storing seasoned wood below shady deck?

[rmcfall]

I've got a large deck off the back of my house that would make a nice place to store my seasoned firewood because it provides a good shelter throughout the year. I could fit 5-6 cords under it. The problem is that during the summer it is constantly shadey and moist underneath the deck. Would the shade and moisture factor make it a bad place to store seasoned wood? Would my good seasoned wood get turned into wet punky wood?

 

[KeithO]

Fit a waterproof "roof" under the deck to stop water penetration (it will have to slope down away from the house to avoid pooling). Provide some sort of privacy screening underneath to reduce direct rain penetration, but maintain ventilation. Provide rails on the ground (treated lumber) to raise the wood off the ground. Then you should be set and you would have killed the damp problem at the same time. Make sure that the rails you put down to hold the wood are spaced 1/2" off the ground to allow surface water to drain wherever it wants to go.

 

[budman]

Better off in the sun with a good breeze.

 

[nshif]

I built my deck (8-10 off the ground ) with exactly that in mind. I can easily store one winters wood under there. I built the deck waterprof by topping the joists with ext grade plywood (AC ) covered that with 30# felt then placed pressure treated "2x2 furring strips" (these i had to rip from 2x6) over the joists ( also PT ). Then placed composite decking over that. Allows for air circ and drainage under the deck boards which the manuf. requires. Dont have any humidity here so stays pretty dry down there and havnt had any trouble with rot even with some wood being down there 2 years. Fortunatly I have an old POS forklift with a 4x4x4 box that I fill every week or so and lift onto the deck for my stove supply. I do only store seasond wood under there moved from the wood shed in early fall. saves me trips to the shed which is about 50 yards away in the dead of winter.

 

[KeithO]

Our current deck has nothing that stops rain penetration and everything below is permanently soaked anytime it rains. But I can see that with something like fiberglass roofing below the deck it would change the situation down below considerably. I would only stack the wood down there late in the season, but there are exceptions, like the one submariner who posted on his firewood shed. Since he is on duty for months at a time, he doesn't have the luxury of doing things at convenient times. He splits the logs and stacks them in the shed right away and thats where it stays. Of course he is a year ahead of his needs, so all the wood sits for 2 years prior to being burned.

 

[nshif]

Had a neighbor who tried green corregated fiberglass under his deck. worked fine for most of one winter then had more cracks than a windsheild in a head on. The water/snow melt would drip through then freeze on its way out ( ice damn ) and it eventually destroyed it. but if you live somewhere it doesnt freeze hard it could work and is alot cheaper then what I did.

 

[KeithO]

So by the sounds of it I need something more structurally sound than the fiberglass, since I'm in southern Michigan and the winters can be pretty hard. Maybe I need to look at metal roofing instead. I was thinking of the fiberglass primarily since it is rot proof. Even exterior grade wood based materials only last "so long" until you have to redo it. I guess the same could be said of the deck itself, so maybe I shouldn't try to make one part of it more durable than the other.

 

[nshif]

Keith
Is it a wood deck or comp? Are the joists pressure treated? how old is it and how soon do you think it needs to be replaced? I intend to cover my deck in the next year or so thats why I went with the roofing felt, not good for long term but for my needs fine. If the deck was to remain uncoverd I was going to use metal roofing ( delta rib, not corragated ) spaced so I could still tie the furring strips to the joists. Im abit overly seriously waterproofing this space ( 12x52 ) as it will also be a small shop and I dont want water dripping on my table saw etc.

 

[Robbie]

I would be very concerned about termites and wet wood = bad news for wood around your home.

I don't think it would be very "ready to burn" because if it rains it will not be able to dry well.


Robbie

 

[nshif]

Robbie
It is allone year seasoned ( sometimes 2 summers ) before it goes under there. And we have very little temite problem here at this elevation. In fact most of Ca. requires a termite spray at foundation leval its not required here. and Ive never seen any signs of them in outdoor woodpiles ( be it fire wood or lumber ).

 

[DiscoInferno]

I have a stack of partly seasoned wood under a deck where it's shaded and damp, and in the past I have found that wood can rot and doesn't season well. It's convenient, though, so I attached a tarp (at a slope) under the joists so the water runs off. Seems to work ok, and I won't be burning that wood this season anyway. I do have it up on pallets also.

 

[minesmoria]

If you going to put metal roofing down, why not just re do the deck with vinyl. duradeck.

 

[nshif]

Duradek would work but is really slippery in ice and snow.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Stacking wood near the house might be okay, but beware. Wood should be piled a distance from the house....simply because of insects. In more southern climates they also worry a lot about snakes.

We keep our wood a ways from the house but starting in December I then bring up a large amount of dry wood and stack it at the end of the porch. When we need wood for the stove, I just walk out onto the porch and grab what I need. Restock it about once per week as needed.

 

[rmcfall]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Much more than what I expected....I appreciate all the suggestions!