Firewood equipment according to the rules for the preparation and storage of firewood

Recommendation points

• Why is it so important to build a wood log correctly
• Choosing a place for a firewood
• Base for woodshed
• Construction of a wood warehouse

When storing firewood outside, mistakes are often made that lead to damage to the fuel and a decrease in its calorific value. will tell you how to choose a place for a firewood and build it correctly, as well as how to organize storage of fuel, protect it from dampness and pests.

Why is it so important to build a wood log correctly

Harvesting firewood is a very serious undertaking that requires a lot of time and physical effort. To reduce logistics costs, fuel is imported in large volumes, and it is impossible to leave it for a long time in the open air, you need to organize proper storage as soon as possible. Plus, firewood does not always have an optimal form factor, they often have to be cut into shorter chocks and chopped, which further stretches the harvesting process.

So that the spent efforts do not go to waste, you need to approach the organization of storing firewood in street conditions with all responsibility. In a well-equipped storage facility, firewood can lie for several years without a hint of spoilage, and its use for its intended purpose becomes convenient due to the correct organization. The duration of storage is very important, because the laying of firewood in the warehouse acquires optimal moisture parameters only after 1–2 years.

Here are the main advantages of the correct organization of the firewood warehouse:

• Tangible and visible savings in solid fuel.
• Reduced chimney soot formation.
• Absolute safety of fuel residues between heating seasons.
• Convenient firewood collection in any weather and time of day.
• Complete fire safety.

Choosing a place for a firewood

A wood warehouse is a stationary structure, which means that the question of choosing a place for its location should be raised first. The main rule is to ensure maximum fire safety. The firewood should not be placed near the walls of buildings with a fire hazard class KM3 or higher. In other words, the construction of an attached firewood can be permissible under a brick fence, a garage wall or a metal structure..

The firewood operator must have convenient access routes: this is required both to ensure the convenience of extinguishing, and from the point of view of practicality, because there must be a site near the firewood warehouse where it is convenient to process them. It is recommended to organize a source of industrial water under pressure in the immediate vicinity of the firewood so that the fire can be localized and eliminated in time. We emphasize once again the importance of fire safety: the heat release of a burning firewood is so great that a nearby building suffers irreversible critical damage to the structure from a distance of 4-5 meters, and with the appropriate direction and wind strength – up to 10 meters.

It is necessary to clarify the terms used. Strictly speaking, only open warehouses attached to the building, where a small portion of firewood is stored, is called a firewood. This is convenient when the main warehouse (called a woodshed) cannot be located near the entrance to the house, and walking a long distance in bad weather is inconvenient or even dangerous. However, it is unacceptable to store a large volume of dry wood in this form, and although the maximum capacity of a firewood has not been officially established, in practice it is no more than 1 m³.

In summary: a stationary wood storage should be built at a distance of at least 5 meters from buildings, large trees and thickets, power lines and other air communications. The building should be oriented so that its open part is oriented towards the sunny side of the world, while the approach to the firewood is as convenient and short as possible.

Base for woodshed

It is simply impractical to place firewood on the open ground, as it will never acquire optimal moisture content. The distance from the ground surface to the bottom row of logs should be at least 12 cm, ideally about 20 cm. The material of the pedestal can be any, the main thing is that it does not absorb moisture well. Therefore, those wishing to use cargo pallets as a base for a firewood will have to spend money on water repellency treatment. If firewood is used for heating, ordinary creosote or bitumen will do, but when storing firewood for the barbecue, this is unacceptable: you should use only those impregnations that, after drying, lose solubility and cannot soak the firewood bookmark.

It is recommended to keep the base of the logs flat. Contrary to popular belief, floor slits are not conducive to improved ventilation. From them only harm: through the holes in the floor of the firewood, wood dust wakes up, which accumulates in a closed and poorly ventilated space, rotts and rot, provoking the development of harmful organic matter. In addition, there are cases when waste wood waste spontaneously ignited. If there is a desire to increase the ventilation of the lower rows of the bookmark and eliminate the formation of mold, this can be done very simply. It is enough to nail slats 25–40 mm thick on a flat floor, which are located along the firewood, that is, across the logs.

When laying a foundation for a firewood, it is necessary to take into account the planned mass of stored firewood and relate it to the supporting capacity of the soil. It is not difficult to calculate the weight of the bookmark: even if the wood is wet, the mass of one cube does not exceed 1 ton. Focusing on this indicator, you will provide a sufficient margin of reliability in case of soil soaking or destruction of the base, which means that you can continue to operate the firewood until the available supply of firewood runs out.

So, although a concrete slab is considered the ideal base option, its construction is not at all necessary. A frame made of boards, placed on the edge and sheathed on top with moisture-resistant sheet material, and a metal structure, arranged according to the same principle, will also work. The main thing is that the base is not pressed under the mass of logs and is not able to transfer moisture from the soil to the bookmark. The latter, by the way, can be realized by using any waterproofing, including polyethylene film..

Construction of a wood warehouse

When you have a solid base at your disposal, it is not a problem to build a protection from the effects of the atmosphere for the wood log. Even a simple shelter of the firewood with waterproofing material will help to cope with such a task, but this option is not particularly reliable and does not provide a sufficient level of convenience when using a wooden warehouse.

There are many prototypes of structures that make it possible to implement a wood log: a wooden, metal or profile frame as a base, various types of cladding and waterproofing, unique combinations of materials, including improvised ones. You are free to use any of the possible options, provided that it meets a number of technical requirements:

• Absolute protection against atmospheric precipitation.
• Resistant to the gravity of the snow cap that accumulates over the canopy.
• Sufficient ventilation to dry, but not too intense to get wet in oblique rain.
• Resistance to combustion and damage by harmful organic matter.
• Possibility of device partitioned storage.

If we touch on specific solutions, they can be proposed two.

Option 1:stationary shed with blank wall cladding, which is based on MZLF with gravel backfilling and waterproofing from the ground. Inside, from wooden panels, it is necessary to knock down partitions that form compartments for firewood up to 2 meters wide, between which there is a passage not less than 120 cm wide.The shed is built on a supporting frame made of a profile pipe with a sheathing of a profiled sheet.

Option 2:semi-open freestanding woodshed up to two meters high with a pitched roof. It is based on a frame made of 50×50 mm timber with a pitch of vertical posts of 120 cm. On three sides, the structure is sheathed with cheap chipboards covered with alkyd enamel. The plank flooring forms a flat shed roof with a slope of 15 ° towards the rear wall, with a canopy protruding from the front by 50-60 cm. For waterproofing, two layers of roofing material are laid on top of the flooring.

In the front open part of the firewood, it makes sense to fix a screen made of waterproofing material, which drops 50–70 cm below the roof. This will save the firewood warehouse from slanting precipitation and at the same time will not interfere with natural air exchange, but for this the side walls should not be sewn up close to the roof, but with an indent of 15-20 cm.