How to Store and Season Firewood

How to Store Firewood and How to Season Firewood

Knowing how to season firewood and knowing how to store firewood to keep it dry will make your wood will help provide better quality dry wood and can save you money. Dry firewood burns cleaner with less smoke and creosote and produces more heat from less wood.

One of the most important factors in drying and keeping your firewood dry is air circulation. To ensure proper drying your firewood should be stored in a well ventilated location. One of the most common mistakes people make is to pile their firewood directly on the ground and cover the whole pile with a tarp or plastic sheeting all the way to the ground. Covering the whole pile all the way to the ground just seals moisture inside and encourages mold and decay.

When possible keep your firewood away from direct soil contact to help keep it dry and clean. If you are going to store it on the ground place something on the ground first such as a tarp or plastic sheeting for a moisture barrier. Just about anything that will hold it up off the ground away from the soil will work, plywood, lumber, poles or even well drained gravel is better than soil.

If you cover your pile with a tarp cover the top but keep plenty of the sides exposed so the air can circulate under the cover to allow the moisture can escape. Some of the pieces of wood that are exposed on the sides may get wet when it rains but the wood inside under the tarp will stay much drier than if you had the pile covered all the way to the ground.

If your wood is already wet or green covering it with a tarp is usually pointless and will just encourage mold. It’s best to let it dry first in the open air or under a roof type of structure.

Covering your wood with metal roofing is a great alternative to tarps or plastic sheets.

One of the best ways to ensure air circulation is to stack your wood in a row or rows. When stacking against a solid surface such as a wall or fence stack it a few inches away from the surface. Also when stacking rows next to each other keep the rows a few inches apart. This allows space for air to circulate on both sides. Or even better just stack one row by itself in a way where the whole side of it will be exposed to the sun.

If you store your firewood inside a structure such as a shed make sure it is well ventilated so plenty or air can flow through. A lean-to, patio, carport or open walled shed is better for drying firewood than an enclosed wall shed.

If you have green firewood it is usually best to store it outside exposed to the wind and the sun until it is seasoned. If you store your firewood in a shed it is best to let it season outside in the sun before putting it in the shed.

When stacking firewood safety should be a priority. Make sure your stacks are stable so they will not tip over. Stacking firewood more than 4 feet high is asking for trouble. Keep a space between the stacks for proper drying but keep the space small enough to prevent children or pets from crawling between them, they could get stuck. Keep children away from and DO NOT let then climb on firewood stacks.

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.

How to Store Firewood Outdoors

There is no one right way to storing firewood, but knowing a few tips on how to store firewood outdoors can help you decide which way will be best for you. When storing firewood outside, the challenge is going to be in keeping it dry. But the advantage is, wood can dry faster when it is outdoors from exposure to sun and wind.

Methods of storing firewood can be different, depending on whether the wood is already dry or not, and what the weather will be like that time of year. If your wood is already dry, the main things are to store the wood so it is off the ground, has cover to keep it dry in wet weather, and is in a convenient and safe location. Be sure and check with local codes and fire department recommendations, since some areas require firewood to be stored a certain distance from structures.

If the wood is already dry, it doesn’t matter that much if you decide to stack it or not. Stacking it is more of a matter of convenience for you. Stacked wood takes up less space, looks nicer and can be easier to cover. Keeping the wood off the ground is important, especially away from soil contact. Wood will absorb moisture from the ground and dirt will stick to the wood and make a mess. It can also cause the wood to decay.

A concrete slab or even putting a tarp on the ground will help greatly. But don’t expect the bottom pieces to stay dry. This is where a firewood storage rack can be a big advantage in keeping the wood off the ground.

Dry wood should be covered if there is gong to be any wet weather. A passing rain shower followed by a stretch of dry weather well before it will be burned, is not going to be much of a problem. But dry wood should be covered before any stretch of wet weather if it is close to time to burn it. Covering firewood with a tarp is probably the most common way to cover it. This can work fine, but it is best to leave the sides of the pile uncovered for air flow. Only cover the top of the pile so any moisture that does get in can escape out the sides.

If you get wood that is wet or green, it is best to choose a sunny location to help dry it. And if you can put it in a place where it will also be exposed to more wind, that is all the better.

It is common for people to want to cover wood that is stored outside when they get it. If the wood is already wet, this is not always a good idea. Covering wet wood will slow down the drying process by blocking air flow and sun exposure. If the wood is green or very wet, sometimes it is best to just leave it out in the rain since it is already saturated anyway. If the wood is covered by a tarp, it is not going to dry much, if at all, and it can hold moisture in and lead to mold, fungus and decay. If it is already partly dry, you may want to keep the rain off but be sure it can still get air. If you feel you need to keep the rain off, only cover the top of the pile, leaving the sides exposed so air can flow through. After the rain is passed, it is best to uncover it so it will dry.

There is also debate about whether to stack the wood or to leave it in a heaping pile. In side by side tests, I have found that stacking wood does allow it to dry faster outdoors, but only if there is space for air to flow between stacks, and especially if there is only one long stack out in the open air and in the sun. The advantage of a single stack is you don’t have multiple stacks shading each other.