In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Woodpile Accident

Discussion in 'The Wood Pile' started by chemiee, Dec 21, 2018.

  1. chemiee

    chemiee

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2018
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    565
    Location:
    NYC
    Hi Everyone,
    It has been raining heavy whole night and still raining. I woke up to an uncovered woodpile from the wind . They soaked from the rain :(
    Next few days will be around 40s without a rain until next Friday. Do you think the wood can recover and dry out if I leave them fully uncovered? The pile is 4x 8 rack.
     
  2. firefighter938

    firefighter938

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2015
    Messages:
    220
    Likes Received:
    1,595
    Location:
    Central Indiana
    Yes, a little rain on the already dry wood will be gone quickly if there is a decent breeze. I also suggest staging some wood near your stove to get it extra dry. You should be fine.
     
  3. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    17,951
    Likes Received:
    117,189
    Location:
    Vermont
  4. billb3

    billb3

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2013
    Messages:
    10,318
    Likes Received:
    53,251
    Location:
    SE Mass
    Likely just the top couple rows that are soaked. Yeah, keep the cover(s) off on sunny/windy days and they'll dry right back out.


    Edit: So I look out across the yard and there's one of my fiberglass panels I use for a cover across the yard. From here can't see which stack is naked. It's pretty windy here and raining hard enough I'm not going out . The loose panel doesn't look like it is going to blow away any further.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2018
  5. jrider

    jrider

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2018
    Messages:
    5,757
    Likes Received:
    39,626
    Location:
    NJ
    A few inches of rain isn't going to do much to seasoned wood. Just leave it uncovered a few sunny and windy days then cover it back up.
     
  6. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Messages:
    46,422
    Likes Received:
    291,626
    Location:
    Central MI
    Wood is not a sponge unless it is punky already and in that case, it is fit for the brush pile. Your wood should be fine.
     
  7. Horkn

    Horkn

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2014
    Messages:
    28,382
    Likes Received:
    160,077
    Location:
    SE Wisconsin
    Well, I'm relieved to read that this really isn't an accident thread.

    It'll dry out.
     
  8. MaineMtnMan

    MaineMtnMan

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2017
    Messages:
    592
    Likes Received:
    3,790
    Location:
    Maine
    I had some poplar get wet so I brought it inside by the stove. 2 weeks later still super wet under the bark. The stuff with no bark seems fine.

    Any thoughts?
     
  9. Stoveburner38

    Stoveburner38

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2018
    Messages:
    335
    Likes Received:
    2,816
    Location:
    Springfield,ohio
    Tear the bark off some of it to dry faster
     
  10. J1m

    J1m

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    1,296
    Location:
    Maine
    Scandalous post alert:

    I don’t cover my wood at all. :bug: At all, until it goes in the shed to be burned that year.

    Your wood will be fine.
     
  11. Screwloose

    Screwloose

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2017
    Messages:
    5,316
    Likes Received:
    30,956
    Location:
    SE Wisconsin
    Not all of it is soaked as the top layers will gradually deflect the rain. You can pull some from a dry layer and give the rest of it some time to breathe.
     
  12. HDRock

    HDRock

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Messages:
    17,244
    Likes Received:
    60,315
    Location:
    Grand Blanc, MI,
    If it has bark on it, it is not going to dry out very quick , The inside of the wood will be fine , If There is no bark on it it will dry out in couple days
     
  13. HDRock

    HDRock

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Messages:
    17,244
    Likes Received:
    60,315
    Location:
    Grand Blanc, MI,
    This
    Edit: I did this before I had a 3 foot high cross stacked , stack , On both sides of the stove , About 10 inches from the stove , Use one stack while the other stack is drying When it is gone replace ,Then use the other stack, Keep alternating.
    Leave a little air space between each split as you stack it
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2018
  14. blacksmithden

    blacksmithden

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2017
    Messages:
    362
    Likes Received:
    2,710
    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I'm glad this wasn't a "the wood pile fell on my wife's car" or "the wood pile fell over on ME and I was hurt" thread !!! It'll dry off soon enough. As others have said...put some near (but not too close) to the wood stove. It'll dry out and add a little humidity to the house at the same time. A few days of wind and no rain will have the rest of it taken care of.
     
  15. billb3

    billb3

    Joined:
    Oct 7, 2013
    Messages:
    10,318
    Likes Received:
    53,251
    Location:
    SE Mass
    You may notice the splits on top swell a little bit from absorbing the rain water like a sponge as plywood and MDF so readily do but it will release the unbound water quite readily with drying winds .
     
  16. Ctwoodtick

    Ctwoodtick

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2016
    Messages:
    829
    Likes Received:
    5,812
    Location:
    Southeast ct
    I have found that dry wood can absorb water and take quite a while to dry out. I had red maple that was 20 percent and then shot up tovthe 30’s after a prolonged wet early spring. It took about a month to dry out to original condition.
    In this case if one rainstorm, I’d say the wood would be back to normal after about one day of nice dry weather.
     
  17. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Messages:
    46,422
    Likes Received:
    291,626
    Location:
    Central MI
    You get much more rain than we do. Still, I've had wood laying on the ground and getting lots of rain but it still burned good after a week.
     
  18. chemiee

    chemiee

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2018
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    565
    Location:
    NYC
    Thank you all for the comforting replies. I see that they already started drying out.
     
  19. MightyWhitey

    MightyWhitey

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2014
    Messages:
    1,746
    Likes Received:
    6,311
    Location:
    5 miles South of the "cheddar curtain".
    You should haul it to northern Illinoiz...........it'll dry better in my wood pile!!
     
  20. The Wood Wolverine

    The Wood Wolverine

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2015
    Messages:
    17,662
    Likes Received:
    111,426
    Location:
    Gettysburg, PA
    I too am glad to read it wasn't something serious! :pain: