Wood in a basement. Is this a bad idea ?

[Dmitry]

I am in a process of moving wood closer to the house for upcoming season. I'm thinking about putting some wood in a basement. Not a lot , just for the time when you don't wanna go outside for the wood. I'm gonna try to select clean wood with no pest infestation. It's semifinished unheated basement .
Is this a bad idea?

 

[pma1123]

I know a few guys who do this because the stove is in the basement area; not a problem. One individual calls in the pest control guy once his wood room is stacked to appease the concerns of his wife also.

 

[johneh]

Some people with say not to.
Others will say it is ok .
I live in Canada it gets really cold here.
Around me everyone heats with wood and
we all put it in the basement where it stays
warm and DRY . In September 5 full cords
is stacked in the basement . With 2 extra in
the covered entrance way . I never have to
go outside to move snow covered iced in
wood to the house . No I do not get a lot of bugs
clean up is easy in the spring . We have never
had ants or any destructive bugs and I have
been doing it for the last 36 years . I don't
understand people who won't put wood in the house !

 

[velvetfoot]

It's the powder post beetles I'd be concerned about. I keep wood in the garage, and it can be a problem.

 

[drz1050]

Guess it depends on your basement.. mine is pretty wet. I often get a few inches of water in the back corner when it rains before the drains/ pump can catch up.

 

[velvetfoot]

On the other hand, I have six tons of pellets stored in the basement. That's wood, right?

 

[Knots]

I put half in the basement last season before the snow flew. Then I got the other half out in February.

This year I'm putting the whole winter's worth in the basement before the snow. My wood is pretty dry and most of it doesn't have any bark on it.

 

[Starstuff]

Thinking about doing it myself, but the problem is, most of the wood I plan to burn this winter was cut from a long-dead standing oak tree that came down. A lot of splits have a small amount of rot on the outer edges (but for the most part is beautiful, dry, ready-to-burn stuff). I'm worried that the rot might harbor pests. Anyone with experience storing punky wood inside? I've also got several cords of ash that came from Emerald Ash Borer-infested trees. Lots of evidence in the wood, but I only found one or two beetles when I was splitting. Safe for inside or leave outside?

 

[tsquini]

As long add the wood is seasoned and dry when it is stacked it should be fine. Bugs prefer wet wood over dry.

 

[Dmitry]

My house and basement gets really dry when I'm burning. I think part of it because fire drawing air from outside. I remember seeing 20% of relative humidity last year before I got humidifier. I think it's gonna dry wood even more if stored there for some time.

P.S.: I did not share this idea with my wife yet. Might get slap in a face. If she sees bugs or mice in a winter I'm dead.

 

[brenndatomu]

I tried it. Apparently there were a crap load of those asian lady beetles sleeping in the wood somewheres...yeah, they woke up. The wood now stays in the attached garage until its time for bug cremation

 

[beatlefan]

I always wait till we get a couple of good freezes (seems to take care of a lot of the insects hiding under the bark) and then move a couple of face cords into the attached garage. Then I bring in about a day's worth at a time. Not saying anyone else's method is wrong, but I live in the woods and get TONS of spiders if I bring the wood in before we've had a couple of hard freezes.

 

[Wisneaky]

I wait until it is cold out before I start loading up the basement. I'll get about 4-5 cords down there to get me through the winter. I try to sweep the floor daily to keep it clean. Only bugs I usually see is spiders and I'll bug bomb it in the spring.

 

[Iatrapper]

I fill the old Cole room in my basement full in October, stacked to the floor joices. Once full I trow a bug bomb in and close the door. No bug problems at all.

 

[kennyp2339]

I'm not afraid of the bugs since my supply is dry, and bugs really don't prefer dry wood, what would make me hesitant about putting a large supply in a living quarters is the possibility of mold growth, especially if the basement has a natural higher humidity.

 

[brhorgan]

Do y'all stack straight on the basement floor or have it raised up a bit?

If you do keep it off the ground would you please share your methods.

 

[tiswood]

I have brought wood in the basement for years. But only up to a weeks worth at a time . Now I'm bringing in 1/2 cord pallets and plan on a few cords at anytime in basement. One thing I found to do is I take ortho home defense and spray the wood and the concrete floor around the wood . This does help kill any bugs that come alive when the heat wakes them up. I used to get the big black wood Beatles walking around sometimes before I started this treatment .

 

[velvetfoot]

I use a pallet jack to move around pallets of pellets in my basement. I wonder if you could do that with wood? Couldn't stack too high, 5'? It'd take up more floor space than if you stacked it against a wall. On the other hand you could move the entire pallet close to the boiler. I'm not sure it'd be worth the effort though.

 

[tiswood]

I use this now

 

[tiswood]

I use a pallet jack to move around pallets of pellets in my basement. I wonder if you could do that with wood? Couldn't stack too high, 5'? It'd take up more floor space than if you stacked it against a wall. On the other hand you could move the entire pallet close to the boiler. I'm not sure it'd be worth the effort though.

I have a walkout basement with double doors. I use tractor forks to set pallet inside then pallet jack to move the wood around where I want it. This is my 1st year with this system but I put 1 pallet of wood inside and 1 pallet of Ecobricks to try. It seems like it will work good. I will bring more wood in as the weather gets colder.

 

[velvetfoot]

Very awesome.

 

[Wisneaky]

Do y'all stack straight on the basement floor or have it raised up a bit?

If you do keep it off the ground would you please share your methods.

I have those metal wood racks. 36 feet of them. But some of my wood stays on the ground.

 

[brhorgan]

I have those metal wood racks. 36 feet of them. But some of my wood stays on the ground.

Do you ever have trouble with the wood on the floor getting wet or any other undesirable traits?

 

[Wisneaky]

Do you ever have trouble with the wood on the floor getting wet or any other undesirable traits?

No I haven't had any problems with it. My wood is dry before I bring it down. My basement is dry because I run a dehumidifier down there year round though it doesn't run much in the winter because the wood furnace keeps it dry down there also.

 

[ElmBurner]

I brought some wood in as a "decorative" feature for the fireplace things spring. 6 months of room temperature has the firebox full of of spiders, flies, and ants. Enough that you could sweep them up and have a handful. And that's from a 3 cu ft firebox. If I brought in a substantial supply of wood into the basement, my wife would have my head.

I count myself lucky that she lets me stack a couple weeks worth on the covered porch in front of the house. I just make sure to space it out from the siding to discourage the rodents (or make room for the cats...either way) and call it good.