My wood just won't dry

[Hedgerow]

Mine is stacked under a hot tin roof. Let-er-rain! :msp_smile:

This stuff will be ready by late fall... It's Elm... If you can just keep the rain off it for 6 months, it'll go...

A hot south wind in August does wonders too...

 

[John_in_KS]

Wood can actually cure underwater.

That's a fact.

 

[Hedgerow]

Wood can actually cure underwater.

That's a fact.

But I don't want to burn wood I just pulled out of the lake...
I like it dry better...
:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[slowp]

Since we are having a heatwave, and there is only a 10% chance of rain, I have untarped my woodpile and I'm sorting it out. If the bark is loose, I am popping it off so the wood that had water dripping on it from poor tarpation will dry. It shouldn't take long. Then it will go into the shed.

 

[Stihl Wielder]

I'm three years ahead on my wood (around 26-28 cord), still have just a little splitting and stacking to do but, as the rest on this post, we've had torrential rain for the past week now.....

I used to just top-cover what I was going to use in a given season at the end of summer...but as soon as I have the little bit I have left to process cut split and stacked, I'm top-covering all of it from now on. I have some reclaimed rubber roofing and it works great for covering your wood stack. Just make sure you only top cover it, don't cover it completely or it'll swelter like a greenhouse. You want the stack to breath!

 

[Whitespider]

Wood can actually cure underwater.
That's a fact.

That there is funny... but what's the point??
After it has been "cured" underwater it will still need to be dried (seasoned) before it can be used as firewood... which still requires evaporation, which still requires less than 100% relative humidity.

 

[haveawoody]

All we have to do is look at last summers wood curing.
A couple months of hot and dry and things cured like a normal 6 months.

Wood is only going to dry when the humidity is lower than the humidity in the wood.

Sure wood will cure under water but that isn't curing it's a process of sap being replaced with water.

Really no way around rain and high humidity to make wood cure.
Top covers and open barn stored will keep the rain of the stacks and help a bit but as long as the humidity is high wood drying is happening at snails pace.

Last years hot dry summer 2 months = 6 months cure, this years wet humid summer 6 months = 2 months.
Hope we get a hot dry July and August or most of the wood we cut and stacked early this year will be suspect for burning this winter.

 

[Whitespider]

Looks like we've hit a dry spell here finally... great weather!
The sun came out on Sunday, been shinning ever since... and "they're" sayin' it will continue into next week. High temps something over 80° (that's a bit warm for me... but I'll take it) with midday relative humidity dropping close to 50%. There's still a lot of sogginess around, although some areas in the yard and woodlot are starting to dry pretty fast. Heck, I actually crawled under the wife's van in the yard yesterday afternoon without water squishing up into my cloths!!

 

[olyman]

No slowp, it does not... not when it's raining for more than a hour or so.
When rain falls for any length of time the air becomes saturated with moisture (100% relative humidity), partially because of all the water molecules contacting all the air molecules, partially because rain cools the air it's falling through and raising the relative humidity level... at 100% relative humidity the air can not pull any moisture from anything, absolutely no evaporation can happen. Fog is a state of 100% relative humidity, mist and drizzle is a state of 100% relative humidity, and under normal circumstances rain lasting more than an hour will cause a state of 100% relative humidity (or as close as you can get to it).

Don't believe me?? Well... next time "they" predict 3 days of steady rain, and just after the rain begins, hang a wet bath towel in your open-sided woodshed and see if it drys anytime during the 3 days of continuous rainfall.

didn't the scarecrow say if he only had a brain????????????????

 

[allstihl]

my moister meter tells me that the wood inside my shed is getting wetter.not surprising after endless days of rain and 90-100% humidity.

 

[haveawoody]

allstihl,

I'm not shocked that dry wood is getting wetter this summer.
I feel like somehow I'm more humid this summer LOL

 

[Whitespider]

my moister meter tells me that the wood inside my shed is getting wetter.not surprising after endless days of rain and 90-100% humidity.

No surprise there, wood is hygroscopic... it will both release and/or take in water vapor until it reaches a state of equilibrium moisture content (EMC) with the surrounding atmosphere. The EMC changes with temperature and relative humidity, but the mechanics of it is vapor pressure. If the vapor pressure of air is higher than the vapor in the wood, the wood will take in water vapor... and vice versa. Because both temperature and relative humidity are constantly changing, and therefor the EMC point is constantly changing, wood is constantly in a state of either water vapor absorption or desorption... even at temperatures below 32°.

 

[Whitespider]

To take the vapor pressure thing one step further…

The greater the difference in vapor pressure between wood and air, the faster the absorption/desorption process will take place. Temperature has little affect on the vapor pressure of air compared to relative humidity… i.e., there is little difference in the EMC of wood between 55°/65% humidity and 90°/65%, whereas there is a big EMC difference between 90°/65% and 90°/90%. As it releases water vapor, the vapor pressure of air around the wood increases, slowing the desorption (seasoning) rate… unless the air is exchange by wind and/or convection.

I know there will be a bunch of disagreement here, but…
Placing “unseasoned” firewood in a shed, under a roof or under a tarp (even if just top-covering) cannot speed the seasoning process… it can only slow it down. Anything that restricts air flow (natural wind movement or convection) will increase the vapor pressure surrounding the wood, slowing the desorption rate. And don’t forget, the wind ain’t always blowing; that’s when convection is your best friend… and any sort of cover (even a heavy tree canopy) restricts free-flowing convection. Yeah, a “cover” will keep the rain off, but really that means nothing… wood absorbs liquid water very slowly (the vapor pressure inside the wood tries to prevent it), most of it just runs off… and once it stops raining the vapor pressure inside the wood rapidly forces out the tiny amount of absorbed liquid water from the outer surfaces. Even covering “seasoned” firewood can cause it to “stay wetter longer” during extended rainy times… because the vapor pressure inside the shed, or under the cover, remains higher, longer. If you have condensation... water droplets... under your cover you are slowing the desorption (seasoning) rate... that's the truth, and it really is that simple.

Firewood should not be covered or placed in a shed until it is fully seasoned… and then only what you’re planning to use for that heating season. Seriously, until I joined this board I’d never heard of anyone putting “green” or “unseasoned” firewood in a shed or under a cover. Woodsheds are where you put your fully seasoned firewood in October, just before you start using it… simply to keep the snow and ice off it, and normally real close to the house for convenience.

There… now I’ve started another, “to cover, or not to cover” argu…. errrr… discussion.

 

[Hedgerow]

To take the vapor pressure thing one step further…

The greater the difference in vapor pressure between wood and air, the faster the absorption/desorption process will take place. Temperature has little affect on the vapor pressure of air compared to relative humidity… i.e., there is little difference in the EMC of wood between 55°/65% humidity and 90°/65%, whereas there is a big EMC difference between 90°/65% and 90°/90%. As it releases water vapor, the vapor pressure of air around the wood increases, slowing the desorption (seasoning) rate… unless the air is exchange by wind and/or convection.

I know there will be a bunch of disagreement here, but…
Placing “unseasoned” firewood in a shed, under a roof or under a tarp (even if just top-covering) cannot speed the seasoning process… it can only slow it down. Anything that restricts air flow (natural wind movement or convection) will increase the vapor pressure surrounding the wood, slowing the desorption rate. And don’t forget, the wind ain’t always blowing; that’s when convection is your best friend… and any sort of cover (even a heavy tree canopy) restricts free-flowing convection. Yeah, a “cover” will keep the rain off, but really that means nothing… wood absorbs liquid water very slowly (the vapor pressure inside the wood tries to prevent it), most of it just runs off… and once it stops raining the vapor pressure inside the wood rapidly forces out the tiny amount of absorbed liquid water from the outer surfaces. Even covering “seasoned” firewood can cause it to “stay wetter longer” during extended rainy times… because the vapor pressure inside the shed, or under the cover, remains higher, longer. If you have condensation... water droplets... under your cover you are slowing the desorption (seasoning) rate... that's the truth, and it really is that simple.

Firewood should not be covered or placed in a shed until it is fully seasoned… and then only what you’re planning to use for that heating season. Seriously, until I joined this board I’d never heard of anyone putting “green” or “unseasoned” firewood in a shed or under a cover. Woodsheds are where you put your fully seasoned firewood in October, just before you start using it… simply to keep the snow and ice off it, and normally real close to the house for convenience.

There… now I’ve started another, “to cover, or not to cover” argu…. errrr… discussion.

You forgot a couple variables...
The wood I put in the shed last winter is ready to burn right now...
Is yours???

 

[Whitespider]

If you're asking if my firewood is too wet to use?? The answer is, NO! It is not too wet to use.

We've had 3 days of dry sunny weather; last night I built a fire in the pit using firewood stacked outside and uncovered... it fired right up without smoldering. After 3 days of sunshine my firewood is just as dry, or dryer, than it was before it started raining back in March. Since March, any time it wasn't raining, and the relative humidity was less than 100%, my firewood was seasoning, same as yours... only, because mine is stacked where air flow isn't restricted, my was seasoning faster!

 

[haveawoody]

For me the only green wood I ever put in a covered barn is silver maple.
Even silver maple takes quite some time to season in a covered air open barn, 6 or 8 or longer months VS 3 or 4 outdoors.

I would never put green hardwood in the same barn, life would be to short to wait for it's seasoning or rot would start on the hardwoods as they stay damp for long periods of time.

Covers for me outdoors are just that clear plastic and only to shed rain and not trap moisture.
Clear plastic IMO makes for a hot spot at the top of the stack so makes for faster drying times on a stack with heat being forced out the top of the stack.
Wood at the top near the plastic seasons a month or so before the rest so the heat at the top does have an impact.
To much cover and you get a reverse effect though so covers can be good or bad.
Dark covers IMO do get very hot in the day but condensate at night so the stack does dry all day and but can leave for wet spots forming in the same place each night.

I never get to concerned about top covers until fall since IMO they really make little difference until it's getting close to burning season and you want moisture and snow free wood when the temperature start to lower.

Every stack I make has a top cover when I first stack but if a cover goes bad I never rush to replace it until late fall.

For covers I think if you are in an area that gets lots of annual rain then it's worth having covered stacks.
If you live in an area with little rain then not really worth covering unless it's close to burning season.

Just IMO.

 

[Hedgerow]

If you're asking if my firewood is too wet to use?? The answer is, NO! It is not too wet to use.

We've had 3 days of dry sunny weather; last night I built a fire in the pit using firewood stacked outside and uncovered... it fired right up without smoldering. After 3 days of sunshine my firewood is just as dry, or dryer, than it was before it started raining back in March. Since March, any time it wasn't raining, and the relative humidity was less than 100%, my firewood was seasoning, same as yours... only, because mine is stacked where air flow isn't restricted, my was seasoning faster!

It's ok for you to be wrong spidey....
Yer wood is wet...
And it soaks in a rain soup every time you get hosed....

 

[zogger]

For me the only green wood I ever put in a covered barn is silver maple.
Even silver maple takes quite some time to season in a covered air open barn, 6 or 8 or longer months VS 3 or 4 outdoors.

I would never put green hardwood in the same barn, life would be to short to wait for it's seasoning or rot would start on the hardwoods as they stay damp for long periods of time.

Covers for me outdoors are just that clear plastic and only to shed rain and not trap moisture.
Clear plastic IMO makes for a hot spot at the top of the stack so makes for faster drying times on a stack with heat being forced out the top of the stack.
Wood at the top near the plastic seasons a month or so before the rest so the heat at the top does have an impact.
To much cover and you get a reverse effect though so covers can be good or bad.
Dark covers IMO do get very hot in the day but condensate at night so the stack does dry all day and but can leave for wet spots forming in the same place each night.

I never get to concerned about top covers until fall since IMO they really make little difference until it's getting close to burning season and you want moisture and snow free wood when the temperature start to lower.

Every stack I make has a top cover when I first stack but if a cover goes bad I never rush to replace it until late fall.

For covers I think if you are in an area that gets lots of annual rain then it's worth having covered stacks.
If you live in an area with little rain then not really worth covering unless it's close to burning season.

Just IMO.

I decided this year I am not going to cover until fall. Just trying it out, I have a lot of stacks covered, but the newer ones from past winter and this spring I have just left open. Already appear to be quite dry and most is apparently ready to burn. Splits anyway, small rounds, not quite yet, but close. And we have had tons of rain!

When I go to top cover, I am also going to throw some of the light weight (not suitable for stackinf on) pallets on top, then the cover over that. See how it goes, leaving some air space there, think I found some scrap rubber roofing I can scrounge. If not, still have heavy curtain wall plastic to use.

 

[Whitespider]

It's ok for you to be wrong spidey....

Well... of course it is... it's just that I never am

 

[greendohn]

My wood shed is black and the sides roll up half way for air circulation. Most of my wood never sees direct sunlight but man is hot, hot, hot in there..Maple I was splitting a few weeks ago had water squishing out of it when the splitter ram hit it. That wood is starting to check on the ends already. I "believe" it's curing faster than it would out of doors, we've had a lot of rain.
I stacked my wood out of doors for better than 15 years, tried the top covered not covered experiment,,couldn't ever decide which was better, so I usually went with top covered only for prosperity,,
My firewood goes in the woodshed. I built a shed 'cause I "BELIEVE" it is better,,and that's what counts.