Storing kiln-dried hardwood in the garage

[Lladro]

Hi

I am new to stove ownership and stumbled on your site and forum, so I hope that I can get a clear answer (if there is one to be had) from experts in wood.  I am looking to buy a crate of either ash or oak kiln dried firewood.  A few suppliers deliver in a crate (wood, open-sided, pallet type base).  I really want to store the wood in my attached garage - convenience combined with my natural lazy-itis.  I don’t have an outdoor log store.
 

One business told me that the wood must be emptied from the pallet and stacked in an outdoor log store, within three days of delivery, to avoid  mould-inducing humidity in the garage (in January???) undermining the effectiveness of the kiln drying process.

 

Another refused to comment - worried about legal liability?  

 

The third one said (music to my ears) that the logs would be fine in the garage, kept in the crate, provided that (a) there was at least a six-inch air gap around the crate; and (b) the logs were all used up this season.  At the rate my stove is getting through kiln-dried hardwood logs, there may well be another log purchase before warmth returns in the Spring.  They told me that any logs still left come Spring would need to be moved outside for the summer (a bit like pelargoniums??).  Of course, I want to believe the third company. 
 

May I ask what your opinions are of the advice I’ve received, please?  While acknowledging that lazy-itis plays a part here, so does being a solo arthritic female of a certain age, with no outside storage structures, so that would be more effort and more expense. 
 

Many thanks for your input. 

[Doug Tait]

I'd be happy enough with option 3. If they go in the garage kiln dried and are used up in a couple of months then just make it convenient for yourself, be fine.

[Puffingbilly413]

Plus one for the third option.

 

Why would anyone go to the expense of kiln drying wood down to, say, 15% for argument's sake and then waste all that by stacking it outside where it will soon adjust to the much higher ambient humidity?

 

Sounds like the first company is bluffing its case and is supplying wood that hasn't been dried properly.

 

As has been said, as long as you have reasonable airflow around the wood and your garage isn't itself damp you won't have any issues.

 

When you burn your logs, open the door and check if you can see or hear any hissing from them as they get going. That's a sure tell tale that the wood has more moisture in it than it should.

[Stere]

Kiln drying is used as marketing hype for  naive customers as the   method thats being  used for the wood drying gives  zero advantage to  you.

 

Wood kept in a  garage or wood store in  winter will reabsorb moisture from the air  & be back up to near 20%. 

 

Unless its stored in the house with central heating on it will not stay at 15%.

 

So any kiln dry marketing  etc which usually means more  expensive logs , will be a worthless extra expense.

 

Buy yourself a cheap £20 moisture meter & don't bother about drying methods  just try & buy wood  thats under 20%.

 

You need to spilt one log and test the middle.

 

 

As alot of  wood sold as kiln dried or air seasoned often isn't fully seassoned in reality  - buyer beware.

 

 

 

Edited January 12 by Stere

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Puffingbilly413 said:

Sounds like the first company is bluffing its case and is supplying wood that hasn't been dried properly.

 

As has been said, as long as you have reasonable airflow around the wood and your garage isn't itself damp you won't have any issues.

That's my thought too, IF the logs have been dried to below 20%mc wwb they won't sprout mould and inside the garage they will gradually reach an equilibrium with the Rh of the air in the garage. In most of UK this will be below 17% . In the SE logs in my open sided store go down to below this, much at 15% now (air dried over one summer)

 

You only need airflow around the logs if they are damper than the equilibrium mc of the garage.

[Lladro]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I’m in Essex, so we’re generally the driest part of the country.  Hadn’t given that any thought till your comment, OpenSpaceMan.  It’s a dry attached garage, so I was struggling to see the problem with wood delivered in a cheap version of an open log store. 
 

Stere, do you moisture test at the supplier ‘s site?  If it’s when you get delivery at home, would you (have you ever) sent them back if the moisture meter showed above 20%?

 

Thanks again: you’ve given me confidence to go with a crate.  I’ve just realised that I’ll need a small step ladder to reach the top of the giant crate, but that’s another issue!

[peds]

Some of those big pallet crates you can cut away a few slats at the bottom and fish the logs out that way, instead of out of the top.

(Edit: don't remove so much that it reduces the structural integrity to collapse though!)

Edited January 12 by peds

[Ashes_Firewood]

I keep all my logs in my garage after they've been air dried at my yard. No problems at all.

 

Kiln dried logs are the same as air dried, you're just paying a premium for them to be dried faster.

[Rob_the_Sparky]

I too have for a few years kept logs in the garage after air drying over summer with no problems.  I've now built more storage outside so I don't have to anymore though.as I prefer keep the cars in there (rarity I know).

 

The only concern might be keeping a load of fuel in an integral or attached garage might be considered a fire risk.  I must admit I do not like all the loose bark etc I get off the logs in the garage with the cars but a car full of petrol can also be considered a fire risk so I suspect you can ignore the logs.

 

As above though, if the logs are dried and the garage is not damp then you will get no mold.on the logs.  Damp logs in a garage is a no no but dry logs should be fine.

[Steven P]

I've never done anything else apart from keep dried wood in the garage. We have roller shutter door and a side door, I would be bettering that more moisture comes in the garage that way than from the logs.

 

Never noticed any mold in there, but occasionally get some damp - but attribute this more to the doors.

 

 

 

Kiln dried / Air dried / Seasoned... doesn't mean a lot in my view, 'dried' means not as wet as it was. So unless they are specifying a maximum moisture content you could be getting anything. Kiln dried helps them sell more and more quickly, only need a yard to store 1 years worth of logs rather than 3 years, don't need to handle it as much, is a nice easy sales technique. No one is offering 'air dried' logs as if they were special you see - even though just as good, always 'kiln dried'

 

 

Anyway. you should be fine keeping them in the garage, if you are worried just open the garage doors every now and then in the summer to blow some air through