The way I’ve been stacking firewood in my shed for 10 years is completely backward

Last week I noticed a big gap in the woodpile and realized the logs were all leaning wrong - they were trapping moisture against the shed wall instead of letting air flow through. My neighbor Dave (retired logger, 30 years in the business) walks by and says 'you’re gonna rot that whole stack doing it that way.' Now I’m wondering how many other basic things I’ve been doing wrong for a decade without anyone telling me. Has anyone else here had a moment where a neighbor just casually pointed out a simple mistake you’d been making for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.blake15d ago

Wait, is that really a thing where you only tarp the top and leave the sides open? I just read something similar on a homesteading page, and now I'm second-guessing my whole setup.

harper91416d ago

My neighbor Larry told me the same thing about my firewood stack about 5 years ago. I used to think any old pile would dry out fine, but he showed me how the logs against the wall were already starting to grow mold. He flipped the whole pile around so the air could move through the gaps, and now my wood actually burns hot instead of smoldering. It felt dumb at first, but I started paying more attention to how I do simple stuff after that.

samk7716d ago

Yeah, did you also start leaving a gap between the wood pile and the wall so air can get behind it? That and covering just the top with a tarp (not the sides) stopped all my mold problems.