Keep in mind there are many different methods! You can use just about anything flat like steel sheeting, plywood and roof roll. The list goes on and on.
Some good points there Pete. I'd also like to make a point. When tarping like this where the tarp is not long enough to cover the length of the wood stack, beware. That is a place where water can seep in. The fix is to make that seam in a high spot on the pile so water flows away from the place where the tarps come together. If not, lots and lots of water will get in there and lots of wood there will become water logged.
That's a good point Dennis! The way to overcome this at least the way I overcome this is by overlapping tarps about 6" to 8" when they go on the stacks. I'll post a pic after I'm done tarping.
That tarp and kite string setup won't last more than a few minutes in anything over a breeze. I gave up on covering stacks. Even 1/2" OSB tied down with ROPE and weighted down with uglies blew off. Either it caused the stack to fall over or the OSB was ripped apart. The wind gets strong enough that it blows splits off the stack sometimes.
HA! you should see the winds we get… Seriously though they hold up just fine all year. Actually I only had to take down the tarps because I was moving it to appease the village for the new foot trail coming through behind my property.
I'm a steadfast believer in the rubber roofing (EDPM). As many of you know I got several long reclaimed pieces several years back and used them with fantastic results. I DO have to overlap them on the stack, and I found an easy and foolproof method to do that too. I used old fencing pipes (long pieces from a torn-down pool fence). I laid the pipes down along the stack, right down the middle, and overlapped the rubber roofing down the length of those pipes. Put some big rocks up on that overlap and never had a leak of water, the pipe acts as a ridge and keeps the water from running under either piece of roofing material..... I'll take some pictures of what I'm describing in a couple weeks when I begin stackin my 14 cord......lol.....
I had first tried good quality plastic tarps ($$$) lashed down with rope and covered with pallets and uglies. The wind would get underneath, blow off the pallets/uglies and shred the tarps. Either would rip the eyelet and tarp, break the rope, or hold together and turn the tarp into 5 million 1/4" wide "threads".
I find tarps to be "OK" for around a year or so.....three years, my tarps never made it that long without being shredded to bits. I'd also find slivers of them in the yard, in bird nests all around the property, etc...... This rubber roofing is going on 3 years old and still looks like new......and who knows how old it was when it was reclaimed!! The stuff is great for a covering, I'll be buying more at the local salvage store. I was down there a couple weeks ago and they have a CHITLOAD of it in, and its literally only a couple bucks for a huge piece. I've seen brand new rolls of it on CL, some rolls 12'x50', for 40 bucks!! there are good deals on it out there, if you look around a little! Another plus is the stuff is black, and believe it or not, it gets REALLY hot in the sun....so this may rise the temp of the stack up a little thus helping it dry out a tad faster.....
Not surprised that rubber membrane roofing works good. It's just about bullet proof. You got me wondering if there's a roofing company/salvage op nearby.
Heck, just check around your area for some roofing contractors Stinny......any of them that do industrial roofing should have access to "tear offs", or even leftover scraps from a flat roof....
oh and I forgot to mention, in the long-contested saga of "to cover or not to cover", I am certainly glad we keep ours covered here. We've had an ENORMOUS amount of rain so far this spring and summer.....which seems to be the pattern anymore. We get monsoons every Sept/October too, and the top covering method is the way to go in my climate. I'll never do it any other way (that is, of course, until I get a permanent shed done)
Sounds as tho the only way you can do it is to build a wind proof woodshed heavily lashed to the ground. Winds can tear stuff up that's for sure.
Check habitate for humanity resale stores if you have any nearby. Around here they have just about everything salvaged you can think of... The window in the greenhouse and screen cost $1... We also found about 200' of black garden edger for $20 which is a steal around us. It normally goes for $19.99 for 20' to 30' depending where you go. http://www.habitat.org/restores/search?zip=&area=ME&province=
Or just not worry about covering my firewood. A bit of rain and snow doesn't really harm it in the couple years it may be seasoning.
I am a firm believer in covering my wood. I can't get a full day of sun it. Some is fully shaded. It gets covered as soon as it is stacked. I have had good luck putting tarps over larger plywood scraps. Due to the lack of direct sun the tarps can last several years and the plywood helps to give it a pitch so it drains and doesnt make mosquito puddles.
Good video, I am a believer in covering as well. I used tarps from lumber piles that I got for free and they work great. The hold up well to wind, I just use a small stapler and tack them to the splits. But I am getting a carport next week that will replace the tarps. Its more permanent and will keep the rain out of the ground around the pallets too. I had a lot of pallets freeze into the mud this last winter and I couldn't get my pallet racks out of the ground so had to throw them into the ranger to move wood to the house. The water would run don the sides and splash the mud up around the pallets then freeze locking them in place.
I started using ropes to ,and tied tension knots , as the stack gets smaller just slide the knot up the rope , and it will hold no matter the wind
I've used bungee cords along with ropes but the ones I've bought don't last out in the sun. I've had pine and cherry rot. Was nice to keep in the chicken barn(s) until we tore them down.
To everyone talking about it holding in the wind... Nothing I've seen so far in this thread would hold up. I'm not trying to one up or be negative. I suspect that the usual winds here are "a bit" stronger than most everyone else. After a windstorm I usually have to go around the yard and pick up several pieces of firewood as it blows off the stacks. Pete I don't hoard wood like that... I keep a few years worth at most, the rest is sold. I did over 200 cords last summer.
