How to build a place for wood?

[Bigcube]

OK, I need some ideas. I will be building a shed type roof off the back of my garage for firewood in the very near future. Here's a pic of said garage.

The support for the roof on the back yard side will be 4 posts. I have a lot of water problems in my yard so I need some sort of platform for the floor. Std issue pallets the on the ground would cause the bottom rows of the wood to be soaked. I've had puddles in the back yard after lots of rain. So far I've considered 3 options. The area I'm talking about will be 24' wide, 8' long. The actual wood stacks could be a touch shorter (20-22') to gain height in the roof. I want to be able to stack at least 12 rows 8' long X 6' high There will be no walls on the sides. Maybe a filler in the corner where the roof meets the back of the garage. The back of the garage I'll put up T-111 where the wood will be. I will plan vertical 2x4's to end the stacks against the garage and on the 4 post side.

Option 1, build a super strong deck. elevated enough to let water run under. Found out that was too expensive. Another drawback is I could have critters living under it.

Option 2, pour a slab of concrete. On top of the concrete build a super size pallet, like 2x6" on their side. Probably too expensive and I'll have to let the concrete set before I can do anything with it.

Option 3 Dig area out about 6" Use landscaping blocks around the perimeter 2 blocks high and fill the area with gravel. Then build a super size pallet like above. My ground is very soft. How much will it settle?

Option 4, same as above but I save a bunch of doe and just put pallets down on the gravel bed as long as it's elevated at least 1 block up.

Any other ideas out there? Comments?

 

[Bigcube]

I was planning on pressure treated lumber and the t-111. I thought it was resistant to bugs?

 

[LLigetfa]

I would just pour a concrete slab and set the wood directly on it.

 

[gzecc]

First, make sure that area gets sun. I hope it is not the north side. Second I would look on craigslist for swingsets and decks people want to get rid of. You can get a lot of free pressure treated wood that way. 3rd I would put some 4x4 in the ground (depth depending on your frost line) and build a deck on top. Look for the 100 yr flood mark and go 6" above. All you want is a platform. Extend the 4x4 up about 3-4 feet to rest the rows of wood against. Dont worry about a top!
use at least 2x6 for the stringers and 5/4 for the floor with 1" space between the deck boards.

 

[Todd]

I'm doing the same thing this spring except off the side of my garage. Luckily the ground slightly slopes away from the garage so I don't have a problem with standing water. I'm still going to put down an inch or two of gravel then use treated landscape timbers to stack the firewood on.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I'd go with the combination of 3 and 4. Get some gravel in there and put on pallets.....shouldn't settle too much....perhaps put it down in the wet season, but give it a while before you built it to allow settling. Good note from the prior poster on which side it faces....looks like some mildew on the wall of the garage, so I hope its not north.
You are a hand splitting fiend!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I set down 3 concrete blocks and rest a frame made of 12 foot long 2x4s on top of it. The ends are held by T posts. Air gets under the wood and it's high enough that if water gets to the wood I have more problems than wet firewood.

Matt

 

[LLigetfa]

When I was building bases for my outdoor stacks, I was obsessed with getting air under them. I would lay down long skinny trunks spaced out and then cross-pile long trunks close together like a corduroy road. It was all free as I used junk Poplar off my land. Sure, it created a habitat for critters to live under it but it also fed the snakes that lived in the wood pile. A nice balance of nature.

IMHO, unless you get the stack up more than a foot off the ground and/or put down a moisture barrier, the moisture will come up from the ground and negate any gains from getting air. I mixed my own concrete for my slab that I laid a 1' square rebar mesh into. I think the cost came to around $200. It is a nice stable platform for my 9' tall stacks and is easy to walk on and sweep up.

You can't really see the slab in this pic but that scaffold is on lockable wheels and moves nicely. I made the mistake of sinking posts in the ground and they are getting frost jacked. If I were to build it again, I wouldn't use posts, just studs anchor bolted to the slab. Also, unlike lattice that you cannot lean the stacks against, studs would save the tedious cross-piling.

 

[madrone]

Pallets supported at the corners by cinder blocks? Less expensive than some of your other options, and reversible. If you were concerned about looks you could use a solid row around the outside and just place them where the corners of the pallets meet under the middle.

 

[ccwhite]

I would suggest minimum do the retaining wall and gravel idea but the concrete slab is the best. I like LLigetfa's setup. I would seriously try to discourage you from building it out of wood. Very pricey and you'll have to rebuild it at some point. Concrete will last indefinitely. Just my $.02

 

[Bigcube]

Thanks for the pics and ideas. I'm leaning more towards a slab. Then I'll put pallets on the slab to stack wood on. That way I can lift them up and sweep the area if I have to and it will keep the wood up during the wet season. I also need a big one poured for my truck and trailer. I'm going to get some prices this week.

 

[Pagey]

Here's my meager shed:

We've since added a piece of plywood to each end and covered the plywood with lattice work (just for appearance). This helps to keep some of the weather from the west (left) side of the shed off the wood. Next we'll add a facia board on the front and perhaps a little more lattice work for curb appeal. ;-)

 

[gzecc]

Concrete is very expensive. Put some stone (QP) down, then double pallets in a crisscross fashion. Screw the pallets together.