Ya the wind blew off my tarp during this rain storm.The wood is as wet as it can get.It'll freeze up tonight then a little snow.Should I cover the wood now or wait till the rain stops ?
I'd cover. Why let it continue getting wet? Wait, is this wood for this year, or farther down the road?
I used to use tarps, and even when they stay on the wood ends up wet. The best thing I ever did was build a woodshed. Id let the wood dry out for a few days, then cover it. Make sure only the top gets covered.
This happens from time to time among us tarpers. Not great, but it'll be ok. Get whatever you need for the next week or so someplace that won't freeze. I've been known to use the trunk and back seat of my car in a pinch. More tarps for the car, just on the underside of the wood. If it's still raining or snowing, I'd get the tarp back on, and remove it as soon as the precipitation stops. Once that happens, if it's snow, I'd get off as much as I could, and keep it open until more precipitation arrives. If rain, hopefully there will be some drier stuff a row or two down from the top. Of course, a woodshed would eliminate all this, but that won't help you in the immediate future. I too hope to have a shed one day...
I noticed that the tarps don't last long, get pinholes and then leak. I want to build a woodshed as well; tarps are just too much of a hassle unless you can bungee cord them down or something. For now, I am using tarps.
I had some wood I was going to get up and cover that was dry to burn. The rains moved in earlier yesterday then the forecast indicated. So I went out and gather up what I could and brought it inside to sit beside the stove and dry; the humidity in the house stays too low even with a pot on the stove; thinking of adding another stove pot.
I use BOTH, I use Tarps With my Woodsheds, This is my 2 cord shed I leave the tarps rolled up during Good Weather, and roll them down if much rain is predicted Doug
IIRC, it is about 11' long inside, between the end bulkheads, the Back row is about 6' high, and the front row is about 8' high, but with the deck there, it is an easy reach, the racks are below the deck level. It is 2 rows wide, with 2x6's on edge 12" apart, which gives me 15" wide for the wood to stack on. the rows are spaced about 8" apart for circulation, and the there is about 6" of clearance below the 2x6's the wood stacks on to allow circulation. I cut my wood to 16", and I calculated it out to be just shy of 2 cords. I have some Ideas on wedge cutting, probably 2x3 lumber and using some fencing style boards to build some louvered ends and doors, that will allow excellent circulation, and be a lot more convenient than the tarps, I just have more projects, than I have TIME for projects. The doors will be Bi-Fold, so that a set of 3' doors at each end will be able to enclose it , and still allow me to open and load, and pull from it easily. Yeah, I could use 3 more like it myself, behind it, on the Low side, I Hope to get one more large Cedar removed next Spring, and level that stretch along the fence, and build a Mega Stretched version, very similar to that, I haven't measured the space yet, but I'm guessing it at about 35" long, I would REALLY Like to make that shed 3 rows deep, but I'm not sure that I have quite enough room to do that, as much as I WANT that capacity, I am doubting that it will fit, even using Bi-Fold doors on both sheds. I have another "Shed", that started out as 4, racks made of 2x4's , 8' High and 12' long, that I found a couple sheets of plywood alongside the Hwy, and had another at home, so I framed a flat "Roof" on it, and use a Tarp to weather proof the top, and have similar roll up tarp sides and ends on. I didn't really intend for that to be a Long Term shed but it has a couple years use on it now, I'm kind of thinking of getting some trusses, and putting a proper roof on it, it holds just shy of 4 cords, plus I have a Plastic Garden shed with about a cord and a half in it, that doesn't "Breathe" real well, but it got some 11-13% MC standing dead in it, so it hasn't been a problem, the wood was stove ready going in, and has stayed dry We also have a 10x20 canvas, "Carport" that I have about 3 cords already CSS in, with about another 7 cords of rounds Top Tarped in the side driveway waiting to be Split and Stacked. I'm Hoping that we have a Good start on Next years wood, so we can get a full year seasoning on it, we bought this house in 2016, and this is the first year that we have been able to get a significant amount of wood ahead, so we can get some full year+ seasoned wood stock piled, we have had some Bad fire years before this year, and the Forest has gotten closed early on us, before we could get wood stocked ahead, 2017 was a BAD Year, if the Eagle Creek Fire didn't cut our wood cutting season short enough on us, we also Lost a Brother in Law to Lung Cancer, and didn't get into the woods as much as we would have liked, I ended up BUYING some firewood that winter, something that just goes against every sense of Right and Wrong I have, but I am still Glad that we spent as much time as we could with Woody. Doug
I never actually looked at the humidity on my cheap plastic "weather station" and put pots on the stove, but I don't think they do much. OTOH, if you stack half a cord of wood in the house with a fan on it to dry it out, it definitely boosts room humidity.
Great ideas all around on this one. I'd love to have something just like it, but with a little less pitch on the roof, with the short end at least 6.5 ft so I wouldn't bang my head. But otherwise, love it.
When that used to happen to us, I'd simply wait out the storm then wait a couple more days before covering. If that wood is, or was dry, unless it is punky it won't soak up a lot of water; it will just be the outer layer and that can dry really quickly especially if it gets some wind. Usually people worry a bit too much over some rain or snow. If it is just once, you'll notice very little difference but if it is a constant thing, then it is no good. Remember too that although I do not agree with it, there are some folks who never cover their wood piles.
Rain will not penetrate very far into dry wood because it runs off so quickly. Continuous contact with melting snow will probably penetrate deeper. Top cover it now, then uncover when/if drier weather arrives. If practical, bring wood in and place near the stove a day before you need to burn it. I double cover my stacks, first a layer of 6 mil poly sheet, then a woodpile tarp to protect the poly from punctures and UV. The woodpile tarps lost their waterproofness (?) after a couple of years, hence the poly. After trying different methods of securing the tarps, I started using a staple gun, stapling directly to the wood. No more loose, flapping tarps. The holes produced by the staples are at the edge of the tarp, so not significant. This is, of course, for my future wood. This year's wood is in my 5 cord wood shed (former chicken coop).
I intend to refute the notion that seasoned, dry, wood, soaks up much moisture. I have 5, 10 year old, completely seasoned wood, that I have removed from a woodshed, that soaks up plenty of moisture when it's in the rain or snow. Perhaps it's my local climate, but keeping my firewood out of the rain and snow, leads to much hotter and cleaner fires. I really hate seeing the cracks at the end of my dry wood swell completely shut. I am sure it dries faster, but I already went to a lot of time to and trouble dry it out the first time.
I have never top covered a stack.... and my stack gives me literally a cup or less of creosote at the end of the season.
