store indoor wood in sealed container for bugs?

[ctswf]

when bringing a small to medium sized load in the house do you keep it in anything for bugs, spiders...maybe a box with a screen for ventilation or something

I have a decent amount of ticks here

 

[BrotherBart]

This place is the tick capital of the world. Just ask my outdoor cat. None ever come in on wood, just her. 40 years of heating with wood and I will be damned if I ever saw a bug around any wood I have brought in and placed in the rack by the stove.

Ya got bugs, it ain't from the wood.

 

[Dix]

Naah.

I store my indoor fire wood in a wood rack, and vortex totes.

By the time it gets into the house, the majority of the creatures are gone.

The rest end up in one of the stoves

 

[akbear]

I hear you on the spiders, and living in an area with carpenter ants (termites in other areas would be a similar concern as are many species of beetles), having things that nest in wood waking up from a hibernation state is a real possibility. Having a sheet metal or fine metal screen lined bin or cabinet with a good closure is in no way an overreaction or silly if you feel it is warranted because that in itself is an indication that it is warranted.

I actually considered getting one of these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KDAEI0/ (they come in various sizes, colours and versions from unlined, which likely would need the addition of some screening to cover any possible egress points, all the way up to a biohazard version) and likely would have if free shipping on these items was available for my location. I'd certainly be interested to hear what others have done as I still am unsettled on what I ultimately want that provides the protection I desire while not wasting space (in other words, sure a large covered trashcan could work, but it's not conducive to maximising wood storage in the smallest space possible and hinders any moisture reduction).

 

[Tenn Dave]

when bringing a small to medium sized load in the house do you keep it in anything for bugs, spiders...maybe a box with a screen for ventilation or something

I have a decent amount of ticks here

I only bring in enough wood for the reload at the time it is needed. The rest I store on a back covered patio right outside the back door. Years ago when I had a fireplace I tried to store some wood near the hearth in a decorative round storage ring and did have some small beetles come out of the wood. When I took one of the splits outside and peeled back the bark, that's where they were hiding.

 

[akbear]

I sure wish that was an option for me, but wood that, depending on the weather outdoors, could be as cold as 65 below zero isn't a prime candidate for tossing into a stove...

 

[Simonkenton]

Ticks won't come in on the wood, they come in on the dog, or on you. I do get an occasional spider or bug on the wood, doesn't bother me.

 

[Dix]

I only bring in enough wood for the reload at the time it is needed. The rest I store on a back covered patio right outside the back door. Years ago when I had a fireplace I tried to store some wood near the hearth in a decorative round storage ring and did have some small beetles come out of the wood. When I took one of the splits outside and peeled back the bark, that's where they were hiding.

That fire wood probably wasn't really seasoned.

 

[akbear]

But how do they get on the dog? There are a lot of people that would say differently, such as this quote:

Ticks wait on blades of grass, along the sides of trees, on plants, or in piles of firewood or fallen leaves. They can smell the air you exhale and will seek you out - they particularly enjoy the sugar-rich blood of humans. They hold their arms out, and immediately grab onto anything that comes close, be it man, woman, child, or animal.

Or this one:

Who'da thunk it?

Since we've been using the fireplace at night to heat, we've been bombarded with ticks in the house.

First, we began seeing them on our dog. We thought he was bringing them in from outside.

Then, I finally put 2 and 2 together and figured out where the %&$@&% things were coming from after I put some more wood on the fire and came away with a tick on my leg and on my night gown.


So far I have been lucky to have moved to an area that was considered tick free other than what travellers bring up, but that will not always be the case as the range has been expanding and moving north with animal movements and changes to weather patterns over the years.

 

[BrotherBart]

I sure wish that was an option for me, but wood that, depending on the weather outdoors, could be as cold as 65 below zero isn't a prime candidate for tossing into a stove...

Used to post the number for the moving companies in you guy's area. Gave up.

 

[BrotherBart]

What freakin grass or bugs are around at 65 below?

 

[akbear]

What freakin grass or bugs are around at 65 below?

Logically that would make sense, but then again it sure never stops the mosquitoes from reappearing in droves each spring either.

 

[Simonkenton]

I am in the NC mountains and we have plenty of ticks. I have a big fireplace, pictured at left, and also a wood stove. I burn lots of wood. Never had a tick come inside on a stick of firewood.
I have a steel firewood rack next to the fireplace, holds 100 pounds of wood, and I also stack lots of wood near the wood stove. I will bring inside 3 armloads of wood any time I am going to do some serious burning.
As someone else alluded to, when I am burning it is 40 degrees, or 10 degrees outside, by then the ticks are all gone, and won't be back until April.

You have some nuclear-powered ticks if they are coming inside on firewood.

 

[akbear]

You have some nuclear-powered ticks if they are coming inside on firewood.

Considering that we have wood frogs that freeze solid and thaw back to life, and that first crop of mosquitoes are actually adults that winter over under the snow and emerge before the snow is gone, I'd be inclined to believe in radio-active godzilla bugs any day.

But as a side note, if we were talking about clearances or chimneys, peace of mind and/or protection wouldn't even be a second thought and is why we exceed minimum standards, do more than what works for most or don't simply rely upon what grandfather got away with years ago. In this case it's a concern about bugs, which while in most cases isn't life or property threatening, there certainly is merit to talking about possible solutions instead of seeing a wall of dismissals no matter how remote the possibility might sound.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Insects are a good source of protein. If they do make it in the house somehow you should pretend you live in Africa. The crunchy ones taste a lot like popcorn.

 

[firefighterjake]

Never have seen any critters crawling in or around the wood that I've brought in . . . but then again I usually only bring in a day's worth of wood.

To answer the original question . . . I have a woodbox . . . with a lid . . . but bugs being bugs . . . I suspect they could find a way out of this. Large Rubbermaid (or similar company) totes with snap on lids might work for your purpose.

 

[Highbeam]

This place is the tick capital of the world. Just ask my outdoor cat. None ever come in on wood, just her. 40 years of heating with wood and I will be damned if I ever saw a bug around any wood I have brought in and placed in the rack by the stove.

Ya got bugs, it ain't from the wood.

We bring wood bugs in all the time. Not ticks or ants but little insects that we just call wood bugs. They don't bite or eat the wood, just live on it year round. I started poisoning the stacks last year to see if that helps. I've only ever brought in an armload of wood to be loaded, never store wood inside the house. The bugs crawl out as soon as the splits are set on the hearth.

 

[BrotherBart]

Must be a PNW thang.

 

[Highbeam]

Must be a PNW thang.

Could be, it just doesn't get that cold here. The ground only freezes every once in a while for a few days on top.

 

[tarzan]

No problems with bugs here. Now and then I will see one crawling around on a piece of wood in the stove after a fresh reload.

I always assumed they just crawled into the wood to winter. Had no intention of coming out till spring and for a brief moment, thought it was summer. Poor fellers.

Definately never seen a tick on any firewood we brought into the house though.

 

[ctswf]

sounds like most of you don't bother with the bugs

I dont have a stove yet I guess ill play it by ear when I get one.

thanks

 

[Speed trap]

AKbear When I lived in AK mosquitoes were the state bird..

 

[drewmo]

I've moved 4 cords into the basement for this winter with no bug problems. I'll see an occasional spider, but they seem in a real hurry to get off the wood before I chuck it down the chute.

 

[Cynnergy]

We had termites hatch out of some punky fir once while we were gone for the week - that was a bit unnerving, although I don't think they can eat non-rotten wood (?). I've never had a problem with bugs in nice splits.

 

[KB007]

I just use a big Rubbermaid bin to bring it in from the porch and throw the lid on if I'm worried. Keeps any bugs inside well enough. Sure we get the occasional bugs on the wood, especially in the fall and spring. Rest of the time I don't bother with the lid, too dam cold for the bugs.