Wood Placement on Pavement

[Miller.drew]

We’re new home owners and this is our first time with a wood stove.

I am curious if anyone has put wood over existing pavement (4 cords on 8 pallets 5’ high) and has this caused any depressions to the pavement?

I don’t know what’s under the pavement, but I’m worried about utilities?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It all depends on how the pavement was done and what its made of, but if you'd feel comfortable parking a car or truck on the pavement itll be fine for firewood. The pallet will really spread the weight out.

 

[stoveliker]

I have done 10 ft racks, 6 ft high, on three cinder blocks. No issue. But my driver was done properly (from what I can see).

 

[Ashful]

Not a direct answer, but here's some quick back-of-the-envelope math:

You're looking at maximum 5000 lb. over 3600 sq.in., which is less than 2 psi, if evenly distributed. We know the weight isn't evenly distributed, it's concentrated on the main stringers in the pallet assembly, but we'd need the pressure under the stringers to be at least 30x higher than mid-slat between the stringers, to even approach the localized loading of a pickup truck tire on the pavement.

And yes, we all know a pickup truck will eventually deform pavement, if left in the same place for a long period. But there appears to be enough margin here, that I'd be willing to give it a try for a few years.

I also have stacked pallets of rounds on my driveway on one or two occasions, with no observed ill-effects, after a period approaching 1 year.