What is the purpose of a Woodshed?

[mts3740]

Obviously with a question like this I'm new to the wood burning world. I'm considering building a small woodshed to hold approximately 4 cords of wood. Some people I've talked with tell me you don't need a shed to store wood. They suggest tarping etc... Others tell me that you only put seasoned wood in a shed and the structure should be weather tight to keep the wood dry. And others tell me you can put green wood in a shed for seasoning but you need to build the structure as open as possible to accomodate air flow. To say the least I'm a bit confused. I would greeatly appreciate comments, and suggestions. Thanks

 

[SolarAndWood]

None of these are wrong. It depends on your situation. My sheds get filled in early fall with dry wood to keep it snow/ice/rain free for the heating season. Space under a roof is at a premium for me, so green wood stays outside until it is dry.

 

[gzecc]

Its primarily to keep wood dry before you bring it into the house. I think most people season outside than move it into a shed. I think that is too much moving around. I don't use a shed. If I got a lot of snow I may think differently.

 

[LLigetfa]

My shed gets loaded with semi-dry wood for "finishing".

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/SlErqzOjk5I/AAAAAAAAAbU/Y4SV7aDxvj4/s640/100_0360.JPG

 

[fossil]

My shed's built "loose"...generous spacing between floor boards and siding boards. It's off the ground, like a low deck. One big corner's wide open. Lot's of air flow through it. Even at that, I season wood out in the open before moving it to the shed. Almost all the wood that goes into my shed is probably ready to burn, but it'll sit in there for a few months before the first wood begins to come out, and some of the wood in there will probably be in there a year or more. The purpose of my shed is to have an attractive, neat, functional wood storage out-building close to my home (~25 feet) that'll store a season's worth+ of firewood under roof. No rain, no snow, no tarps to fly off or wrestle with. Mine also provides storage for kindling and a place under roof to do the inevitable re-splitting chores during the season to keep a variety of split sizes available for quick fire-building. Rick

 

[Dune]

When it rained for five days in a row last week, I was glad I had a shed.
My shed is just a lean to against the back wall of my garden shed. It is just a roof sticking out 8 feet, and 12 feet long. It is open on three sides, but still keeps my wood very dry.

 

[NHFarmer]

Fossil , I like the lights Now you can watch the wood dry even at night

 

[Rockey]

Need I say more.

 

[fossil]

Fossil , I like the lights Now you can watch the wood dry even at night

They come in plenty handy from time to time, I'm glad I thought to wire it up. It's also nice once in a while to have a duplex outlet available out there. Turned out to be pretty convenient to provide power to a lawn & garden sprinkler control box that went up on the outside of the shed late this past summer, too. Just wish I'd thought to put the lights on a three-way so I could turn the shed lights on & off from inside the house. Oh well...hindsight. Rick

 

[SolarAndWood]

Need I say more.

Where does the wood go?

 

[Rockey]

Need I say more.

Where does the wood go?

In the house with the old lady.

 

[MikeP]

If I build one I think I'll steal the design of the guy I used to live up the road from. It was about 8' deep and 30' or so feet long, divided into 3 sections. He would pull out of one section during the winter, empty out any leftover wood at the end of the season. Then he would refill that section late spring early summer. Next year on to the next section etc... The shed didn't seem to be built to "loose", but I would imagine with about 2 1/2-3 years drying time the wood didn't really need alot of airflow to season?

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Covering your wood with tarps works, however you gota figure out some way of holding the tarps down and you have to deal with getting the wood out from under the tarps every time you want some more wood, and tarps draped over piles of wood are not nearly as pretty looking as nice neat stacks of wood in a shed or lean-to, if you care about such things. I do, that's one reason I built my woodshed. The other reason was so my kids would take me seriously when I threatened to take them "behind the woodshed". ;-)

 

[LLigetfa]

Fossil , I like the lights Now you can watch the wood dry even at night

I wish I would have wired mine. I string an extension cord under the snow from a switched outlet in the soffit of the house. I just dangle a single bare bulb.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/SbpOjAKd1ZI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/ne22OTnpXus/s640/100_0296.JPG

 

[raybonz]

Covering your wood with tarps works, however you gota figure out some way of holding the tarps down and you have to deal with getting the wood out from under the tarps every time you want some more wood, and tarps draped over piles of wood are not nearly as pretty looking as nice neat stacks of wood in a shed or lean-to, if you care about such things. I do, that's one reason I built my woodshed. The other reason was so my kids would take me seriously when I threatened to take them "behind the woodshed". ;-)

Very impressive wood shed! How much wood does that hold?

Ray

 

[firefighterjake]

All the advice you received was sound . . . in its own way.

You don't technically need a woodshed . . . just like technically you don't need a hydraulic splitter or even a chainsaw . . . but once you start burning those things sure are nice. The first year I stacked the wood and tarped them. It worked out OK, but here in Maine we tend to get a bit of snow and while it was never really a big hassle, just walking out to the woodshed and grabbing the wood without having to brush off the snow and ice and remove the tarp and then recover the wood when I'm done is nice . . . plus I get a nice, full unobstructed view of my wood in what I think is a sharp looking woodshed. Another benefit is you have some storage for tools (i.e. ax, hatchet, etc.) . . . plus it's just nice . . . while I was filling up the woodshed I would sometimes take a chair and just sit in the woodshed surrounded by my wood . . . it's a good feeling.

Your friends were right . . . many folks will only move their seasoned wood into a shed . . . but buttoning it up as nice and tight as possible isn't always desired or that useful as some air flow will help continue the seasoning process.

Your other friends were also right . . . some folks will move green wood into a shed . . . as long as the shed is open in design. It will season there as well . . . perhaps a bit slower though vs. being stacked in a single row and exposed to the sun/wind.

In my case . . . and so far this has worked well . . . I cut, split and stack my wood outside for a year . . . and then move it into the woodshed in late-Summer/early-Fall where it will continue to season as my woodshed is a board and batting type of shed -- minus the batting -- so like a tobacco barn the wind can penetrate the wood, but rain and snow will not reach the wood. The shed is also pretty large and I'm guessing will hold close to two years worth of wood . . . so what I have done is stack the wood that I split later in the season around the outside edges (stacking front to back) and the more seasoned wood is in the middle. What I've been doing is taking the more seasoned wood out of the center of the shed and allowing the wood on the ends to get more exposure to the winds. My plan is to then possibly rotate this wood so I am always taking the more seasoned wood.


https://www.hearth.com/econtent/ind...24092_4SXgiEzB7PF0p507xtA5&thumb=1&board_id=1

 

[billb3]

What is the purpose of a Woodshed?
Thanks

about the same as a garage for a car ?

 

[k3c4forlife]

Its primarily to keep wood dry before you bring it into the house. I think most people season outside than move it into a shed. I think that is too much moving around. I don't use a shed. If I got a lot of snow I may think differently.

GZECC,

Where are you from in NNJ, I live in Sussex County and we get quite a bit of snow. You looking for a scrounging buddy?

Kevin

 

[ROBERT F]

Convienence, dry snow free wood, and the stack dont freeze together when thaw/freeze cycles. Bout it for me.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Covering your wood with tarps works, however you gota figure out some way of holding the tarps down and you have to deal with getting the wood out from under the tarps every time you want some more wood, and tarps draped over piles of wood are not nearly as pretty looking as nice neat stacks of wood in a shed or lean-to, if you care about such things. I do, that's one reason I built my woodshed. The other reason was so my kids would take me seriously when I threatened to take them "behind the woodshed". ;-)

Very impressive wood shed! How much wood does that hold?

Ray

Thanks Ray
My shed, which also doubles as a fence line between me and my neighbor, holds 5 cords. Each 8 ft wide section holds a little over one cord. It was originally designed to hold 6 cord, but I needed access to the "secret" underground room beneath the wood shed, so I decided to use the one sections for tool storage and for a place to keep the outside garbage cans.
I live on a regular sized city lot, I don't have acres outback to store piles and piles of wood, so I wanted to devise some way of storing my wood neatly and conveniently. The center of the wood shed is only 14 ft away from my side door going into the house, and it's only another 14 ft from that door to the door of the wood stove, so I figure I met both my criteria. Plus the neighbor was happy to get a nice new fence, and didn't have to look at my stacks of wood covered with old lumber tarps.

 

[raybonz]

Covering your wood with tarps works, however you gota figure out some way of holding the tarps down and you have to deal with getting the wood out from under the tarps every time you want some more wood, and tarps draped over piles of wood are not nearly as pretty looking as nice neat stacks of wood in a shed or lean-to, if you care about such things. I do, that's one reason I built my woodshed. The other reason was so my kids would take me seriously when I threatened to take them "behind the woodshed". ;-)

Very impressive wood shed! How much wood does that hold?

Ray

Thanks Ray
My shed, which also doubles as a fence line between me and my neighbor, holds 5 cords. Each 8 ft wide section holds a little over one cord. It was originally designed to hold 6 cord, but I needed access to the "secret" underground room beneath the wood shed, so I decided to use the one section for tool storage and for a place to keep the outside garbage cans.
I live on a regular sized city lot, I don't have acres outback to store piles and piles of wood, so I wanted to devise some way of storing my wood neatly and conveniently. The center of the wood shed is only 14 ft away from my side door going into the house, and it's only another 14 ft from that door to the door of the wood stove, so I figure I met both my criteria. Plus the neighbor was happy to get a nice new fence, and didn't have to look at my stacks of wood covered with old lumber tarps.

Ingenious solution and it looks great too boot! I think neatly stacked firewood looks great and often just enjoy looking at my wood... We wood burners are a strange breed lol..

Ray

 

[jlow]

I have removed 2 rows and relocated in the garage. I will empty the right side this year and reload and use the left side next year. I get alot of airflow and the sun is not blocked by trees. It hits the front and back of the stack.

 

[k3c4forlife]

I am looking to do a shed similar to yours JLOW. I want to be able to alternate annually from one half the shed to the other. Whats the dimensions on that and how many cords do you have in there?

 

[jlow]

8 ft deep x 7.5 ft tall x 20 ft wide. I have about 8.75 cords in there. It is 250 ft from the house, so I don't worry about rodents and the roof keeps off rain and snow. It is set on concrete post holders so I can move it if needed.

 

[k3c4forlife]

I need to know more. I am looking to do the same dimensions, just 12' wide rather than 20. Any chance you can elaborate on footing spacing, wood used, etc? That is a really nice looking shed.