Turn basement window opening into wood pass-through?

[Badfish740]

I'm in the process of finishing half of my basement. I don't have outside basement access and I don't think it would be worth it to add it, so right now I bring wood in through the kitchen door and down the stairs into the basement to the furnace. Right now the stairs are bare wood and the floor is concrete, so I sweep up the bark, mud, dirt, etc...that gets tracked inside. Once the basement is finished and the steps are carpeted I'll need to find a solution or the carpeting on the steps will get ruined in a hurry. My idea was to use the basement window opening on the unfinished side near the furnace as a pass-through. The outside would be a box with a hinged lid that you could open and stack splits inside of. Then you could grab the splits through the opening in the wall in the basement so that the wood never enters the finished area. Here's a rough sketch (not to scale):

The box frame would be constructed out of pressure treated lumber and faced off with T-111 exterior plywood. I'm pretty sure that if I build the frame well and anchor it properly (I was thinking Tapcon masonry anchors), the fact that it has no support from underneath won't be an issue-what does everyone else think? For the lid I'll use 3/4" exterior plywood on a piano hinge and shingle the top of it with left over shingles from the house. I'll add some weatherstripping around the edge too. Anyone ever built anything similar?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

No reason why this would not work and I like it. Have you also entertained the idea of making a slide? That could be built in the basement at the bottom of the window sill. You would have to have the window removeable but then just set the wood on the slide (from outside) and let the wood slide down. After you got enough put down then you'd just have to go down to stack it.

For sure the window height would have a lot to do with making a decision on the best way to go. I would not particularly like having to reach up high for the wood.

 

[DAKSY]

You might want to use lag bolts & lead anchors in lieu of Tapcons, just for beef...
I'd also add a couple of small turnbuckles from the top
at your sill plate to the bottom farthest out & nearest the ground...
That way if you get any sag from the weight & general abuse from
dropping the firewood into the box, you'll be able to crank the
turnbuckles to level it back out, though the T-111 should stiffen it...
Also, I think I'd lag a P/T ledger to the foundation just below the
box to take some of the weight off the upper fasteners...
My $.02...

 

[SnapCracklePop]

What keeps the splits from hitting the window glass?

 

[Badfish740]

What keeps the splits from hitting the window glass?

No window-I planned on gutting the opening completely (ripping out the framing too) in order to have the largest opening possible.

 

[Stump_Branch]

[quote author="Backwoods Savage" date="1295050826"]No reason why this would not work and I like it. Have you also entertained the idea of making a slide? That could be built in the basement at the bottom of the window sill. You would have to have the window removeable but then just set the wood on the slide (from outside) and let the wood slide down. After you got enough put down then you'd just have to go down to stack it.

For sure the window height would have a lot to do with making a decision on the best way to go. I would not particularly like having to reach up high for the wood.[/quote]

my only thought. other wise I like, Wife would hate your taking away a window but its a basement.
Buddies of mine have basement stove and in a utility room they have a large playwood box built right under the window, when comes time to fill a well placed slide and wheel barrow make quick work of filling it.

Will you have some sort of utility room/closet to work with?

 

[gerry100]

We had a similiar arrangement that was there when we bought the house. Window frame was left in.

Worked OK, although the R value of the woodbox was less than that of the window.

Went back to a window during a later remodelling. We prefer the window lighting to the slight convenience of the box.

 

[project240]

We prefer the window lighting to the slight convenience of the box.

I'd have to think it would be more than a slight convenience. I have been considering doing something similar, but unfortunately can't find a workable space to do it.

I'd bet having it would save OP a great deal of time/energy in the long run, not to mention little to no mess to continuously clean up.

 

[gerry100]

I guess the convenience advantage depends on your layout and what your wood entry alternative is.

A few other htings to consider-

- my wood box filled with "wood crumbs" ie bark,splinters etc which can get buggy. Bugs near/in walls of house is a problem. PITA to clean out.

- ours had insulated doors on the inside. Otherwise you'll lose a lot of heat through the wood box.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

My basement window opens. Ya drive up the two tabs on the side lean the window in pull the rods off pins on the window and take it out completely. And yes thats how I get my wood in the basement. I just through it in and stack it. I do remember carrying wood down the stairs as a kid at Dad's what a pain! My window is smaller than yours and is a lot harder to do than yours will be. My friend up north have a slide that goes in the window after they take it out. They set the wood on the slide and it slides in with out hitting the widow frame.

Billy

 

[lowroadacres]

In our old home actually built a wood chute into the basement as it was an unfinished space where we could store almost 2 cords.

What we have done in our new home, well new to us as we moved it to our yard 4 years ago, is to set things up so we are able to pass wood right through our basement window. So far no close calls with the glass but our children are at the stage where they are able to do the passing and the stacking into the large wood box. We are able to place wood right beside the window outside. In fact we started the winter with a two cord stack right beside the window. Now that that is mostly gone through we use the tractor bucket fork wood box we built to get the wood right to the window.

 

[cygnus]

- I'd go for insulation of some sort too.
- That box will get heavy in a hurry. I think the Tapcons will be OK if they seat correctly (which can be tricky sometimes) but some sort of angular brace should be incorporated to take the weight so it's not just a cantilever. Maybe a angled piece for the lid to rest on that connects the top, front edge of the box to the highest point on the exterior wall.

 

[mywaynow]

I would put a custom fitted door into the opening. Gain insulation there and some security from small varmints and large imposters.