Shed Strategy

[brant2000]

I've been struggling for a while to decide if and how a shed would work out for my situation. I was considering to build a 24' x 8' shed with a capacity of about 9 cords, which is about half of what I want to keep in the stacks. The problem is, unless my shed has the capacity to hold all the wood I have, is it really practical? I don't want to have to stack wood outside the shed for a year or so, just to then restack it in the shed to await its fate.

I'm sure that many use a combination of shed covered and uncovered storage, but am just wondering what you've found to work best.

 

[Woody Stover]

I don't have a shed yet but my thinking is, dry the wood in stacks, then move it to the shed. The shed will be close to the house, and I'm having to walk to the stacks now, so the extra move probably won't be that much more walking, all told.

 

[Grisu]

I've been struggling for a while to decide if and how a shed would work out for my situation. I was considering to build a 24' x 8' shed with a capacity of about 9 cords, which is about half of what I want to keep in the stacks. The problem is, unless my shed has the capacity to hold all the wood I have, is it really practical? I don't want to have to stack wood outside the shed for a year or so, just to then restack it in the shed to await its fate.
I'm sure that many use a combination of shed covered and uncovered storage, but am just wondering what you've found to work best.

Yes, it is quite a bit of extra work but drying the wood in a spot with lots of sun and wind before moving it for the winter in a dry space close to the house is the way to go. You don't really want stack the wet wood too close to the house due to the critters. In addition, restacking the wood is not a bad idea anyway to get the lower third of your stacks to dry out completely. Even when raised from the ground those splits don't dry as well.

 

[GibsonJ45]

I dry wood over the summer in the sun and open air. I move about 3 cords of the seasoned, split wood into my wood shed. That's the wood I'll burn for the coming winter. All the green or new wood, I stack and leave out. I follow that routine each year.

 

[WES999]

My shed holds 4 or 5 cords, when it is full, the wood gets stacked on pallets out side, top cover with some ply wood or similar.

 

[cptoneleg]

All I can say is burning wood is work and most of us Love the rewards, I Dry Outside and move to my Shed out of Rain, Ice , Snow.

 

[BrotherBart]

I Dry Outside and move to my Shed out of Rain, Ice , Snow.

OK. But what do you do with the wood?

 

[tigger]

Cptneleg -are the random capitalized words a code for something........you Love Outside Shed Rain Ice Snow.......LOSRIS.......hmmm what does it mean..........

 

[red oak]

I think most people who have a shed dry the wood outdoors first and then move it into the shed. You might want to consider just putting up a roof and leaving the sides open, or if you want to have walls leave spaces in them to allow air flow. Or instead of building a shed you may want to top-cover with some old roofing. Either would allow you to not have to stack it twice.

 

[Soundchasm]

I built a woodshed and am pondering the strategy questions as well. The shed will hold 4.5 cords stuffed, and I have a carport that holds 2 cords stuffed. I've got a fenceline where I'll put more split stuff to get to 8 cords total. Then I think I'll bring every acquisition home, 1/4 split and fill the rest of the fenceline and topcover.

In March/Apr, I'll put those 1/4s in the truck and split them at the covered areas to refill. That's the best I can conceive of at the present.

 

[firefighterjake]

It's work . . . but it's rewarding work come winter time and you don't have a single bill from the heating oil company.

Like others, I stack outside for a year, then move the wood inside (just finished reloading the shed this past weekend) . . . the nice thing about a large, multi-year woodshed is that the wood will continue to dry for another year before being burned.

 

[tsquini]

I stack the wood in the open air. In the winter I bring 2 weeks of wood under an eave ready to use.

 

[brant2000]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I think I'll put off the shed for another year or so and continue with what worked for me last year. I have an 8' rack inside next to the woodeater, which gives me a good solid week supply. Hopefully I'll have better luck than the top cover (extra plastic sheeting I had laying around) I tried to use last year.

 

[cptoneleg]

Cptneleg -are the random capitalized words a code for something........you Love Outside Shed Rain Ice Snow.......LOSRIS.......hmmm what does it mean..........

Whiskey

 

[cptoneleg]

OK. But what do you do with the wood?

 

[red oak]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I think I'll put off the shed for another year or so and continue with what worked for me last year. I have an 8' rack inside next to the woodeater, which gives me a good solid week supply. Hopefully I'll have better luck than the top cover (extra plastic sheeting I had laying around) I tried to use last year.

I like your plan. I do something similar. I also stack about a month's supply under my deck come fall. Between that and storing a week's worth in the basement, I have little need for a wood shed. If you can get your hands on some old sheets of metal roofing that works much better for a top cover than plastic (I've tried both). Rubber roofing works well also according to several on here.

 

[PSYS]

I actually just built our wood shed this year.

I think I was under the same impression as you. That being, I ASSumed the whole concept of the wood shed with its openness would allow the wood to dry INSIDE of the shed. I'm finding out that isn't entirely true unless the wood you have is, of course, all ready to burn.

I'm not fond of stacking and re-stacking, but after doing a fairly thorough search on the forum, it seems like that's what most everyone is doing.

 

[glennm]

I have a shed that holds 6 cords. The shed has a centre wall so 3 cords per side. It is accessible from the front or open rear. I keep it stuffed and have a few cords of lesser quality wood stacked outside under cover. I burn that until we get a bunch of snow and then use the wood in the shed from the section that has been there the longest, replace that in the spring and it could be 3 years before I get to the replaced wood. Works great for me!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I'm not fond of stacking and re-stacking, but after doing a fairly thorough search on the forum, it seems like that's what most everyone is doing.

That's the echo chamber effect.

I do it only when I have to. Most of the time it goes right in the woodshed were it gets plenty dry

 

[PSYS]

That's the echo chamber effect....

...I guess most everyone on the forum is a fan of doing double work then.

 

[Charlie2]

All I can say is burning wood is work and most of us Love the rewards, I Dry Outside and move to my Shed out of Rain, Ice , Snow.

That wood that has your ass on fire, is it 20% or under?

 

[cptoneleg]

Yes and that club is the only weapon I can have around here.

 

[Coach B]

I like your plan. I do something similar. I also stack about a month's supply under my deck come fall. Between that and storing a week's worth in the basement

That is the advantage of living where we don't have long-term heavy snow cover. Snow staying on the ground for more than a couple of weeks is a rarity where I live. When I see an extended period of rain or snow in the forecast I make sure and move plenty of wood to the back porch, where I am able to squeeze three or four weeks worth under cover.

 

[Badfish740]

I actually just built our wood shed this year.I think I was under the same impression as you. That being, I ASSumed the whole concept of the wood shed with its openness would allow the wood to dry INSIDE of the shed. I'm finding out that isn't entirely true unless the wood you have is, of course, all ready to burn.

Not to hijack, but I just started a thread on a new shed I'm considering building that is about as open as you can get. The reason I'm building it this way is so that it doubles as a fence of sorts, but after reading this thread, I wonder if the increased surface area of wood exposed to open air will help the drying process. Basically both ends of each split will be open to the air because it will only be one stack wide. I cut all my wood 24-25" because my Englander will take up to 26" splits.