Building a storage shed

I moved into my first house with a fireplace just over 10 years ago. I imagined myself on cold winter evenings sitting in front of a roaring fire. The reality was very different: I found myself in a cold, smoke filled room, my smoke detectors blaring.

Living on a wooded lot, in the fall I collected kindling and logs from my property, piled them up by the house and brought them in to burn when winter arrived. This proved to be a disaster as the wood was damp and green. It was difficult to light and if I did manage to get a fire going, it produced lots of smoke instead of heat. One of my neighbors let me in on the secrets of preparing firewood. Firstly if you get wood that is green, you need to split it and let it age. It needs to be kept off the ground and stacked in a way that air can get to it, to help it dry out: dry wood doesn’t smoke.

My first attempt at a firewood storage shed was to simply stack wood on, and cover it with, a tarpaulin. The wood was protected from the weather but it retained its moisture, and still smoked. At that point I bought some aged lumber and decided to invest in some good plans and build a firewood storage shed for the following year.

One thing to consider is that firewood is sold by the cord, which is a pile 8′x4′x4′. Most firewood storage shed plans are designed to fit at least a cord, so your shed will be around 10′wide and 5-6′deep and high. My wood shed has three walls and a roof with no front or a floor. The open front allows for easy access and good ventilation, and the ground I dug out and replaced with gravel on which wood can be stacked.

I try to buy wood in the spring, when it seems to be cheaper, and always make certain to have the shed full by summer’s end so the wood has chance to age and dry. I fill my shed, but don’t pack the wood tightly so there is good airflow. I also rotate the wood, so that I am always using aged wood that will burn cleanly, not green wood that I have added.

I would recommend that if you have a fireplace you build yourself firewood storage shed using a good set of plans that details all the tools and materials you will need.

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