Question about storing wood long term

[Wilbursan]

Being in Alabama I don't use much wood. Which is fortunate because I don't have anyplace to store it. There are some pictures below showing what I've done. The first is the rack I built behind the shop which was 16 feet long. It held way more wood than I needed. It was also much too close to the shop and unfortunately attracted carpenter ants which, when I tried to kill them, went into the workshop (Second picture is my vain attempt to kill them).

So Plan B - I built a "solar kiln" beside the shop in the sun (third picture). That worked well and dried the wood quickly and kept the bugs at bay, but also eventually tore and looked like crap. You could see it from the street and I live in a neighborhood with an HOA and someone called them over it. I just tore the plastic off and everything was fine, but I need to do something else more permanent. The amount of wood on that rack will last me 2-3 years because I just don't burn much so far the time being all I need to do is store it (it's dry now, been burning it this winter). For the time being I've put some in thick plastic bags and stored them in the shop but for obvious reasons this makes me nervous, so time for plan C.

The last two pictures show my back yard (one winter, one summer). You can see why bugs are a problem in the summer. The current rack is just to the left of these pictures. What I want to do is store the wood under those trees. It's completely dry (13% now) so I don't need sunlight or wind on it so I'm thinking lay down some blocks, then the plastic, then the 4x4s, then the wood and wrap it up, just like I did the solar kiln. Since it will be off the ground and wrapped as air tight as I can get it I don't really see a problem, even for bug-prone Alabama. I'll build a smaller version back over by the shop for drying wood as needed then take it down when I don't.

Anyone see an obvious problem with this?

 

[CenterTree]

, then the plastic, then the 4x4s, then the wood and wrap it up, just like I did the solar kiln. Since it will be off the ground and wrapped as air tight as I can get it I don't really see a problem, even for bug-prone Alabama. I'll build a smaller version back over by the shop for drying wood as needed then take it down when I don't.

Anyone see an obvious problem with this?

I have found over the years, that when you "wrap" or even try to COMPLETELY cover any object (be it wood, a tractor, car, boat, grill) it tends to make it worse than if you only covered the top.
My thought is that you get a sort of greenhouse effect where the sun heats the air inside of the plastic and can cause condensation to form and the object you are trying to keep dry actually gets wet (or rusts).

I think air flow is essential for cover wood. (top cover it)

 

[fishki]

Do the deer always just walk casually thru your yard letting you snap pics?

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I'd just top cover it.

And, I really hate home owner associations! I will never buy a house in a neighborhood with one and relinquish whatever freedoms we have left at this point. Granted, I am probably the riff raff that such associations are designed to exclude.

 

[Gboutdoors]

I will come down and get rid of the large rodents you have there walking in your yard.

As for the wood top cover only and it will last for years.

 

[Wickets]

Off topic:

I will come down and get rid of the large rodents you have there walking in your yard

Walking into many 'hardware' or garden supply shops here in NJ always makes me laugh.....normally at one of these stores is a few pallets of deer stuff....on one side of the pallet deer food and other 'attractions' and on the other deer deterrents. Talk about being betwixt and between LOL

 

[95XL883]

Carpenter ants? Permethrin is your friend. The expensive route is to go to a sporting good store and buy a 24 oz bottle of .05% premix for $25. Cheaper in the long run is to buy concentrate online and mix what you need. I found a 32 oz bottle of concentrate for a few dollars more than the premix. For carpenter ants I use a 2% solution and a small tank sprayer. One treatment was all I needed to get rid of the carpenters. Follow usual pesticide handling procedures. HTH

 

[Wilbursan]

Do the deer always just walk casually thru your yard letting you snap pics?

Well I don't generally take pictures of the back yard unless there is a reason. But yeah, they are pretty frequent visitors. On the other side of the shop is another 3 acres of woods and across the street is 50 acres or so. I don't know how much land deer need but I've counted as many as 10 at one time. I live between some small hills (NW Alabama was a high plain that has since eroded) and I'm pretty close to a small river so they have access to a lot of similar terrain all around here. I've seen hog tracks in the yard and I hear coyotes pretty regularly. And this is barely outside city limits - in fact the city boundaries run all around me. This is the closest I could get to living in the mountains yet still being able to drive to work and back in a reasonable amount of time. That explains why I've allowed myself to move into a neighborhood with an HOA. That, and the fact that I never heard a word from the previous HOA I lived under. In fact I forgot I did until just now. This one seems much more active.

 

[Wilbursan]

Carpenter ants? Permethrin is your friend. The expensive route is to go to a sporting good store and buy a 24 oz bottle of .05% premix for $25. Cheaper in the long run is to buy concentrate online and mix what you need. I found a 32 oz bottle of concentrate for a few dollars more than the premix. For carpenter ants I use a 2% solution and a small tank sprayer. One treatment was all I needed to get rid of the carpenters. Follow usual pesticide handling procedures. HTH

I've taken care of the carpenter ants. I've got a really good bug company that I'm fixing to hand over my termite business to. They sprayed all around and inside the shop and dusted the attic. Twice. It still took a couple of months before I quit finding dead ones. I never did find where they were at, only where they went to die. Pretty odd. I plan to take over the pest control myself using Permethrin and some other insecticides from online, but I'm going to hand over my termite control to them I think. They'll have to retreat the house (with better chemicals than the builder used) but after that they treat it every year. Nobody else up here does that - they only do a visual inspection. That didn't work on my last house as they came in under the garage wall (cinder blocks) and into a bedroom. The first indication I had of termites was when they were coming out of the wall. I didn't have any trees or standing water near that house. Now I live on a lot surrounded by wetlands and I'm not taking that chance.

 

[Wilbursan]

I have found over the years, that when you "wrap" or even try to COMPLETELY cover any object (be it wood, a tractor, car, boat, grill) it tends to make it worse than if you only covered the top.
My thought is that you get a sort of greenhouse effect where the sun heats the air inside of the plastic and can cause condensation to form and the object you are trying to keep dry actually gets wet (or rusts).

I think air flow is essential for cover wood. (top cover it)

Actually the way I originally dried the wood was the third picture - wrap it "air tight" and let it start to sweat (don't let the plastic touch the wood). When the water starts building up in the bottom just cut a small slot so it wil drain out. Voila! Instant solar kiln. It worked like a charm, and in only 2-3 months. There must have been a gallon or more of water in just a few day. I go the idea from this forum. I think if I do the same thing here I should be ok, no? Although there won't be any sun on it this time since it will be under the trees.