Covering firewood, how to prevent condensation/mold?

If it is just surface mold or fungus I wouldnt even worry about it, Dry rot or Punky is a different story,didnt we cover heating to 150F kills bugs and mold/mildue/fungus in another thread basod . 150F is a temp I see in the summer in a Solar Kiln... Just one more reason to Kiln your wood.

 

Yeah Augie I'm onboard with the solar kiln - it did a good job on that pine I wrapped in August. I cut the wrap sometime in late October, and had no bugs, there were some odd molds that probably developed in the initial warming periods, but after unwrapping that stuff dried out and did not continue. It's burning just fine

I'm just asking the OP if he has some wet punky wood - and loosely top covering it with a dark tarp will make it a mushroom farm

 

I'll see if I can get a picture of the wood and storage this afternoon. It looks like I got a break in the rain.

But for now, I'll show two pictures. This first one below almost shows my complete usable lot The stacked wood shown previously is on this side of the house. The lot size is 1/3 of an acre. Most of that goes up hill. From the ivy hill to the decorative retaining wall is about 20 foot deep. Below that retaining wall is a year round creek. To the right is maybe another 10 feet of lot.


Next we have the garage and shed peaking through on the left. The lot ends right at the garage on the left. The garage is right against the hill(within 2 foot of the hill going up)

The "moldy wood pile" is behind the shed shown just to the right of the garage.

I am taking nothing presented as rude or offensive. Just lots of good info and ideas I need to consider.

Augie, thank you VERY much for the input. As you can see above, not quite a suburban lot Just not a lot of usable space

 

I never have a problem with my top and side covered wood that I am going to use relatively soon but it is below 20% when covered otherwise it never gets covered and if it does not get burnt that year the tarp comes back off in the spring.

 

Nice place

Looks like not much air circulation or sun.

 

The house is in the middle of a tree lined ravine. So direct sun light is a short 1-2 month frame. But air circulation is actually not too bad... we get good amounts of wind

 

A solar kiln like Augie's would be my plan in future set-ups there too... because of the lack of space. Do you think there's a good sunny spot though, where you'd want the stack? Looks pretty tight. As Backsav said... plywood, or something similar, to get out a bit beyond the edges, would be good if lack of sun is a prob.

 

One of the "new" wood stacking areas will be to the right of the patio in front of the chimney. It is currently being designed but will be between 8 to 12 foot long, allow double stacking, and allows stacking about 6 foot tall.

As the second picture above shows, behind the shed doesn't get much light. Eventually, the shed will be removed when the garage is extended over it. When that happens, the wood stack behind the shed will be moved between the house and garage (almost against the garage)

Unfortunately, most of my potential wood places are sun deficient I am considering a place up the hill for another double stacked area.

 

Where are you getting mold? Top of stack, bottom, ends? I leave mine uncovered until fall whe it gets rainy and cool. Your area looks like it stays cool and damp. I would recommend a cover that keeps rain off but by no means keeps moisture in or inhibit air movement. Plywood or corrugated metal spaced off the top, maybe with a couple big splits on the ends and one in the middle.

 

True. Ive got some large ash rounds sitting on wood chips with white mold on the bottom. They've been sitting there for 2 weeks!

 

I've had mushrooms growing out of the end grain of stuff thats been split and piled after a month. Not concerned, it should go away as it dries, or I may have some tasty chantrells!!!!

 

I've got a total of three cords. The first two cords were red oak that I got early October. The third cord I got VERY late in the season(mid Nov) and is supposed to be oak of some sort. It looked consistent for oak.

My concern with the mold is bringing it in to the house but also burning it.

The mold is showing up on the top parts of the stack. Maybe four splits worth from the top.

With the creak within spitting distance, it does keep a bit humid... for California Last year, we kept in the 30s and 40s during the winter. So far this year, we've been in the 40s to 50s with a dip in the 30s. The ravine is affectionately known as pneumonia gultch

 

I wouldn't worry about that, temps like that and dry, wood heat, mold won't survive in the house. Now warmer seasons may be an issue. What is the humidity in your house right now? I struggle to keep 30% right now, temps around 30

 

Here is a picture of the wood pile and the "new" modified draping tarp:


The stacks are about 5 foot tall. As you can see, it won't go any further back because of solid rock.

Here is a closer view of the mold:


It is about the middle of the stack left to right. This picture shows mold from the lower part of the front stack. But I was pulling wood from the top of the stack that had more mold and mushrooms.

 

You sure you're not in Portland or Seattle ?

You've got fur growing on everything.

 

I've got some hickory that has already started getting moldy after just a couple months. The splits are under cover now so hopefully won't get worse, not really a big deal if it does though. More BTUs right