In our locale, top cover is necessary. We did an experiment with 2 stacks of fresh white oak going uncovered about 1.5 years. Failed experiment - more than half of the splits are now punky in the outer layer. Never again..... so will continue using strips of rubber roofing on top immediately. YMMV depending on rainfall where you live.
I'm a top cover advocate. I have burned standing dead oak for 20+ years. I have found that, standing dead oak splits need to be covered. When I didn't have room in the covered wood crib I would stack on pallets and use something to cover up. I had a nice stack of old barn tin that would work great. Also, for awhile I used some rolled roofing that was defective for a roof but worked great for split covering material.
I top cover and believe I get noticeable benefit. I've been using the vinyl tarps from TSC. I've found they're only good for about two years before they seemingly disintegrate. Any ideas on better top cover choices? Thanks.
I use plastic tarps that I have thrown A LOT of stuff on top (chunks, limbs, metal fence posts) to keep it down. I also use metal roofing like in the pic above. One more point about top-covering. In my climate there's not a lot of the year that's good for drying. Spring has thunder storms, summer has oppressive humidity, and winter, like right now, there's a few inches of snow sitting on top of any uncovered wood. Fall is usually ok but it can be rainy too some years. There are some climates where I don't think top-covering is necessary, but Virginia isn't one!
I have a lot of my wood stacked next to my garage. Probably not ideal for seasoning, but it keeps it close to the house and mostly out of sight. Top covering those stacks is an absolute necessity - else they'd catch too much rain coming off of the roof and never dry out. You have to be careful with your top cover if you use one (and I agree with others who highly recommend it). If it leaks or causes water to drain into a certain spot (and it always happens in the middle of the stack), that area will never dry and indeed the wood may end up wetter than the day it was cut. fox9988's stack shows evidence of this sort of problem.
What isn't in the shed and will be used the coming winter I top cover as soon as I can.Last few years I've pulled the tarp back in july/august just to give it some sun. Deep/wide piles just seem to hold the moisture in the center. Those who single stack could prolly get away with top covering in the early fall.
