Storing Firewood

[Fleemo]

My neighbor just offered me about a half cord of wood. The only place I have to store it would be on the side of my house, probably not more than an inch from the wall. I have stucco walls, and the ground is completely paved with cement. Would stacking the wood up against the house (again, perhaps an inch away) be problematic? With a cement floor and stucco walls, are termites a threat?

Also, any advice on storing would be appreciated. I have plenty of cinder blocks and landscaping blocks available, if that's any help.

Thanks.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

I'm not a Termite man or a firewood Stacker but here is a few thingsfor i'm around a bunch of people who use wood for main source of heat and deal with it all the time with these people. most have a wood heater and electric central electric heat to back up the wood supply. Oak wood is cheap here and electricity is high. You can get fire wood for $40.00 to $45.00 a rick , stacked and delivered to your home.

If your going to burn it this winter, the termites will not come into play till summer gets here.

keep a 1" air gap between the stucco wall and the wood for to let it dry when it rains on it.

Also cover the top with something water proof material to keep the water out of the middle of the pile to prevent termites and wood rot to start.

TURTLE

[Dominick Fiumara]

Here in New Mexico plenty of folks stack firewood against their stucco homes. Sometimes they will use a rack of some sort. IIRC Home Depot has a kit that you can make a firewood storage rack with some 2x4's and the supplied parts. Certainly enough for 1/2 a cord. OTOH I would just be concerned with the wood pile harboring Black Widow's. I have that problem around my house. Other than that....stack away! Stucco gets harder as it ages BTW, so just as long as you don't slam the wood against your house you should be ok. Dominick

[Tom Eisenman]

No need for a rack. Just make the ends of the stack stable by building them crisscross (log cabin style) to lock the logs together.

[Trader]

Run a few boards of treated wood on the floor and then stack. This will keep the wood off the floor. I would also consider a tarp to cover the wood. This is why I hate wood. It rots, gets buggy and then freezes together when you need it.

[norminn]

You assume the wood does not already have termites. Always a threat, but most important factor is that they aren't piled on or against wood structure of the house, and that the house can be inspected for mud tubes and such. Does stucco go below grade? Construction is block/stucco?

[Tom Baker]

I live in a warm, humid climate with rain in the cool months. I suggest railing the wood off the concrete

[John Barry]

South-facing rack is obviously much better than north. Cover above, and loosely on sides- to allow airflow. Brown recluse spider is deadly too- just shake things up a bit before carrying pieces off, with gloves. Any decent hardwood gets better with age for some years, so don't rush burning it.

HTH, John

[Don Phillipson]

This is not a reliable guide. Plan to let green hardwood dry for two years but use it before the fifth year. Birch begins to rot in only two or three years in most climates, and even maple can rot in five years or more.

-- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)

[Fleemo]

Many thanks to everyone for their sage advice. I appreciate it.

Stay warm!

-Fleemo

[George E. Cawthon]

Only if you leave it lying on the ground or in a pile out in the weather. Snags in the forest can have very little wood rot after 10 years, and wood that is down put supported by other logs usually has no rot after 5 years. This in the west where precipitation is less than 30 inches per year, but the wood may be snow covered for several months. My house is made of wood, and it hasn't rotted in 27 years. Lots of other house last for more than 100 years.

Seriously, it doesn't rot if you keep it off the ground, keep it covered so that it doesn't get wet, and is stacked so that air circulates. Woodshed anybody? Wood will stay solid for many years (like 40) in a woodshed.

My wood is protected from the elements, fence with a roof of corregated plastic, and the only thing that has ever rotted is the pieces lying driectly on soil. Some pieces have been there for more than 10 years waiting for an especially bad winter.