Wood longevity

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if youre worried about it rotting, you can always paint all the splits...seems to work good on house siding/trim...I heard lead paint works the best, and safe to burn in the stove:innocent::pingpong:
 
In the absence of marauding beavers, it will still be there for many years. However, the quality of the wood is going to start going down after a couple or three years. Depends on what it is, and how many vermin and insects get attracted to your stash. It's like leaving a bag of weed on your porch... depends on what gets to it first, your neighbors or the weather... ;)
 
I'm kinda curious how long oak, hickory, or ash might last stored inside a basement or garage that's water/element proof? :reading:
 
I once went to look at an old abandoned farmhouse that was for sale... I only wanted the land, but the house hadn't been occupied in more than forty years. There was probably half a cord of firewood stacked in the basement, next to where there had been a wood stove (probably pilfered by scavengers long ago) and the wood was very dry, but moldy (basement didn't look terribly watertight) and looked pretty good, actually. I was shocked that it hadn't completely decomposed. I wouldn't have burned it in the house, it smelled funny, but probably would have been alright for a campfire.
 
Burning hybred poplar now. It's 2 years old split. Have oak and it is 4 and it burns good.
 
Burning hybred poplar now. It's 2 years old split. Have oak and it is 4 and it burns good.
I've got some hedge & black locust that's about 3 yrs old and still throws sparks like the 4th of July...solid as iron! :yes:
 
Depends, hedge probably 100 years, willow a few. I don't cover my stacks and I've had some sitting out for probably 5 years now. I had a neighbor that covered his stacks all the way to the ground and the wood was molding and rotting after a few years.
 
As said above there are a lot of variables. Air movement is key. I know lots of guys that use a box fan in there basement/wood room to keep air moving, its enough to keep mold at bay.
 
Hello,
Years ago, when I moved from my first house to my second home, I took my firewood with me. It was at least 10 years old when I moved it and it didn't all get used for a couple more years !!!!! Keep it up off the ground and the top covered and it will last a long time !!!!

Henry and Wanda
 
You know things are going downhill when a bunch of guys are sitting around talking about how long their wood lasts on a BBS forum... :nofunny:
 
apply spar varnish to every split that way your great great great grandchildren can enjoy the fruits of your labor
 
I'm burning dry but punky Hackberry and Maple right now. It had spent a couple years outside in the elements, and another year in a woodshed. It's dry and I have no trouble lighting it up, but it's burning very fast and not putting out as much heat as I like. It all depends on the species. S0me types of wood cannot be left out in the elements or it gets punky real fast.

I'm assuming that fungus is the culprit here that gets into the wood and starts sucking out the btu's. What about spraying a woodpile that's exposed to the weather with a bleach solution to stop fungus? Could that cause any other problems? Bleach is cheap, you just need a sprayer equipped with rubber seals designed to handle the stuff. I've sprayed roof areas with bleach solution and successfully killed moss that was causing trouble. Why not a woodpile?
 
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