Holz Hausen question

[Country Gentleman]

I plan on using the German wood house style this year instead of my traditional 35 foot long double rows. During winter I normally wheelbarrow a week's worth to a rack close to my house therefore my question is do I rebuild the roof of the Holz Hausen each time after taking wood from it and therefore reducing it's height?

As always, my sincere thanks in advance for the the excellent advice I receive here.

 

[oldspark]

You could do a search on this site and save your self some grief, most people do not think they are worth the effort.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

OS- they do save space and look nifty.

CG- I throw a tarp over it and just pick the wood off the top evenly. You can keep it piled in the middle a bit more to keep snow/rain moving the right direction.

 

[oldspark]

OS- they do save space and look nifty.

CG- I throw a tarp over it and just pick the wood off the top evenly. You can keep it piled in the middle a bit more to keep snow/rain moving the right direction.

I agree, they do look nice and I spose they save some space but for the most part a PITA from what I have read.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

They do take some practice to get them right. After a few they're not much more work I don't think (more than box stacking ends).

 

[pen]

I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and built one this summer because it would be safer than single stacks for them.

Not so sure I'll be building another one though. It was a pain.

Here is what I did.

pen

 

[Country Gentleman]

Nice picture, Pen. Out of interest, why was it a pain?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

When you stack the splits they are like spokes of a wheel- so the inside may overlap, or there are larger spaces between them on the outside of the stack. Every few layers you need to lay a split across the outside to account for this/level it out a bit. Oddly shaped pieces can be fit in to help this issue, but it's not as easy as throwing splits into a stack with posts for ends.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've built holz mietes for the past three years running . . . mostly because they're unique . . . not because I have space limitations or believe they will somehow season my wood faster. I don't find them much harder to build . . . and they're pretty rugged if built right . . .

As for the OP question . . . I'm not sure . . . after a year outside I tear it apart and put the wood in the woodshed where it's just boring, old rows.

If I had one outside and was picking from it I seriously doubt I would take the time to keep rebuilding the "roof" . . . probably would just keep a tarp on the top just like the regular wood piles.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I just remove a piece of the pie, and have found I can rebuild the pie the next season. I had a huge 10 foot diameter one that had about 4 or 5 cords in it. I used half of it and rebuilt that half the next year. No rebuilding of roofs. They really are not a pain and will garner alot more attention from friends than your regular stacks.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have five holz hausen out back, and I am building a sixth. All of my wood is stacked in holz hausen. I guess they are a pain but so are normal stacks. My success rate is about the same with HH or normal stacks, but the HH look cooler. Keep in mind that the roof, unless you put a tarp up there, doesn't really do any good keeping rain out of the wood. Even if you use flat pieces of firewood there is no way they'll overlap enough to actually work like shingles - they only look like shingles. When I take my holz hausen down, I start at the top outside row in whatever location I see fit and deconstruct the thing piece by piece. I usually start in the back, away from my view, so that the holz hausen looks like a little hut until about half of it is down, then I begin to see the damage. I do not try to rebuld the roof as I go. I also don't cover it during the winter. Instead I just try to take it apart in columns, leaving the most vertical edges feasible, so that I am mostly taking wood that has remained covered by other wood and therefore is relatively snow-free. I stack about a weeks worth of wood on the back porch, so there is some time for some of the snow to submilate or blow away before I take the wood inside.

 

[pen]

Nice picture, Pen. Out of interest, why was it a pain?

I could have stacked that wood in rows in about 2/3 the time. What really didn't help anything is I kept feeling as though the ghost of my grandfather was there saying "Why the hell are you trying to put a square peg in a round hole" "Judas Priest, your stacking wood standing on a ladder!" "So explain to me why you don't have a woodshed back here?" "I'm disappointed. I know I'm not your father but somehow one of us failed and that is why you are trying this."

Now that I think of it, the problem was mostly in my head Sure do miss that man.

pen

 

[BrowningBAR]

"I'm disappointed. I know I'm not your father but somehow one of us failed and that is why you are trying this."

Holy crap, that's funny.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

OS- they do save space and look nifty.

CG- I throw a tarp over it and just pick the wood off the top evenly. You can keep it piled in the middle a bit more to keep snow/rain moving the right direction.

Seems like this despoils the nifty look, eh?

 

[pen]

Seems like this despoils the nifty look, eh?

I left it uncovered all summer. Covered it over a few weeks back. It'll have snow on it before you know it.

pen

 

[Adios Pantalones]

OS- they do save space and look nifty.

CG- I throw a tarp over it and just pick the wood off the top evenly. You can keep it piled in the middle a bit more to keep snow/rain moving the right direction.

Seems like this despoils the nifty look, eh?

It does, but we get slush all fall and spring, so without a shed- a tarp will suffice. Well, it's pretty in the summer at least

 

[Vic99]

I have built 6. My first one I left uncovered for half the year in a partly shady area. Moisture got in the middle that never went away and I ended up with all manner of fungi. Since then I cover it with a tarp and have minimal issues. Keep it uncovered during heat waves sometimes.

 

[Country Gentleman]