Firewood Rack

I can’t stand the thought of paying for firewood. It’s like paying to water your yard even though rain falls from the sky for free. Anyway, I’ve noticed that people give away firewood for free on Craigslist throughout the Spring and Summer, and I could season it myself if I just had a place to put it. So I decided to build this firewood rack:

It holds about 1/3 of a cord of wood and will give our yard a little more privacy.

Here’s another look after I filled it:

It’s out by the unfinished garage, so I’m not too worried about termites being attracted to the wood and migrating to the house. When winter comes around, we’ll move firewood by the wheelbarrow-full to the firewood box on our front porch.

UPDATE, 3/2013:

I’ve gotten a lot of emails over the years about this firewood rack. Apparently it’s become a hit on Pinterest. Most people ask for the dimensions and some building instructions. I thought I’d simplify the process by just updating the post.

This is a pretty basic build. I used 8′ pressure-treated pine for the posts and some old 2″ x 6″ lumber for the shelves. I built the rack on the ground in my driveway with 3″ screws and then put some lag bolts into the corners so it’ll hold together under the weight of the firewood. I put everything on except for the roof while it was on the ground. It was more manageable that way.

Then I dug two holes about 2′ deep and used some measuring marks on some old, scrap wood to test for level. When the holes were deep enough and pretty even, I stood the rack up in the holes and tested for level again. You’d be amazed what gravity can do over time to something that’s just a tiny bit out of plumb. Then I filled the holes with a bag or two of concrete, mixed the concrete with some water from the garden hose, and let it set overnight. The next day, I filled the holes with dirt and attached the pre-cut plywood roof. Finally, I stained it with a combination of all of the little cans of stain I wanted to get rid of.

The whole project took maybe four hours, but it would have taken half the time if I’d had a helper. This thing gets pretty heavy when it’s all tied together.

The finished rack stands a little over six feet above the ground. The gap in between the shelf supports is about 14″ deep. I wanted to be able to stack even small wood that’s been cut for stoves, but you could easily make this thing whatever size you wanted. I think it’s about 4½’ wide, but that’s customizable too. I wish I’d have made the rack twice as wide now. It’s as much of a privacy fence as a tool for seasoning wood.

I hope that helps.