Powder post beetles in barn; Firewood storing

Hi all,

I have two questions that hopefully someone can help answer please:

1) Powder post beetles treatment: inspection revealed we had these in the barn. How have you treated them in yours, what are the best natural way to do this?

2) Firewood storing: we're getting a cord soon as it's still quite cold here in MA. We don't have any storage racks, and are thinking of two places where we can store wood:

- Barn: the firewood will be kept away from snow, rain, etc. I'm worried whether the powder post beetles will get into the firewood. Joshua my partner doesn't think they will migrate from the barn's walls/ceilings onto the firewood that quickly, but I'm paranoid. Could this work?

- Screened porch: there's a ceiling that will at least keep most of the firewood dry. However rain/moisture can come in through the screens, and we've read somewhere that putting tarp over the firewood is not advisable as that only traps moisture in. Would this be a better or worse solution than the barn?

If neither of the above sounds good, what would you suggest? If we should get storage racks, which ones would you recommend?

Thanks so much!
Thanh (Lily)

Lily, You could tarp/plastic sheet over the screens (inside or out)... to keep the water from getting to the wood. (rather than covering the wood) Then you don't have to go outdoors for wood!
If you tarped some screens and stacked close to those screens, then the wood would be farther from the open screens...
You don't have to put it all in ne place either...

How about your garage? It's a shorter distance than the barn, and also looked as if it was cement block? (I didn't look too closely)

Firewood could also harbor insects, so adding it to the barn might not be great.

Of those two options, I'd go with the screened porch.  Moisture occasionally coming in from the side is not a problem at all.  Remember to leave room for 2-3 years worth of wood.  If you buy it now it will barely be dry enough to burn this coming winter.  Better to get a couple years ahead and have space sorted out for all that wood.

Kenneth Elwell wrote:Lily, You could tarp/plastic sheet over the screens (inside or out)... to keep the water from getting to the wood. (rather than covering the wood) Then you don't have to go outdoors for wood!
If you tarped some screens and stacked close to those screens, then the wood would be farther from the open screens...
You don't have to put it all in ne place either...

How about your garage? It's a shorter distance than the barn, and also looked as if it was cement block? (I didn't look too closely)

Firewood could also harbor insects, so adding it to the barn might not be great.

Thanks Ken and thanks so much again for having come out! Burnie the RMH is still drying, though we've been firing him up daily!

Great idea about the garage - we ended up having the wood there on the cement floor. I still would like having them in the screened porch so might end up having at least some wood stacked there.

Come visit again when you can!

Mike Haasl wrote:Of those two options, I'd go with the screened porch.  Moisture occasionally coming in from the side is not a problem at all.  Remember to leave room for 2-3 years worth of wood.  If you buy it now it will barely be dry enough to burn this coming winter.  Better to get a couple years ahead and have space sorted out for all that wood.

Thanks Mike, and a great reminder of leaving room for more wood. The one we got was supposed to be dry (they first harvested it around June-July 2020 or so), and wasn't completely so...  I'll need to think about getting some stored up for a year or two down the road. In my area (MA/New England) a cord costs about $200-$230 for green, $280-$300 for seasoned. Am curious how that fares compared to other places...

You can also get firewood as green logs by the truckload, for even cheaper. You'd then have to cut and split it yourself, but could be an option in the long run.

Hardwood where I live goes for $400 a cord split and seasoned! Softwood maybe $250? You can get random length softwood dumped in your yard for free though, depending on where you live and where the tree guys are working.

Anyways, I am opposed to storing firewood in any building that will be used for another purpose. Bugs, mice and rats galore. I built a quick and dirty wood shed out of my pop's recycled deck and couldn't be happier. Before that I used tarps held down by thrift store tire chains (Dan's tip o' the week). I know people do it but personally I would never, hahaha.