyone around here does the same thing I do (not many do pallets though) and I have never heard any horror stories that seem to be worrying a lot of people on here. The only ones who keep their wood outside all year are using OWBs.

 

[DoubleB]

They seem to be able to get in under my basement roll-up door

Yea, there's more than one way for mice to get in my garage if they're determined, like the one I saw scoot by last week. I don't like the idea of bringing in a pallet with a mouse nest, but neither did I like spending 20+ hours recently dismantling stacks and restacking 5.5 cords in my garage. So I'm starting to think the risk of bringing in a mouse might be worth it, if it is likely to happen anyways.

I have some time to think about it, since I have a couple more years of wood already stacked on pallets in a non-transportable manner.

 

[maple1]

Also, not all my wood gets rolled in & parked. Only half of it. The other half gets rolled in & re-piled on top of the parked ones. But just being able to roll it into where it needs to go is a huge help, even if I half to re-pile half of it.

 

[osagebow]

In my case, before we have prolonged freezes, only clean knothole-free stuff comes in, even for only a few days. Had a widow crawl out of a knothole right in front of the stove, and the wife brought me one in a pint glass once she caught near the stove. She was a bit perturbed.

I'll keep a stack of sketchy stuff in the wood shed and chuck it directly in when convienent. I have maple inside as kindling, it doesn't usually have hiding places.

 

[Rossco]

Well I have / had about 2/3 of a cord in my wood room in the basement. Same last year and never had a bug problem.

I have two wood rooms in the basement actually but only use one.

Once the store is empty, I don't reload. I just haul 4 Days worth in and rack it.

Maybe I will reload the wood room this year, its cold storage so no Wakey Wakey.