Storing firewood - best use of small space?

frankz

Hi guys,
I am storing firewood in a garden shed and trying to get the most blocks into a small space.
The free space is about 3ftwide x 3.5ft long (small I know, hence the need to make best use of space))

I have a 90cm x 90 x 90 bag - would I be best filling that and then trying to build more on top of it or

Using the side wall, back wall and slotting in a sheet of ply so that the available space has 3 solid sides and trying to stack the firewood as best as possible in that space?

Any advice or other ideas most welcome. Thanks.

wayoutwest

Hi frankz
The best way to air dry wood is to introduce an airflow THROUGH the stack.The fact that you have it covered (garden shed roof)is good, but I'm guessing that you probably don't have much air flow with the shed door shut?
I would put a pallet on the floor,another as a side wall, and if I had room,another against the existing wall.I would then stack the front of the bay, which acts as a retaining wall for the remainder which can just be loose thrown behind it as I'm building up. Leave shed window open or create roof/wall vent to allow the moisture content(equal to several buckets of water)to escape
I would'nt use builders bag -it will just hinder the drying and make it awkward to get at the logs in the future.

Oldtree

It needs to be bone dry before going into the shed.

Squiggle

Oldtree wrote: »

It needs to be bone dry before going into the shed.

It will become bone dry in the shed too.

Oldtree

Squiggle wrote: »

It will become bone dry in the shed too.

Not unless the shed has a serious airflow through it (and that is unlikely in a garden shed) and the stack would need to be stacked in such a way as to allow air to flow through the stack (again unlikely is a garden shed where space is of a premium). So safe to say the wood if in any way wet won't dry out any further, it will just become a nice home for mould.

GY A1

ya will be covered in mould in no time if kept in closed up shed

frankz

Thanks guys, ya it has been seasoning in an open shed (a distance away) but want to move some of it now. In the space available am probably only going to fit maybe around 10 weeks supply anyway.

Wayoutwest how wide would this "retaining wall" want to be in order to be safe?

wayoutwest

Hi frankz - The width of retaining wall should'nt matter, the depth will be the length of the log and I would restrict the height to around 2 metres.

Top tips for face wall log stacking are a) to use the longer and straighter logs, as they will interlock better than twisty bent ones and create a more stable wall.b) build the wall so it is slightly leaning into the stack , rather than towards you(30mm per vertical metre should be enough).You can use a club hammer to tap the individual (or courses of) logs into the stack if you find that the 'wall is starting to lean out wards.c)backfill AS you build up.
Happy stacking -WoW.

Squiggle

Oldtree wrote: »

Not unless the shed has a serious airflow through it (and that is unlikely in a garden shed) and the stack would need to be stacked in such a way as to allow air to flow through the stack (again unlikely is a garden shed where space is of a premium). So safe to say the wood if in any way wet won't dry out any further, it will just become a nice home for mould.

I just leave the garage door open all day which I guess must generate enough air flow to dry the blocks - never have an issue with mould or the blocks drying out. I cut and split in November/ December , store in a corner of the garage and use the blocks the following winter.

Oldtree

Squiggle wrote: »

I just leave the garage door open all day which I guess must generate enough air flow to dry the blocks - never have an issue with mould or the blocks drying out. I cut and split in November/ December , store in a corner of the garage and use the blocks the following winter.

A garage is slightly bigger than a shed;) My father in law had vents put in at the end of his garage, but that still wasn't enough of an air flow, which is where I learned about the mould as he had stacked the wood fairly tightly.

GY A1

a mate mine put wood in a low garage, and ended up mould all over the wood and the rafters of his shed

O.A.P

I stack mine in a north facing leanto shed , tipped in not stacked it works very well.
I have a lot of beach in there this year(after the storms) and we can almost see it dry out each day.

Squiggle

Coford study on seasoning of broadleaf and conifer firewood makes for interesting reading.