Help with firewood barn

[the village idiot]

9 minutes ago, Stere said:

What floor are you going to do?

 

If you put in  good drainage surrounding maybe you  could leave as earth and have a smaller  concreted bit for the workshop area?

 

You could aleast have a few clear sheets for skylights in the roof or windows in the walls?

 

Nice to have natural light for workshop rather than having to have lights on during the day?

The floor will be a concrete roadway that is already in place.

 

I agree that putting in some skylights would be good. I'll look into it.

 

Starting to wonder whether I should be leaving the long side open and putting in hard standing along the 'near' side to allow side access. Could then set up a bay system which would be much easier for stock rotation etc.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by the village idiot

[Mik the Miller]

Build it to the left of the roadway. The trees and bushes will offer some shelter from the weather and have bays opening to the road.

On the other side, build 2 walls, Build a 2" frame and fix the inner 4" wide boards with a 3" gap and a similar outer wall (out of step so to speak) so that the inner gaps are covered.

 

You can cover the bays with skip nets linky

I'd also be tempted to build a 'saltbox' roof rather than a standard A frame.

I wish I had the room to build something that size...

[the village idiot]

7 minutes ago, Mik the Miller said:

Build it to the left of the roadway. The trees and bushes will offer some shelter from the weather and have bays opening to the road.

On the other side, build 2 walls, Build a 2" frame and fix the inner 4" wide boards with a 3" gap and a similar outer wall (out of step so to speak) so that the inner gaps are covered.

 

You can cover the bays with skip nets linky

I'd also be tempted to build a 'saltbox' roof rather than a standard A frame.

I wish I had the room to build something that size...

Thanks for your thoughts Mik

 

What would you do about a floor for the barn if it was built off the roadway?

[Mik the Miller]

Gravel/stones from the river bed or MOT type 3 with pallets or crinkle tin on top with a slight slope away from the road.

[the village idiot]

53 minutes ago, Mik the Miller said:

Gravel/stones from the river bed or MOT type 3 with pallets or crinkle tin on top with a slight slope away from the road.

I see where you are coming from Mik but I think Iwould prefer to keep the barn in the original location as it matches up well with the existing ride network.

 

Revised design below with bodged amendments by me.

 

Would appreciate any thoughts, especially if you think it would work better than the original configuration. May clad the open gable end too and reduce the number of uprights on open long side.

 

[Lucan]

We have a similar but slightly smaller barn (25mx9m) of which about half is for our own firewood use.

 

Guttering is very important. Recently lost part of the guttering and as a result all it takes is the slightest bit of wind to blow all the rain from the roof into the barn (in effect making the inside few feet wetter than outside).

 

While having a gap at the foot of the cladding will increase airflow, a counter arguement is that it will also allow leaves and other vegetation to be blown in, which will sit under your pallets restricting airflowing and rotting away. Far better to sacrifce some airflow for a dry and clean floor. We have a small wall made from breeze blocks around which works well (due to original use for lambing).

 

I would be reluctant to leave the gable ends open like that. Firstly because a lot of rain can get the sides, and secondly much prefer to be able to close a gate or door. Even though wouldn't be completely theft proof still might be useful for insurance purposes.

 

For maximising firewood storage instead of building a road around the outside I would run the access inside the barn against the near/open side. Then build a smaller lean-to on the outside, this could be used for storing logs ready to be processed. This is because not sure how well a 12m deep firewood stack would dry.

 

[Khriss]

Few solar panels on the  roof too, if you want a bit of electric. K

[scbk]

I think the traditional thing for "yorkshire boarding" is the gap the same width as the boards are thick - ie 22-25mm.

 

Depending what the soil is like, you might not really need much of a floor, once the soil dries out it will harden up. I have a couple of sheds that are bare earth and they're fine.

 

Just building another one at the minute, have dug it out and put down 40mm scalpings which can be got for a good price locally

[the village idiot]

6 minutes ago, Lucan said:

We have a similar but slightly smaller barn (25mx9m) of which about half is for our own firewood use.

 

Guttering is very important. Recently lost part of the guttering and as a result all it takes is the slightest bit of wind to blow all the rain from the roof into the barn (in effect making the inside few feet wetter than outside).

 

While having a gap at the foot of the cladding will increase airflow, a counter arguement is that it will also allow leaves and other vegetation to be blown in, which will sit under your pallets restricting airflowing and rotting away. Far better to sacrifce some airflow for a dry and clean floor. We have a small wall made from breeze blocks around which works well (due to original use for lambing).

 

I would be reluctant to leave the gable ends open like that. Firstly because a lot of rain can get the sides, and secondly much prefer to be able to close a gate or door. Even though wouldn't be completely theft proof still might be useful for insurance purposes.

 

For maximising firewood storage instead of building a road around the outside I would run the access inside the barn against the near/open side. Then build a smaller lean-to on the outside, this could be used for storing logs ready to be processed. This is because not sure how well a 12m deep firewood stack would dry.

 

Interesting thoughts, thanks Lucan.

 

Yes, guttering is a must I think. We would have guttering both sides and drain to a nearby pond.

 

Agree with your thoughts on the cladding depth, a low concrete wall would be a good idea.

 

I'm hoping we can space the vented bags of firewood out fairly, interspersed with drying sawn timber filled  bays so we don't end up with a log bag mountain, restricting airflow too much.

 

Do any of you stack cubic mtr bags in a barn and have issues with them seasoning?

[Toad]

From which direction is the prevailing wind? I assume the ride you have it on is one of the ones you have shown in your thread and the vegetation is cut back for some distance either side allowing sunlight and air to move around? I think your suggestion of hardstanding alongside the long side of the building is good and load logs in from the side. Would be ideal for stock rotation, and should mean that air can penetrate easier into the shed from the open side. 

 

How high will it be? How high will you stack the bags of logs inside? I have been wondering about some pallet racking to allow air right around some ibcs and bags when they are indoors, but I think it's a bit overkill.

 

Since moving out of some helpful buildings we rented, my split logs now live with sections of our old farm shop roof on top to try to keep them dryish. I went two deep and high perpendicular to the prevailing wind to get maximum dryiness.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Toad