In need of creating a roof of sorts for a firewood rack. Trying to find that happy median between durability and cost.
At the moment I'm leaning towards 3/4x4x8 BC pine plywood. This will be covered by green tarps of which I have many.
Is there a different type of plywood or panel I should consider instead?
Also curious about corrugated plastic roof panels. Anyone use them for similar projects?
CDX will last much longer than BC.
Can CDX be cut at the store. Couple years back I bought some pressure treated timbers and the said the weren't allowed due to arsenic. Might that be the difference between CDX and ACX?
The actual steel metal sheeting they have at the Borgs makes a fine cover. Some of the better ones actually have up to eleven levels of coatings on them, and you can buy ridge cap and edging to make a really professional little wood shelter. It is about $1.25 per foot, and that would amount to 3 square foot. So, a guy could make a nice metal cover for two sheets, and some trim, translates out to about $50. If you can weld, you can incorporate a metal frame of 1" x 1" .065" square tube at about $.60 per lineal foot.
It is what I am going to be making for my firewood this year, but it will be a larger version, as I have about 100 sheets of 12' long sheeting, and hundreds of feet of 1" square tube, and a supplier of cheap trim. I shall just have to go buy some ridge cap.
Consider wrapping three sides to keep the wind from blowing snow or rain into the wood, and other considerations as to where this will set so that you will have a dry supply of wood.
A word of caution: Wood is a preferred home of brown recluse spiders and other nasty critters. Poison can be spread so that it is on the flooring, and all around the wood, but avoid spraying the wood directly, as you are going to burn said wood. Adhesive spider traps have no toxic agents. Watch your wood for signs of mold, and other deterioration, and deal with it. Make your rack so that there is some allowance for air to circulate around it, which will help it keep dry, and keep down on mold and "stuff".
This summer we shall go get our obligatory 5 cords for $20 from the BLM. We ran out last winter, and that ain't gonna happen again, even if I have to make a special wood shed.
HTH
Steve
HTH
Steve
CDX will last much longer than BC.
And metal never rots.
Steve
Jim wrote the following:
So why do you need to construct anything? Won't the tarp alone do the job?
Yes. CDX is not pressure treated but is rated for exterior use without ground contact. Since you are covering it with a tarp it should last quite a while. Arsenic treated lumber (ACQ) was banned several years back and you probably will never find it on the shelves anymore. Todays PT lumber is mostly MCQ (micronized copper) which replaced it's corrosion prone predecessor.
Green tarps over a wood pile will only last a few months due to chaffing. And I've never found any made to a size that fit my wood pile.
We burn several cords a year and just cover ours with tarps held down with concrete blocks on the corners and brick on top.
Green tarps over a wood pile will only last a few months due to chaffing. And I've never found any made to a size that fit my wood pile.
reply:
When I want to go get wood, I don't want to pull off a tarp with a foot of snow on it, or is sopping wet. It's windy, it's sleeting, it's cold. I don't want to spend any more time than I need to fetch some wood. And I sure don't want to wrestle with a sodden tarp.
How anyone cannot grasp that a tarp cover for a wood pile is a weak idea is beyond me.
Or they don't use wood to heat.
Steve
Steve B wrote the following:
Just asking. Don't get your panties in a knot. It's not like asking where to get a star drill. Didn't you killfile me after that exchange?
Insufficient pitch to begin with, not A viable option to increase the pitch as I'd need to modify the shed roof it connects to.
Although held taught with truckers tie down straps the water collects and overpowers the straps. End result sagging tarps and pulled grommets.
I've burned wood for 25 of the last 30 years. I've tried various methods of protection and what I found best is nothing. Wood, tarps, sheeting, fiberglass, tin roofing are all a PITA in one way or another. Nothing works well enough for me. We get about 48" of snow on a typical winter, but rarely do I have snow covered wood to bring in. It falls right off the logs when you handle them, unlike sheets of plywood.
Yep. As for rain on it, only the top layer will get wet and then only surface. I just toss that stuff aside and use the dry wood under it. But then I live in a semi-arid area...
Harry K
The better and closer roof you put over the wood, the more likely things (that you don't want in the house) will make a home in the stack.
I'm not convinced using (purchased) wood as a main heat source makes financial sense (see other thread), but if I was to go down that road, I think I would make a dedicated 3 and 1/2 sided shed for it, with rails to hold the bottom layer of wood out of the mud, and enough headroom so the top layer wasn't nice and dark. Doesn't need to be fancy or very strong- just enough structure to hold the roof panels (probably corrugated metal) and enough sidewall to keep the sideways rain off the wood stack itself. Orient it and leave enough gaps so plenty of air passes through, etc. The privacy screen around an old pit toilet at a state park beach comes to mind.
That reminded me of my daughters first residence in Ticonderoga NY. Open stacks of wood with a very consistent silver gray appearance. Sun and wind worked well.
Unfortunately my lot has tall pines, oaks, and maples contributing both shade and debris.
Sunshine on a pile of wood is grossly overrated for helping it dry. Air movement through the stack is 90% or more of the drying. Given a choice between full sun and good air circulation I will put my stack into full shade if needed to get the 'air'.
Harry K
Good point about the debris. I am currently burning 17 year old Black Locust that was stacked under a Horse Chestnut. Mucho, mucho crap on top of the ricks and it filters down layer by layer as I remove wood.
Harry K
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote
What's the weather going to be like today for you, Ed? You know it will probably be different here.
We get snow here in the winter, but the climate is warmer, so we get more rain. And rain that then changes to ice. So, wood sitting out does tend to get ice covered.
Good wood that is dried will burn, and the snow and ice will fall off of it. It will even split and burn wet, and you can see that the water only penetrates a little.
Still, for me, and where I live, after spending four winters here now, I am electing to build a rack to hold my wood now that I have built a 25' x 12' metal awning on that end of the garage that will keep the wood nice and dry.
Just like the weather is different, the reasons people may want to build a small structure or rack or whatever varies. Some want to for aesthetic reasons, some to just get it out of the mud and into a move convenient location. There is no right answer to this, and everyone has different weather.
Steve
Yes, I did, but you know that when you get a new computer you have to go back and do it all over again. Or just kill the offender when they raise their ugly head again.
BANG!
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