# how do you get wood into your basement?



## aaronmach1 (Jan 3, 2012)

right now i just carry it down in a plastic tote about 5 or 6 pieces at a time depending on size. It gets to be a workout. im thinking of doing somthing with one of the basement windows and making a wood only room with a shute from the window. what do you guys do?


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## PA Plumber (Jan 3, 2012)

I use a wheelbarrow.

We have sliding doors that go to a screened porch just outside a walk out basement. It is very, very, very nice!

I'd like to take credit for the design, but the folks who had the house before us did all the work.


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## aaronmach1 (Jan 3, 2012)

PA Plumber said:


> I use a wheelbarrow.
> 
> We have sliding doors that go to a screened porch just outside a walk out basement. It is very, very, very nice!
> 
> I'd like to take credit for the design, but the folks who had the house before us did all the work.


nice! your lucky a walkout basement is probably about as easy as it can get!


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## Whitespider (Jan 3, 2012)

I open the steel coal shoot door that's built into the foundation, back the trailer up to the foundation and toss/slide the wood down into the old coal storage room... if'n I really stack 'n' pack the trailer it holds 'round 2/3-cord, and I can unload it in less than 10 minutes. Stacking the wood up neatly in the coal room takes the most time... but at least it's warm down there and the beer fridge is close.


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## Wood Doctor (Jan 3, 2012)

*Walk-Out Basement*

The best housing design for wood burning is a walk-out basement if you carry it in. I have a walk-out and simply load up a box on big casters. Then I load up the box and wheel it in. The stove is on the same level.

Otherwise, your best bet is probably similar to a coal chute that allows you to slide logs down a ramp. It's somewhat of a 2-person operation, but it works. Load the logs through a basement window and onto a ramp. They slide down, and the person below stacks the logs onto a rack as they come down, making way for the next batch.


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## kstill361 (Jan 3, 2012)

Through the basement window by the truckload in a 8x10 room


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## SPDRMNKY (Jan 3, 2012)

when I was little, we had a wood furnace, and stored all our winter's wood in the basement

there was a chute about 20" dia (maybe 4' long) made out of an old water heater, and cemented in place of one of the basement windows...angled down a bit into the furnace room

when we moved in, dad fabbed up a new cover with an exhaust fan in it...plugged in and operated from the inside. I remember he insulated it somehow, but my memory's kinda sketchy. pulled the whole thing out when it was time to move wood in (unplug the fan first). it was one of those fans with a spring loaded cover on the outside, that you could open and close from inside...also turned the fan on/off...handy for ventilating the basement. (haven't seen one since then...I dunno)

also google coal chute or coal door...might give you some ideas


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## Nuzzy (Jan 3, 2012)

Basement window. Wood room that fits the whole winter's supply (usually use 6-7cord per year). Advil for back after being bent over long enough to transfer said wood.


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## hardpan (Jan 3, 2012)

Many years ago I lived in a house where the wood burner was in the basement. I removed one of the windows and made it into a chute and put 2 doors in the window frame, both hinged at the top, one on the inside and the other on the outside. When loading wood I unhooked each one and hooked the outside one open and allowed the inside one to swing closed behind each piece of wood, saving heat. When I moved out the next tenant expanded on my plan and completely filled the basement with wood. You might think there would be a bug problem but that is where JoJo came in. JoJo was their pet skunk who lived in the basement and thoroughly enjoyed the darkness and the steady diet of bugs. Their Doberman lived upstairs and was pals with JoJo who was as mild mannered as a good house cat. Good thing as JoJo was not descented. A pretty good tandem security system I might add.


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## centennial60 (Jan 3, 2012)

I remove one of the basement windows and use a chute thats made out of an old piece of tin and some odds and ends lumber. Works pretty good. Once in a while the pieces will get wedged on their way down but not too often. This is the best way I've found for me.


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## Kevin in Ohio (Jan 3, 2012)

I've got a bolier at my place but here is my Dad's set up. We dug out next to the foundation and laid the sides with the sheet limestone and cement. sloped concrete bottom that goes about 2 ft under that door. it's wide enough for 2 rows wide(we use 24" wood). Raised lip outside with metal lid that is sloped to divert water. It'll hold about 2/3 of a real cord. Keeps the bugs/dirt at bay and steps away from the stove. 

He made that stove over 30 years ago and is there sole source of heat as he hasn't turned the furnace on in 35 years. It'll cook you out of the house if you overfill it!


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## danrclem (Jan 3, 2012)

aaronmach1 said:


> nice! your lucky a walkout basement is probably about as easy as it can get!



You've got that right. I've got a retaining wall and concrete pad right outside my basement door. I built a shed that will hold almost a cord of wood that is right outside the door. I just open the door and the stove is 6 or 7 ft. from it. I usually don't keep much if any wood in my basement.


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## greendohn (Jan 4, 2012)

Yep, what some of them other guys said about basement window. At my uncles' house we used an old iron/steel coal chute door and fabbed it up to fit air tight. Park the truck right next to it and toss the wood into the basement.


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## cnice_37 (Jan 4, 2012)

This year I am trying something different. Without a wood shed, garage, or covered porch I am faced with a dilemma.

First couple years I would move about 1/8th cord at a time, as needed, to a little rack I made with a roof that lived on the back deck. That sucked as during the dead of winter I needed to fill this at least twice a week and it would often be wet on the ends and I had to deal with tarps more than I wanted.

Last year I stacked everything off the back deck on the lawn. Bad idea, lots of carpenter ants during the summer.

This year I am storing about 1/2 cord in the basement at a time, in 2 bays. I expect when it gets cold that I'll go through one bay a week, ensuring I always have dry wood. The tricky part is getting it down the bulkhead. No accessible windows, and my house was built in '85 so no neat trap doors. I have had excellent luck by making 2 ramps from some scrap 2x6's and using the firewood cart from our good pal Harbor Freight Find Great Deals On Firewood Carts - Harbor Freight Tools.

So far, so good. Just can't load the cart to the brims as that first step into the bulkhead takes some balance/ muscle and praying. 7 carts = 1 bay (I'm guessing 1/4 cord.) Also have kept a keen eye for critters, bugs, mold, etc and again, so far so good.


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## chopperfreak2k1 (Jan 4, 2012)

Whitespider said:


> I open the steel coal shoot door that's built into the foundation, back the trailer up to the foundation and toss/slide the wood down into the old coal storage room... if'n I really stack 'n' pack the trailer it holds 'round 2/3-cord, and I can unload it in less than 10 minutes. Stacking the wood up neatly in the coal room takes the most time... but at least it's warm down there and the beer fridge is close.



same situation for me. i can fit a cord and a half in my coal cellar and a bit more under the basement stairs. no beer fridge though, still workin' on that one.


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## aaronmach1 (Jan 4, 2012)

wow alot of great post guys. Lots of different ways to do it. I think for next year ill be doing the basement window thing i have one in a great location. This year the tote down the stairs is getting old!


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## jrider (Jan 4, 2012)

I got an outdoor wood boiler and don't have to worry about that anymore


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## Whitespider (Jan 4, 2012)

chopperfreak2k1 said:


> *same situation for me. i can fit a cord and a half in my coal cellar and a bit more under the basement stairs. no beer fridge though, still workin' on that one.*



LOL... you need a bigger coal cellar. I can easily stack 4-5 cord in my old coal room, and another 2 or so cord just outside its door by the furnace. I didn't put that much in the basement this fall though... figured I'd wait until cold weather before tossing in the oak. As mild as this winter has been I may not need to throw anymore in until March.

Oh... and the beer fridge get fired up before I ever throw the first stick in... LOL.


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## shelbythedog (Jan 4, 2012)

I bring wood thru the back door in a wheelbarrow, my stove is on the main floor.

At Dad's house there is a standard sliding window in the basement wall, right next the the furnace. House is a quad level so the bottom of the window is waist high on a 6' man. Wood gets stacked on a cement pad outside the window about 3.5x3.5x5'. You can reach out the window to grab wood, just use the curved hookaroon deal to grab the wood in the back. The setup is super slick, maybe this thread will get him motivated enough to post a pic.


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## olyman (Jan 4, 2012)

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!!!!!


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## CWME (Jan 4, 2012)

I remove the bulk head from the house and dump the wood out of the tractor bucket into the hole. 3-4 bucket loads and then I head in and stack that. Repeat until done. I have about 6cords in the basement this year. I have the dehumidifier running full time sucking up the remaining water that is coming out.


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## TJ-Bill (Jan 4, 2012)

Luckily my Wood shed is about 20' away from the basement window which just happens to be 5' from my stove. I built a 4'x'4'x18" wooden box that holds a couple days worth of wood. when I need wood I'll pile it outside the window and just throw it down into the box. If I had to do it again I'd build something to protect the window, mines in pretty rough shape from the years of having wood thrown in.


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## k5alive (Jan 4, 2012)

NO BASEMENT HERE IN FL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Steve NW WI (Jan 4, 2012)

Still carrying down the stairs here. I had a chute for a while, but didn't like the mess it made. I might rethink that theory as I get older, or dig a walkout and be done with it. It's not an ideal spot for a walkout, but it is workable.

Carrying the wood in an armload at a time does help keep me in shape a little bit, and that's worth something I guess. What's one of those fancy stairclimber machines go for anyway?


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## Garmins dad (Jan 4, 2012)

find a old tread mill.. set it up on high speed.. drop your wood on it.. as your pile gets larger slow down the speed then your pile will move towards the window. :msp_sneaky:

My wood stove is on the main floor.. i pack wood in three times a week.. I lost count of the trips per load day.. I would like a better set up but we are supposed to be moving this summer..


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## Kingsley (Jan 4, 2012)

Garden tractor and 17 cu ft yard trailer to haul from the wood stack.

Basement window with home made shoot. I have to remove the window (easily done, slides off tracks).

Takes a few trips, but I only have to do it once a month and I can pull up close to the wood and shoot.


I used to use a pick-up. What a pain in the arse trying to get it backed up to the stack and shoot every load!


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## iowa (Jan 4, 2012)

I think I've got the most ideal setup!

I have a walk out basement. In which the NE corner of my house has a deck on the upper level. Directly below the deck is cement pad. Off the cement pad is a door going into my basement. Directly behind that door is my furnace! 

So the covered deck is great for keeping rain and snow off of my wood. I back up a 5x8 trailer full of wood on the cement pad about 2' from my basement door. Open door and there's the wood. Children bring all my wood in and stack it on a rack in front of furnace. Alls I do is open furnace and chuck wood in. EASY! :msp_biggrin::wink2:


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## sam-tip (Jan 4, 2012)

When I was younger we would put a plank on the basement stairs and wheelbarrow loads down the stairs. Gets going fast and you must keep up with the wheelbarrow. Never did fall or spill a load. Then we only had 15 ft to stop once down the stairs. Better than a few pieces at a time.


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## bobt (Jan 4, 2012)

We have it pretty good as well. Basement garage. Back the pickup in the garage, and stack about a cord in the end of the garage. The rest (about 3 cords) has to go into the main room of the basement where the wood furnace is located. No more room to store more.

I find it easiest and quickest to unload the truck into a wheelbarrow and then wheel it the rest of the way when stacking in the main room of the basement. Better than doing it an armload at a time.

Interesting note; If we have to use some moderately green wood, and the furnace is already going, we find that the green wood dries extremely fast in the warm and dry environment. After a day in the warm basement, you can actually hear the ends of the pieces of wood cracking. They are ready to go in seemingly no time at all.

Bob


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## branchbuzzer (Jan 4, 2012)

Might be more than you're willing to spend though...


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## 272super (Jan 5, 2012)

I use a large Army duffel bag. This is the big bag used to carry all your gear. They have a handle and two shoulder straps. I just fill the bag to the max,which can get pretty heavy, sling one strap over a shoulder and carry it down the stairs. I used to carry it down by the armload but this way is much faster and carries much more wood per trip.


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## cantoo (Jan 5, 2012)

Wood is dumped into pile off my conveyor after being split on the speeco or my vertical homemade splitter. US Stove 1400 in the basement. Wood room is 12'x24' and 15' from furnace. Have 2 framed openings into the basement concrete wall, one on each side of the 24' wall. Use tractor and special narrow loader bucket to shoot wood down a plastic slide into the woodroom. Between bucket loads my wife and daughter stack the wood. Takes a day and a bit to load enough for the year, around 5 full cord. Usually do this late in the summer. Pictures of my setup are on my thread. http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/153256.htm


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## zogger (Jan 5, 2012)

*oh that's easy *sniff**

*sniff* The yard man meets with the vendor at the service entrance, and receives the delivery, along with the invoice. The yard man transfers it to the rear entrance, where it is delivered to the butler. *sniff* Then the butler handles it from there, loads the wood...wherever it goes...and forwards the invoice to the accountant.

--I love this burning of wood, so ecological and quaint..good exercise as well (gets up from easy chair, goes pokes at log in fireplace, sits back down)

*sniff*


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## deerjackie (Jan 5, 2012)

You know those plastic tubes on mcdonalds playground? work as a chute. lol


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## aaronmach1 (Jan 5, 2012)

deerjackie said:


> You know those plastic tubes on mcdonalds playground? work as a chute. lol


i bet, but i dont need Ronald McFondaled showing up at my house looking for kids.


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## bigshow (Jan 5, 2012)

I have a 17 yr old son and a wheelbarrow. The wood shed is about 15' away from the basement door. He loads the one wheeled truck,pushes it to the basement door and hands it down the 3 steps to me and I take 5 steps around the corner to the indoor woodrack.
Larry S.


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## drafty (Jan 5, 2012)

After reading this thread I guess I have if pretty easy. PE stove in basement. Two feet from stove is basement door which opens to a two car, car port. No steps, just a gravel driveway right outside. One covered car port for wood (5 chords) about 20 feet from stove, the other carport for the car. I usually fill up a little canvas wood carrier I have 3 times to fill my inside wood box (5 min loading and last usually 24-36 hrs.) Other times I use my kids radio flyer wagon and just wheel it in through the door and dump into the wood box.


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## schaaed1 (Jan 9, 2012)

We have a secondary set of basement stairs in the garage and behind the door is the utility (unfiniished) side of the basement. I keep the wood outside and load the wheelbarrow and dump down the steps, as needed. Wood planks on the steps, helps the wood slide sown. I'll usually dump 3-4 loads at a time and 2-3 times per week.

I could store inside ... but get concerned about carpenter ants.


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## JeffHK454 (Jan 9, 2012)

Way too many nasty critters crawling out of firewood to ever put it my house. I am one of the lucky ones to have a walk-out lower level ... I'd have a OWB before I'd pack wood up or down steps or tie up my basement space.


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## Golden Arrow II (Jan 9, 2012)

I use to stack a few cords in the basement at a time but then we started to get bugs and lots of spiders, the wife said no more. Now I use the rubber made storage bins aswell and carry it down to the basement. I fill up the kids wagon with enough wood to last a few loads and put it in the garage. The problem I have now is when the wife get the wood she drops it into the bin and busts the plastic on the bottom up. I have gone through two bins this year already.


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