I am getting closer to building a wood shed. I am hoping for a 3 or 4 bay shed that can 7 cords per bay. Like everyone else, I want to keep cost down. Is it feasible to use Maple and Ash for posts or should I just wait and save more money for treated lumber? The look of a natural timber shed is appealing to me also. Thanks in advance for any info.
28 cord! That’s a wood barn! Kidding aside I’d like to do the same. I have said it before but I really like DaveGunter ’s shed made from logs. I’d like to construct something similar but it’s project 1137 on the list right now.
I don't think I'd want to bury untreated ash or maple, but I'll bet you get many years out of them if they're off the ground. Maybe tar for the ground contact if you need to bury. Or source some black locust? Would love to do something similar, but resources and time have dictated that I build small pallet sheds as time allows. We could technically afford to do one big one, but I'm just too cheap. Could use poles... But I keep making them into firewood. Hope to see pics of your finished project, I love ogling a nice woodshed.
Any white oak or locust available to you? How about Eastern red cedar "as is"? Excellent rot resistance in those species. If you end up using treated wood buy it now and leave it out to weather before using it. Turns a nice gray color. Lowes in my area sell "cull packs" of "problem" lumber...ie warped, damaged, return etc for a good discount. Dunno about your area. Ive gotten some decent lumber real cheap. Sometimes you can unwarp wood by leaving it out in the rain to get soaked. Done this many times with pressure treated.
There is Locust and White Oak around that I could probably scrounge for the project. It was just wishful thinking since I have several Ash and Maple logs laying around already. I am hoping to use timber from my property and I have a big bucket full of lag bolts I could use. There is a stack of metal roofing behind the barn that I can repurpose too. I want it to look nice but I don’t want to spend much on it.
You could use the same coating you would use to coat/seal fresh cut ends of p/t wood: Well seasoned lumber absorbs more of the protective coating. Especially when you're not painting just the fresh cut ends. You could probably paint any cut / notched, inaccessible surfaces that you couldn't paint later and then paint exposed surfaces with it later if using whole logs that are still kinda green. You might not get away with making your own "p/t" lumber for permitted/inspected projects but for a shed it should serve the purpose well. You probably end up with a better coating than above ground grade if the wood is nice and dry when you paint it. ( unless you believe wood doesn't absorb liquids, then you're chitout of luck)
I hear ya. Us hoarders dont like to spend money do we?. Im building a leanto for a friend who lets me store wood at his place. I have nine cord stacked in his front woods. His piles are very hastily stacked and covered. All over and different color tarps. I offered to build a lean to for him to hold 4-5 cord. 4'x36' framed with PT 2x10's on cinder blocks. Roof beam at least 6' off grade on both sides for head clearance. 2x4 posts, 2x6 rafters & beams. 1x4 roof strapping. 12' aluminum roof panels to be cut in half. Everything for the build was scrounged except the 2x10's which i got for 90% off at Lowes. May have to buy some nails and screws so $60-70 out of pocket for the project. I will post a thread when started and update progress.
An old sawmill guy once told me everything lasts pretty good once it’s two feet off the ground. One of his outbuildings was sided with tulip/poplar. What are your plans for the lower part of the structure?
It sure did save on lumber $, but it was way more time and effort to source the poles and deal with non dimensional wood during construction. I used "Oz-posts" to keep the poles out of the ground. They worked pretty good and are still holding solid. They will likely twist or go off plumb when you drive them in unless your soil is very forgiving...so using them with dimensions posts will likely throw things off.
Ash yes; maple no. When I was still on the farm we used to build corn cribs (that was before picker/shellers came along) and we always used ash for the posts. We'd simply go to the woods and cut a few small trees and plant them where we wanted them then wrap snow fence around and bingo; we had a cheaply built corn crib that would last usually 15-20 years. To last longer one would have to treat the part that is in the ground. Also the tops of the posts need to be cut at an angle rather than square so water ran off rather than soaking into the wood. It worked then and it will work now.
Locust if ya got it. My larger woodshed is simply 5-6" dia. locust posts set into the ground 4 feet. I expect it will last decades.
Do you have any Post Oak? White oak or Black locust will work too. Make sure you cut it in the winter, debark them, let it dry some, soak the ground contact ends with diesel (several coats) then coat with tar, put gravel in the bottom of the post holes. Should be good to go.
You make it sound like I have planned in advance for the shed. I want to build it late fall early winter. I don’t have the posts ready. I’ll get some from the Amish if I don’t use what I have. I could use Ash for the post, we have always used locust. I do like Gunter’s post about the Oz-post, I also like Jon_E’s shed too. I just want to stack wood in the shed instead of the field. Thanks for all the info.
I built this three summers ago after storing 10 cords under tarps and on pallets.... 38 ft long by roughly 9 ft wide. I think it’s 7ft high against the wall and 6 ish at the front. I am not a carpenter but I did this over a week after work. I got a low fine gravel for the floor and set the wood directly on it. It cost some money, but looks neat and clean. I also thru up three 12VDC lights on a dollar charged battery system for night work. The other logic I used is that I rely solely on wood for heat, so I need wood dry and clean. Tarps work but they somehow sag and build water and ice. Ruined wood sets Me off! Good luck with your build!!!!
Can you get some old telephone/power line poles? I got a stash of them just by asking the company to drop them off when they replace poles. Apparently they have to go somewhere. I imagine an official dump charges them vs free at my place. Win/win
You've got lots of good advice so far. Ash & Maple in the ground are a no go, they are non durable. If you do have access to Black Locust, that is as good as it gets, use it. As has been said, White Oaks are great too. Treating wood will only help so much but there is a big difference in treatments. This is were I revert back to old tech. When others have referred to "tar", I think, they are talking about asphalt tar but my favorite thing is Pine Tar. Unbeatable wood preservative. All the old wooden ships were preserved with it and we are still finding viking ships intact because of it. Keeping the wood out of the ground and a good bit off the ground with concrete piers & metal stanchions and such will make a huge difference and between that and treating with pine tar, almost anything will last. Black Locust you can just set it straight in the ground and it will be fine till your grand children's time.