Whether you're enjoying a cozy fire on your patio gathered around the fire pit, or indoors by the fireplace, a well-stacked firewood pile is always appreciated on chilly nights. 

Having dry firewood will make a huge difference in the way that your fire burns, and it all starts with the way that the wood is stacked. We'll give you some great tips to have the perfect stack of firewood to fuel those warm and cozy evenings by the fire.

4 Best Ways to Stack Firewood

1. Choose a Proper Location to Store Your Firewood

Before you begin to build your wood pile, you'll want to pick the perfect spot to your store firewood.

You may be tempted to keep your stack close to your home. After all, you don’t want to walk too far in the snow or rain to gather fuel for a comfy fire inside your home. Plus, the eaves of your roof will provide some shelter against the snow and rain, which is good, right? Nope!

If you live in an area that is prone to wildfires or dry conditions, a seasoned firewood stack close to your home can be a serious fire hazard. Having wood stored directly against your home or cabin can also trap moisture between the wood and building. This can lead to issues such as mildew, discoloration or even rot on the siding.

Plus, unpleasant critters like termites like to make a cozy home in dead wood, and can wreak havoc on your home’s foundation, wood deck, porch or other nearby structures if they are placed close to those areas.

Avoid any potential costly damages by storing your firewood at a safe distance from your home. Down to Earth Homesteaders recommends having your wood stack at least 5 feet away from your home, or 30 feet if you live in an area prone to wildfires.

Consider the layout of your landscape too when choosing a location to store your firewood. According to Chainsaw Journal, if your home is on a slope, you will want to ensure that the firewood stack is placed at the top of the slope to prevent moisture from draining under the stack after it has rained or snowed.

Avoid storing the firewood stack in the shade and opt for an area that receives plenty of sunlight. The heat and the light from the sun will help naturally speed up the drying and seasoning process, so you’ll have better burning firewood for those cozy fall or winter evenings. 

If you want to learn more on the firewood seasoning process, read our article on the 6 tips to make your firewood dry quickly.

2. Stack Your Firewood off the Ground

When creating your firewood pile, keeping your firewood stack off the ground is key.

The bottom layer of your log pile needs to be a stable base. If the logs are placed directly on the ground, they are at much greater risk of developing moisture buildup, which will cause the wood to rot.

Don’t waste your wood or potentially have your hard work come tumbling down by keeping the bottom layer of the firewood off the ground and elevated. This can be easily be done by laying down two treated wood boards to rest your logs on. These types of boards are designed to be on the ground and resist moisture better than natural wood.

We also offer firewood log racks that are designed to keep wood raised up and off the ground, so it stays nice and dry.

3. Stack Your Firewood Outside

When stacking your firewood with or without a rack, you’ll want to make sure that you aren’t stacking it too tightly.

If the logs are stacked too tightly together, it can prevent moisture from evaporating from your logs, and they won’t dry out or season properly. You’ll want to ensure that there’s some space between the logs to promote air flow to help keep the wood nice and dry.

While stacking firewood, make sure that the ends are even so that the pile is stable.

4. Protect Against the Elements

Now that you’ve built the perfect wood pile, you’ll want to ensure that it stays nice and dry, even when though it’s outside. A tarp provides the perfect cover to keep water off of your firewood. But, the way that you cover your firewood pile is important.

You might think enclosing your firewood pile in a tarp will help keep it nice and dry, but it can actually trap moisture inside, which would prevent your firewood from completely drying out.

According to cabinlife.com, you’ll want to just place the tarp on top of the pile of wood so that it covers the top few rows of firewood. The water will run off the top over the tarp instead of settling and soaking into the wood.

To keep the tarp securely on the wood pile, you can take some bricks or patio pavers that you have lying around and place them on top of the tarp to keep it from blowing away in the wind.

If you don’t have a tarp, placing extra pieces of metal roofing on top of your woodpile can also work in a snap to keep the water off.

Simple Tips to Store Your Firewood

That’s all there is to it! To ensure that you have dry and properly stacked firewood make sure that you follow these 4 easy tips:

• Pick the right location for your firewood pile
• Keep the firewood off the ground and elevated
• Stack the firewood so that there's enough space to allow proper airflow
• Protect against moisture by covering the top of the wood pile with a tarp or some metal roofing

Just by following these simple tips, you'll have a firewood pile that is ready to fuel cozy nights by the fireplace or the fire pit. 

Watch this short video for best practices: