Fire wood storage building?

[Deadman]

I do a final dry on my wood, by hauling the next years wood inside my heated shop and fire my wood furnace hard. Then it sits in the A/C'd shop all summer and dries down beyond where it will dry outside in the humid climate here in WI.

 

[handirifle]

Been looking online and I think I might end up with a metal building, a carport type, I THINK. I can get a 12x21ft with 6ft legs, installed for $895 plus tax. I still need to sit down and layout my pole barn version and get material prices. While we are not considered a rainy area, by a lot of people's standards, we do get some big storms (for CA). We have one with an expected 6-10" this weekend.

Storms like that can and do soak dry wood to the point it is unburnable for a long time. I agree a couple years ahead is ideal around here too, for good burning wood. If I go with a carport style I will vent the roof.

I do have some ideas for solar heating to speed up the drying process too. Right now they are ideas. During the summer, I can get by with a roof fan, just pulling air in and up. During the winter I can make some home made solar air panels to pre-heat the cooler air. I will most likely do all this because I want it mostly enclosed, or at least during rainy season. I want removable sides.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Have you looked into making a hoop house? I just penciled out the costs today for a 12x25 hoop house made with 3/4" PVC conduit. With gravel for the floor I'm looking at about 300 bucks, plus the plastic to cover it. Greenhouse plastic will get your wood toasty warm and dry.

hoop house for firewood - YouTube

I found the greenhouse film for $500 for a 20'x100' roll. Since it's guaranteed for 4 years, that works out to 16 years worth of covering for $500, or around $30 per year.

TUFFLITE IV 4 year 6mil Greenhouse Film | Creative Shelters

 

[handirifle]

That's a good idea, but I want something a bit stronger, and more accessible. While winds are not always bad here, there are some wind storms that knock over some oaks on occasion, so I do not think that would hold up here very long. At least not where I will be putting mine.

 

[jack707]

I just built a lean two for the wood 16x10.

 

[John_Mc]

Just remember to create some good ventilation if you are totally enclosing the wood storage. Putting green wood in a totally enclosed building without good air exchange can slow the drying process beyond what just leaving it out in the open will do. It's also a recipe for mold. (in fact, even in a ventilated building, if you are blocking air flow from the wood, you can still get mold, especially in the interior rows of a multi-row stack).

Handirifle's idea of removable sides is an interesting one. My main firewood storage is a lean-to shed off the back of my garage, so it's open on 3 sides. At one point I had a tarp that I could roll down from the rafters on the longer open side. (I got the idea from a roll-up airplane hangar door.) It worked pretty well to keep the rain and snow out when I remembered to lower it. Once we got close to the heating season, I'd just leave it down all the time. I never got around to replacing it when the tarp disintegrated a few years ago. I keep meaning to replace it with a canvas tarp or something more durable that will stand up to the wind, and not get brittle due to UV exposure. I also want to use a couple of smaller tarps next time, rather than one big one (rolling up a 24' wide tarp was a pain in the butt).

 

[handirifle]

Folks need to understand, around here, the wet season is also the heating season. So letting a little rain get on the wood is NOT an option. It gets wet right when you need it.

My wood storage currently is 3 sided also. It does have decent ventilation though. I use black landscape cloth that is hung from the roof (about 6ft high) and is double layered. This allows air flow, but the double layer does a pretty good job of stopping the rain too. I use a 10ft length of 1 1/2 wood pole to roll it up when I need access. I stapled the cloth to the pole, and use metal conduit hangers at the bottom to slip the ends of the pole into to keep it thight and in place. When I roll it up, I use velcro straps to hold it up so it isn't in my way. My storage areas are about 10ft long, 4ft deep and 6ft high. Better than nothing, but not huge.

The biggest trick I have found with this stuff, it to not let it touch the wood. If it does the rain will transfer right into the fire wood. If it's not touching, it simply runs down between the layers.

I have not decided yet, but I may use similar for the removable walls of the new one. I use black, so it catches a little solar action as well. My wood sits above ground as well. The big issue with the current setup is it leaks, and the roof is too close to the top of my stacks to promote as muych air flow as I would like. I also want to be able to store my kindling wood in dry area as well.

During the summer, our air is dry enough (15-20% humidity avg) that a positive airflow works wonders in a single season of drying.

 

[captjack]

i built 2 open sheds - 20lx12hx10d with metal roofing. then put a couple of 2x4 between each wall (sides and back) then used heavy welded wire as walls - this allows you to stack wood in it as if it had wood walls but allows maximum air flow which is what you need to get that wood dried out. I cant seem to post pics on this site anymore for some reason

 

[handirifle]

Well it looks like I am going to end up with a simple addition, of sorts, to the existing structure. I may end up with a framed canopy structure overall, finances being what they are. As long as I have ample storage for at least two years of wood and keeping it dry I will be ok with it. Hey, what I really would like is a 3 room barn, one for the RV, one for my tractor, mower, etc, and one for wood, but a $20,000 steel barn might as well be a $100,000 steel barn.

 

[9fingers]

Been looking online and I think I might end up with a metal building, a carport type, I THINK. I can get a 12x21ft with 6ft legs, installed for $895 plus tax. I still need to sit down and layout my pole barn version and get material prices. While we are not considered a rainy area, by a lot of people's standards, we do get some big storms (for CA). We have one with an expected 6-10" this weekend.

Storms like that can and do soak dry wood to the point it is unburnable for a long time. I agree a couple years ahead is ideal around here too, for good burning wood. If I go with a carport style I will vent the roof.

I do have some ideas for solar heating to speed up the drying process too. Right now they are ideas. During the summer, I can get by with a roof fan, just pulling air in and up. During the winter I can make some home made solar air panels to pre-heat the cooler air. I will most likely do all this because I want it mostly enclosed, or at least during rainy season. I want removable sides.

Here are a couple of pictures of the woodshed that I came up with. It has a floating deck on a crusher stone bed to eliminate the strain of 6 cords of green wood on the building frame.