Where to buy Tarps ?

[xman23]

Unfortunately I still cover my wood with Tarps, 12' X 20'. I need to use brown. The best quality I've found are single layer plastic like they sell in Home Depo. One year and there leaking.

Any sources for better quality Tarps?

 

[LLigetfa]

Why do you have to use brown? The silver ones last a lot longer.

Try using EDPM rubber roofing instead. It won't leak, won't break down from UV, won't freeze to the wood, and is heavy enough to almost stay put. You can buy tarp garters to use to hold them down in rough weather.

 

[bruce]

if you have a sams club membership they have twin packs of heavy blue tarps,
wire staples hold tarps great

 

[kevin j]

there is a guy on ebay selling used vinyl from billboards. Typically about 20 ft x 45 ft. White on back I believe. Quite heavy stuff. I have not seen his product, but have seen other billboard material. One billboard may be a lifetime supply (or not, dependong on how many you need.)

Might try boat cover supply places. Lots of boats here, and the dropoff from the people who make custom covers is very cheap.

I made some panels from 1/2 inch green plywood. Cut a 4 x 8 sheet into 48 x 32 inch pieces. Added some 1x4 on bottom side, eye bolts on top side close to each of the 4 corners. These lap along top of wood piles (the 48 inch is width of pile) like giant shingles, overlaping maybe 6 inches panel to panel. They connect at the corner eyebolts with short pieces of light chain and snap eyes. They are flexible on uneven piles, keep the snow off and generally work pretty well. Can be added for length of pile, or linked together for pile wider than 4 ft. Sides are open for air. Sometimes I tie then down, usually just throw some weigh on top.

More time and money than tarps though.

k

 

[JustWood]

Buffalo Custom Canvas.716-852-2328 Ask for Sal .Will ship anywhere. Grommet holes at your requested spacing and reinforced edges and corners. If you don't care about being multicolor, they could prolly make one from drops cheaper than one solid color. Tarp will last forever and they are repairable at an awning or boat cover shop. Have bought many truck tarps from them and have some that are 10 years old.

 

[Gooserider]

I use and reccommend the silver tarps from Harbor Freigh - their highest grade. I forget if the HF medium grade are green or brown - and I wouldn't touch the HF blue (cheapest grade) tarps.

However the HF silvers seem to be great quality, and the price for an HF silver is comparable to a blue at the local hardware store...

Gooserider

 

[savageactor7]

Usually we buy tarps at TSC and they'll last 2-3 years. This year while putting some new ones up I noticed they felt different but now I notice the grommets are breaking and wood splits have protruded in about 15/20 areas. I've had to resort to some emergency lashing to preserve our covered wood.

Next year I have to step up and buy some quality tarps...LOL these are tarps for crying out loud.

For many years we've enclosed our outdoor splits in a huge long walk in wood tent and have always had good luck using tarps for top covers. The 12' high pile that uses a 20'x40' tarp has done much better than the 8'high 20'x30 pile. I suppose one we can get some snow to stay on it that'll help minimize any more damage. I suppose it's just frustrating that you can't even count on buying a decent tarp anymore.

 

[raybonz]

I was at Walmart last night and noticed they had the heavy duty silver tarps and the back side was a dark brown... May want to try looking there..

Ray

 

[computeruser]

I bought a couple heavy-duty tarps from Northern Tool, and was impressed with their durability. They were silver(front) and black(back), with plastic reinforcement at the corners. I didn't get any firewood sized ones, just utility trailer sized, but they held up surprisingly well after a lot of whipping around in the wind on the trailer. 550 miles of highway use, flopping against a sharp corner on some machinery that was in the trailer finally put a hole in the one tarp, but otherwise they have held up really well. They were $20 or so for a 6x8, if memory serves. Not sure if it would make sense to spend the coin on bigger ones, but they're definitely more durable than the blue cheap-o disposables.

 

[xman23]

LLigetfa,
Yes I do need brown, It's a community rule to be earth tone. Dark green is good, blue NG. Your idea of of rubber roofing sounds good, I'll do some research.

Thanks guys for your suggestion's, I'll check them out.

Here's what I do now. I stack the splits in 2 rows about 6' high. There's 4 inches between the rows. Occasionally I put a long split across the 2 stacks to lock them together. These 20' - 40' rows are on 40" wide pallets to keep it off the ground.

On the top I put a 4' x XX' piece of heavy black plastic sheeting. This shed's some of the water that eventually leeks thru the tarps. The problem here is the water sages the plastic and creates pools.

I built out of 2" x 2", center pitched roof frames. They are 4' wide x 8' long. This frame sits on to of the black plastic. The frame has a weave of banding to support the Tarp that is tied down over the top. It all works well to shed the water and snow. The biggest problem is the tarps cost a lot and don't hold up.

One idea I haven't tried yet is to use house wrap material (Tyvek) to wrap the frame. So when the tarp leaks the water will shed off. I wish there was a way to re-coat the plastic because the weave is still good.

Keeping 4 -8 cords dry under tarps is some job, next summer I hope to build a open frame wood shed.

 

[LLigetfa]

When you build your stack, put a crown on it rather than leveling it off. When I was tarping woodpiles, I would lay up three courses. The center course had the biggest crown and stood a little taller than the two outside courses. Putting a crown on it also lets you store more wood without the cross-piled ends blowing out. I never felt a need to space between the courses.

 

[cruzer]

I bought one of the 14x48ft billboard tarps off ebay this summer - Works great so far and is very heavy duty. They sell white mostly but you can request black (is that an "earth tone"?)

The least expensive place to buy blue and brown tarps around CT is Ocean State job lot. I have a brown one covering part of the roof on my garage until i get around to redoing the roof....

SS

 

[stop drop & roll]

Why do you have to use brown? The silver ones last a lot longer.

Try using EDPM rubber roofing instead. It won't leak, won't break down from UV, won't freeze to the wood, and is heavy enough to almost stay put. You can buy tarp garters to use to hold them down in rough weather.

Where do you get this? What dimention does it come in?

 

[LLigetfa]

They can be ordered factory seamed to almost any size but Menards has 10' x 20' in stock. Oh, and it's EPDM, sorry.