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I have a bunch of recently chopped wood on a few racks now located on the side of my shed. I'm looking to set up a semi-temporary sloped tarp canopy above it to keep the rain off but make sure there's plenty of room for the wood to dry.

I'm planning on mounting a couple of screw hooks) to the side of the shed on either side of the wood racks for a tarp). Then, I want two poles away from the shed (on either side of some rhododendron bushes). I'm no DIY engineer, so I'm not sure of a safe, cheap, easy, reliable, and non-trashy way to set those poles up.

Currently, I'm thinking of getting a pier block with a mount); a 4x4 of appropriate length to reach as high as I want (5 ft or so) with a bolt, washers, and nut to mount it; and a screw hook (same as above) at the top. Then, I want to just set them on the ground away from the shed.

Would two stands like that be stable enough? Would the supplies be suitable for an outdoor setup for an indeterminate amount of time? (I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US, so it needs to be resilient to 3 months of sunlight and 1,000 months of light-to-moderate rain per year.)

isherwood
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chaosTechnician
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4 Answers4

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Wind may be an issue...

But if you just need something to keep rain off, why not just do a lean-to style? Keep the hooks in the shed (make sure they're into studs), but use tent stake style fasteners on the outside edge of the tarp. Basically just stake the opposite edge to the ground.

I doubt it would last 1,000 months, but I'm assuming you're just being tongue-in-cheek here.

Huesmann
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You're trying too hard. You don't need an attic over your wood pile. Just round the top of the pile out so it supports the tarp properly for drainage (without sharp corners) and call it good. I use bungee loops to secure the tarp to the wood pile itself. Unless you're rushing the aging process it'll dry just fine over a year or two.

,

isherwood
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I did a simple roof for my dad's logs:

4 poles and two long side rails and 2 end ones - a rectangle. Just a simple flat roof to keep the direct rain off with an overhang.

Logs dry fine with wind getting in from all sides. Rain sometimes gets to the edge ones but as it is surface dries off quick...

Solar Mike
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Water ponding is one of the big issues to thwart. Even if you get good rotation resistance at your concrete, the system still isn't very stable (the concrete can tip over). Orienting the posts vertically, then, is probably a mistake. If you orient your posts 30 degrees or so leaning away from the garage, then you can hang weight from the posts to tension the tarp and, presto, your columns now use the tarp's tension for stability. I would wrap a wire around a brick a couple of times and bury it in a hole straight down from each post top.

You also want a 2x4 between the post tops to keep ponded water from pulling the two posts together.

For swaying parallel to the wall of the garage, if the 2x4 isn't enough, you can install diagonal wires. For the wire, I would use 12 gauge hot dip galvanized stuff from the local hardware store. It's cheap and useful for all sorts of stuff (I have a few trellises that use it a lot).

Alternatively, I like PVC pipe and fittings for stuff like this. Aesthetically you might not like it, though. If this thing was getting stored and reused, I would definitely use PVC instead. The threaded connections placed strategically can allow it to be broken down for very convenient storage.

popham
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