# Will wood season in my basement?



## FishZapper (Dec 31, 2007)

...basement is big and dry and kept relatively warm year round. I realize that without wind/sun constantly evaporating, it would be slower, but any reason not to store wood in there? I have alot of space and am thinking about putting a woodstove down there anyway. It opens with a garage door to the back yard which makes it nice to haul loads of wood in there with the lawn tractor directly from the woods.


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## woodchuck76 (Dec 31, 2007)

It would take a lot longer to.Chances are you could get some of mold growing through out your house, from all the moisture coming out of the wood.I stack mine outside on pallets and cover the top.Leaving the sides open to vent.


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## jdboy9 (Dec 31, 2007)

Not to mention all the little critters that come in with the wood nothing like having mosquitoes in the middle of winter


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## stonykill (Dec 31, 2007)

If you put a woodstove in the basement , the wood will dry so fast, it will actually get so dry it will burn up fast. My parents have done this for 30 plus years with a forced hot air wood furnace in the basement. They only throw down a months wood at a time, otherwise it overdrys and burns way too fast. 

Bugs.....bugs....bugs. That's a problem with wood in the basement. 


Mold, not even a chance if there is a woodstove thats burned regularly in the basement. Without the woodstove, it could happen, but probably not if you heat it anyway.


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## paladin (Jan 1, 2008)

I don't bring in much wood until it has froze hard a few times,just bring in enough for a day or two ( try to keep the bugs out). We havent had a really hard winter here and pulled some wood off the pile yesturday (the pieces on the ground)and there were still some bugs alive and moving ,I never would have thought. We have had alot of Dec. with highs just in the teens and twentys so I thought all the bugs would be gone but looks to be a few left.


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## gtstang462002 (Jan 1, 2008)

stonykill said:


> If you put a woodstove in the basement , the wood will dry so fast, it will actually get so dry it will burn up fast. My parents have done this for 30 plus years with a forced hot air wood furnace in the basement. They only throw down a months wood at a time, otherwise it overdrys and burns way too fast.
> 
> Bugs.....bugs....bugs. That's a problem with wood in the basement.
> 
> ...



That is one way to control the humidity issue commonly associated with woodstove... No more refilling the pots of water on top of the stove...


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## Vibes (Jan 1, 2008)

It will dry, but not as fast as you would think. I cut down a 28'' hollow oak tree this fall. It was dead so I figured it would burn as soon as it dried. The tree was broke off at the top, so it was full of water. I split it and built a drying rack about 8 ft. from the woodburner. It took over 6 weeks to dry, and the heavier pieces still aren't dry. Just my .02.


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## hoot gibson (Jan 1, 2008)

i load up my basement in the spring and early summer . about 8 pickup truck loads full . then plug in the dehumidifier. befor it comes fall i turn it off , the wood is dry . hoot


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## tdb (Jan 1, 2008)

*basement wood*

I will put in two of these loads at a time , it will last about 5 weeks, it is under cover outside and has been cut for 2 years , it is damp when put in basement ,but dries out fast . THANKS TEDMI.


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## turnkey4099 (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice rig there! Tractor an Oliver or Massey? 

Harry K


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## tdb (Jan 2, 2008)

*tractor*

Its a Allis Chalmers C 1946. Thanks TEDMI.


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## goof008 (Jan 2, 2008)

My wood stove is in my basement. I bring in about 5 days worth at a time (That's all the room I have for it). As far as bugs go, I have had two moths fly around from the wood I've brought in, and I noticed some spiders have hatched, but they will have nothing to eat since there are no other bugs down there, and they add to heat output, so it's ok.


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## FishZapper (Jan 2, 2008)

Well to be honest, I mostly just cut all this wood and moved it inside because after hearing about all the midwest ice storms, I didnt want to be digging green wood out from under ice and snow to use in the event of a big power outage. I have a bout 1 face cord in the basement as of now and another 2/3 cord piled up outside. I dont have a woodstove yet, just a moderately warm basement. I do however have a nice fireplace in the living room. I realize its a pain to burn green wood anyway, but Ive done it before and was wondering if simply keeping it down there would be a bad idea for future emergencies. Sounds like it will dry over time as long as the room is dry and warm. I may put a fan on it or even get a dehumidifier as one guy suggested.

Bugs? Havent seen any yet.


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## LNG24 (Jan 2, 2008)

The only problem with wood in the basement is bugs. The wood stove will dry it out, but keep it away from the stove. There is no way the moisture for the wood will cause mold throughout the house. Maybe the bottom pieces if you bring in a lot and they are there all winter, but most likely not. Mold Needs humidity and with the wood stove down there you won't have a humidity problem.

If your basement is finished, you will end up with a big bug problem, if it is unfinished, won't matter much. Either way, you can Treat the ares where you will be storing the wood for Termites, Carpenter Ants and Spiders. The first two are your biggest concerns!

I keep a days worth near the stove and another days worth in a wheelbarrow in the garage. My wood is stacked about 30' from the house.


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## user 19670 (Jan 5, 2008)

This is my first ever post. Probably messed it up big time.

We stumbled upon another great reason not to store wood in the basement. Our pet cat smelled something on the wood that made him want to use the wood pile in the basement as a litter pail. Gotta admit that the poplar smells kinda like urine before the cat pees on it and more like it after.


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## LNG24 (Jan 6, 2008)

Gordie said:


> This is my first ever post. Probably messed it up big time.
> 
> We stumbled upon another great reason not to store wood in the basement. Our pet cat smelled something on the wood that made him want to use the wood pile in the basement as a litter pail. Gotta admit that the poplar smells kinda like urine before the cat pees on it and more like it after.



(FYI: I love all animals. I once discovered a nest of baby mice in my shed. Damn things were so cute I took them and placed them out in the woods. I know I probably killed them doing that, but I could not do it any other way.)

Now, my neighbors cat loves to pee on my wood pile out side. Cats about as cute as those mice, so I send my Yorkie out after him. Yorkie is 4 lbs, cats about 10lbs. If thats not funny enough, you shoudl see her CHASE the Deer into the woods. 





That is her stealing the 160lb Labs Dinner!


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## reaperman (Jan 6, 2008)

That is her stealing the 160lb Labs Dinner![/QUOTE]

If your Lab weighs 160 lbs, it doesn't need dinner.


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## LNG24 (Jan 6, 2008)

reaperman said:


> If your Lab weighs 160 lbs, it doesn't need dinner.


He was a Lab Mix. He didn't eat a lot for a dog that size. He wasn't overweight at all. We lost him in December, had to put him down when his legs finally gave out at 15yrs old.


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## user 19670 (Jan 6, 2008)

Sorry to hear that LNG24. This kind of news always makes me sad. Our dogs are not only companions but are members of the family. Must have made for a difficult Christmas for your family.

We are animal people and have a cat, a chihuahua/bijon (5 whole lb.) puppy of 5 months, a black lab/german shephard as well as 3 pregnant goats, about 55 chickens, and some aquariums filled with fresh water tropicals.

Anyway, we now have a new reason not to store much wood in the house. Peanut likes to chew on whatever loose bark he can find. Now my wife figures we should have named him 'beaver' instead of 'Peanut'


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## LNG24 (Jan 7, 2008)

Gordie said:


> Now my wife figures we should have named him 'beaver' instead of 'Peanut'



Yes, it was a difficult Christmas. He was a good dog. The Yorkie is nicknamed Peanut! 

Those pups will chew on anything.


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## DoorgunnerFMJ (Sep 7, 2017)

I have been burning wood my whole life and have always dried all of my wood outside for at least one season. This year I am doing something different. Last year I cut down about 7 cords of silver maple, and left them in 44 inch log lengths, stacked, and on pallets. Its now been 1 year and I am cutting them in half, splitting them, and stacking the wood in my basement. In the basement I have a box fan circulating the air and a dehumidifier running. Its obvious that at the moment it is humid down there, but that is to be expected. I took a sample piece of wood, marked it for identification and weighed it. Currently it weighs 5 Pounds 10.2 OZ. I will update with weights and when it comes to burning season the woods performance. If anyone has any input or personal experiences I would love to hear them. Thank you in advance.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Sep 8, 2017)

My folks heated with wood for about 35 years. Wood was seasoned at least a year, usually 2-3 outside and then brought in. Even still, always had really high humidity in the house (sealed up well).
They heat with coal now and without the wood in the basement, the humidity has been low enough to need a humidifier in winter.


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## anlrolfe (Sep 8, 2017)

Growing up we had a big KING circulator similar to the Ashley down in the basement. Probably 1/2 the heat went up the chimney.
There was a Bilco door down into the basement into the "L" under a back porch that held about 3-cord stacked wide and high.
We'd bring in the well seasoned wood in first. Not so much trouble with bugs but we'd spray as a precaution.
Easy access to the wood in foul weather made it nice keeping the stove stoked up. Half asleep in the morning walking around in slippers w/ cup of mud.
Dad's workbench was down there as well and sometimes would get too hot unless we'd crank up a box fan.
The basement was unfinished and convection up through the basement door and custom return vents cut below the windows on 1st floor allowed good gravity air flow.


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## NSMaple1 (Sep 8, 2017)

DoorgunnerFMJ said:


> I have been burning wood my whole life and have always dried all of my wood outside for at least one season. This year I am doing something different. Last year I cut down about 7 cords of silver maple, and left them in 44 inch log lengths, stacked, and on pallets. Its now been 1 year and I am cutting them in half, splitting them, and stacking the wood in my basement. In the basement I have a box fan circulating the air and a dehumidifier running. Its obvious that at the moment it is humid down there, but that is to be expected. I took a sample piece of wood, marked it for identification and weighed it. Currently it weighs 5 Pounds 10.2 OZ. I will update with weights and when it comes to burning season the woods performance. If anyone has any input or personal experiences I would love to hear them. Thank you in advance.



I would expect that wood to still be not dry enough inside. Did you happen to check moisture with a MM after splitting?

Moving the air around down there is a definite help - I'd say a must-do. My wood always went in seasoned. But the odd year was surface-damp from a recent rain that didn't have time to dry off. At those times, I set up a dehumidifier down there too - but once the (unheated) basement temps dropped below 60f or so (late fall), the dehumidifier didn't do much. They don't work well if at all in cool temps. The offsetting thing there was as more time went by, the outside (therefore also inside) air got drier (early winter) so the fan moving air around was more effective than it was earlier.


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## svk (Sep 8, 2017)

Old thread!

Really depends on the basement. Some are super moist and others are bone dry. Even in a basement with low humidity you will need a fan until the wood gets down into the mid 20% range to prevent mold. I would bet it would take longer than outside though.


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## NSMaple1 (Sep 8, 2017)

One idea I had but didn't follow through on: those so-called 'basement dehumidifier' things. It's like a box that runs up your basement wall with an outlet up top to the outdoors, and a fan in it. The idea of them was to dehumidify your house by pulling moist air from your basement floor area & sending it outdoors, but pretty sure they fail as a dehumidifier and cause issues with air infiltration etc.. But one would work pretty good, I think, for moving air around in your basement & helping to dry the wood & prevent mold etc., if you buried it in your wood pile & the outlet at the top just directed the air back out into your basement across the top of your wood pile. If you stack on pallets there would be an airspace under your wood that would continuously circulate. If I explained that right. I think they even have a humidity switch on them, might run automatically. Was going to look for a used one since they were sort of a fail at what they were meant for, but didn't. Or haven't yet, at least.


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## Ted Jenkins (Sep 8, 2017)

I tried desperately to solve that issue of damp wood. I have about 1,500 sf of garage space which seemed like a perfect location to keep wood dry and for seasoning the wood. So I stacked about 5 to 7 cords in one of my buildings thinking I had reinvented the perfect wheel. What really happened was the moisture was trapped inside the building with no way to get it out. Yeah fans really helped. A much better solution was to get the wood dry and keep it dry before January which is typically very damp. A carport style storage with fan was very effective. When freezing conditions exist turn on the fans and viola the wood can dry out very well or when humidity is low. Thanks


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## svk (Sep 8, 2017)

NSMaple1 said:


> One idea I had but didn't follow through on: those so-called 'basement dehumidifier' things. It's like a box that runs up your basement wall with an outlet up top to the outdoors, and a fan in it. The idea of them was to dehumidify your house by pulling moist air from your basement floor area & sending it outdoors, but pretty sure they fail as a dehumidifier and cause issues with air infiltration etc.. But one would work pretty good, I think, for moving air around in your basement & helping to dry the wood & prevent mold etc., if you buried it in your wood pile & the outlet at the top just directed the air back out into your basement across the top of your wood pile. If you stack on pallets there would be an airspace under your wood that would continuously circulate. If I explained that right. I think they even have a humidity switch on them, might run automatically. Was going to look for a used one since they were sort of a fail at what they were meant for, but didn't. Or haven't yet, at least.


I've never seen one with an intake and exhaust, just one that sucks moisture from the air and either deposits it in a bucket or runs it down a floor drain. 

They work well if you have a unit that can keep up with the size of the room.


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## anlrolfe (Sep 8, 2017)

I wouldn't put unseasoned wood in an unheated/conditioned basement to just sit and mold. It will mold the wood or mold your house.


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## NSMaple1 (Sep 8, 2017)

anlrolfe said:


> I wouldn't put unseasoned wood in an unheated/conditioned basement to just sit and mold. It will mold the wood or mold your house.



I would not do that either. Has to be seasoned before entry.


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## Little Al (Sep 9, 2017)

anlrolfe said:


> I wouldn't put unseasoned wood in an unheated/conditioned basement to just sit and mold. It will mold the wood or mold your house.


+ all the wood boring/ravaging insects will make a feast of your stud walling


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## NSMaple1 (Sep 9, 2017)

Little Al said:


> + all the wood boring/ravaging insects will make a feast of your stud walling



I have never seen that actually happen. Everyone around here who burns wood puts all their winters wood in the basement in the fall. Seasoned, that is.


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## Little Al (Sep 10, 2017)

NSMaple1 said:


> I have never seen that actually happen. Everyone around here who burns wood puts all their winters wood in the basement in the fall. Seasoned, that is.


That is probably/possibly the reason you have suffered no creepy/crawlies ( The timber is Seasoned) you are more or less guaranteed a selection of livestock if it"s freshly cut/unseasoned logs.Depends somewhat on the species of wood.


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## GVS (Sep 10, 2017)

woodchuck76 said:


> It would take a lot longer to.Chances are you could get some of mold growing through out your house, from all the moisture coming out of the wood.I stack mine outside on pallets and cover the top.Leaving the sides open to vent.


Not to mention the bugs that are probably living in the wood.


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## DoorgunnerFMJ (Sep 22, 2017)

It's been 2 weeks since last entry and here is the update. Original weight was 5lbs 10.2 OZ which is 2558 grams, the new weight is 4lbs 13.6 OZ which is 2200 grams. That's a 12.6 OZ loss in 2 weeks which equates to a 14% drop in weight. Any food for thought would be appreciated.


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## svk (Sep 22, 2017)

Well that is coming along nicely. I would bet if you re-split a piece the area towards the ends and the original split size will start to look drier.


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## Sandhill Crane (Sep 23, 2017)

DoorgunnerFMJ said:


> It's been 2 weeks since last entry and here is the update. Original weight was 5lbs 10.2 OZ which is 2558 grams, the new weight is 4lbs 13.6 OZ which is 2200 grams. That's a 12.6 OZ loss in 2 weeks which equates to a 14% drop in weight. Any food for thought would be appreciated.



That is quite remarkable. Still chewing on it.


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## NSMaple1 (Sep 23, 2017)

How much water do you dump from your dehumidifier every day? Or week or whatever?

Or maybe it's just going to drain?


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## rarefish383 (Sep 23, 2017)

svk said:


> Old thread!
> 
> Really depends on the basement. Some are super moist and others are bone dry. Even in a basement with low humidity you will need a fan until the wood gets down into the mid 20% range to prevent mold. I would bet it would take longer than outside though.


Yep, old thread. Started to ask who pulled this up, then saw it was a new guy. So instead of cussing, I'll say welcome. Some stuff I just don't get. Been heating with wood for 40 plus years. Saying seasoned wood has less bugs makes no sense at all. If I cut and split green wood right now and take it in the basement, and take a quick look to make sure there are no bugs on it, the only bugs that can get on it are ones in the basement. If I let it sit outside for a year, there all kinds of spiders and bugs on it. Have to brush it clean before bringing it in. What's the humidity level in your house? The wood will equalize to your house, not the other way around. Since your experiment showed a drop in water content, that's your answer. Unless you have an old farm house with a dirt floor in the basement, your wood will dry out in the basement. I have 2 dehumidifiers in my basement, one draws 6 quarts and the other draws 4 quarts per day. I live in the Metro Wash. D.C, area, quite humid and damp, Joe.


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## rarefish383 (Sep 23, 2017)

Ted Jenkins said:


> I tried desperately to solve that issue of damp wood. I have about 1,500 sf of garage space which seemed like a perfect location to keep wood dry and for seasoning the wood. So I stacked about 5 to 7 cords in one of my buildings thinking I had reinvented the perfect wheel. What really happened was the moisture was trapped inside the building with no way to get it out. Yeah fans really helped. A much better solution was to get the wood dry and keep it dry before January which is typically very damp. A carport style storage with fan was very effective. When freezing conditions exist turn on the fans and viola the wood can dry out very well or when humidity is low. Thanks


Ted, I think the big difference is that a house has a heating system and an out building doesn't. I stacked several cords in our pole barn and it dried out great. We have a heat pump and it has a dehumidifier built in. It has a constant stream of water draining out of the house. If the heat pump has a moisture setting, everything in the house will soon be at that level, Joe.


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## aokpops (Sep 23, 2017)

stonykill said:


> If you put a woodstove in the basement , the wood will dry so fast, it will actually get so dry it will burn up fast. My parents have done this for 30 plus years with a forced hot air wood furnace in the basement. They only throw down a months wood at a time, otherwise it overdrys and burns way too fast.
> 
> Bugs.....bugs....bugs. That's a problem with wood in the basement.
> 
> ...


Never heard of over dry wood . Any moisture is heat loss .


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