when i first bought my house,,there was a crawl space under the back part!!! sooo, i went to a place that built low deck bridges,,and rented a 12 x 12 x 36 h beam..punched thru three short walls, slid beam thru,poled it up,,a dug it out,,built basement,,and when was closing in the east wall,,found a coal door!!!!! put that in,,and have been throwing wood in back part of basement ever since...12 ft wide, by 26 foot long,,and it has 8 foot ceiling....i stack it 3/4 full each year,,as part of it is canned goods storage..no stepping outside for wood!!!!! i did as some of you did the first three years..wood on east side of house, carry around to west side,,then down the stairs, and stack!!! max 1/2 cord!!! that is part of what drove me to do the basement digging!!!!!