Stacking on pallets vs raised floor?

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Isaac Carlson

Minister of Fire
Nov 19, 2012
1,131
NW Wisconsin
I have been collecting pallets, and now have over 80 of them. Some are stacked full of wood. I am going to build some wood sheds this year and was wondering how you keep ground moisture at bay. I see many have raised floors, but I am building on the more affordable side of things. Is it worth it to raise the floor up a foot or so? Plastic under the wood would keep moisture down, but would also hold any water that did get in.
 
My buddy built his wood shed on cinder blocks for short money. Did elevate it about 10”.

My pallet stacks are elevated with patio bricks about $2.50 a piece.
 
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I just stack on double pallets right on the ground in the middle of the woods. I get the pallets for free from the family farm and also have quite a few waiting for their turn. I stack on double pallets because after awhile the first one will pretty much disappear and then the bottom of the wood stack will be right at ground level. Stacking on double pallets eliminates this issue. Plus it seems to help keep my wood rows from leaning. I keep my stuff stacked longer than most, so I need them to stay put for many years.

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Or you go to craigslist and get a bunch of free pavers, cinder blocks or whatever, and put the pallets on them. Saves pallets, keeps things farther off the ground, more wind blowing thru.
 
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I've been heating with my VC Resolute for 42 years. Since it consumes 16" wood, I stack the firewood on 16" cinderblocks. I find that one wythe wood will air dry quite nicely in just one year. Now I'm not too concerned about being under cover, but it absolutely has to have dry feet. Most of my concrete blocks were 'seconds' - not quite good enough for building, but perfectly cheap for stacking wood. Durable too.... When stacking, I reserve slabs with bark for the 'roof' of the stacks, sloped slightly to shed water. By alternating the orientation of the end logs, I can get perfectly square and stable stacks.

Cheers
 
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Stack on pallets. They last a long time if you have a roof or it's covered. In my shed, the bays are 8' x8' which is four pallets plus a 4 x 4. When I finish the bay, I take the pallets out and clean out all the stuff that dropped off the wood while stacking and aging. Put the pallets back in and stack more wood. It's a cheap base and keeps the wood off the ground. You can wire pallets together to make large cribs if you have a lot of split wood.
 
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