Should Firewood Be Stored In a Garage?

A garage can be a great place to store firewood as far as keeping the wood dry and clean. Many people do store their firewood in the garage, but there are some reasons why you might want to think twice about it.

Disadvantages to Storing Firewood In a Garage

One of the biggest problems with firewood storage is the mess it creates. Firewood is inherently messy with dirt, sawdust, bark, moss, lichen and all the other debris that accumulate in the woods. It can also have insects, spiders and other small crawling critters. Even if the wood is clean and free of such things, it will make great habitat for them in your garage and they will likely move in on their own. Debris from wood always seem to find their way around the garage.

Wood piles can also attract mice, snakes, lizards, scorpions and other small critters that you may not want living and breeding in your garage. But if your garage door is kept closed and there are no openings for these animals to get in, then this may not be a problem for you.

Another thing to consider is the value of your garage space. Unless you just have a few pieces, firewood can take up a lot of space. Since firewood can be stored outside just fine, you may have more valuable uses for the garage space.

Firewood is meant to be burned so obviously it can be a fire hazard. If your wood pile is close to any ignition source it could catch fire. Keep it away from work areas where there may be sparks or open flames from things like welders, grinders, torches, car, motorcycle or other engines and exhaust pipes, etc. If you commonly have ignition sources in your garage, it is probably best to store your wood somewhere else.

Advantages of Storing Firewood in a Garage

Storing firewood in a garage does have advantages that can outweigh the disadvantages for some people. A garage is great for keeping your wood dry. Not only because the wood will have a roof over it, a garage is usually a drier climate than outside and will have drier air in cold weather. Especially if connected to your home where it will be warmer inside.

Bringing wood in from the garage is convenient, especially if the garage is attached to the home. No covering and uncovering the pile as you might have to do with a tarp covered outdoor pile. You can bring in the wood without going out in the rain and cold. No putting on a jacket and boots.

Firewood stored in a garage will also tend to be cleaner. It will be off the ground and out of the weather, away from falling leaves and other outside debris. And even though it may attract pests like insects and rodents, as mentioned above, it will probably attract fewer in the garage than if it was stored outside.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to storing firewood in a garage. Where you store yours all comes down to your preferences and what you value most.