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I am about to make a 2400mm x 700mm x 1800mm firewood shed for storing dry wood and keeping it that way. The location is the least affected by elements on our property, it's very protected from wind, and the best site for minimising rain. However, the downside is that is gets precisely no sun. Unfortunately there really isn't anywhere else to put it.

I am more concerned about encroaching dampness and rats living in the free nest than anything.

My instinct says to make this shed water-tight so rain can't get in, put a door on it and seal it up, rather than the traditional style of wood shed which is more open to the elements for airflow/drying. I want to be able to go into my shed, grab a dry log, put it on the fire. When I put a tarp over the wood on a raised wooden platform it keeps it dry through storms and no condensation/mould forms and there is zero proper airflow there, but like I said, the wood is dry.

I am going to build the floor today, and if someone hadn't said to me "wood sheds need to have airflow, because all the ones I see do and because condensation mumble mumble" I wouldn't even have asked.

However, because this shed is not going to be airtight, there will be some degree of dampness that gets in. The floor will be raised off the ground by cinder blocks and I could space out the floor boards for ventilation but I was just going to try to keep it dry and rat free by sticking plywood on top of the boards to be honest. I am using clear corrugated PVC for the roof and sides of the shed.

EDIT: I realise now that it would be more descriptive to describe it as a glorified dry wood storage box, than a wood shed per se

Benjamin R
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Firewood needs to dry out. It won't dry out in a sealed shed nearly as fast and completely as it would in an open-air setup.

Worry about moisture in the air 'getting back in' to the wood isn't really much of a concern. It's not atmospheric moisture but the moisture that's in the wood initially that's the concern.

If you completely season your wood outside for a year or so, THEN bring it in to the airtight shed, that could work, but seems redundant to me.

If the only real concern is rats, then I think building a shed is equally problematic as they will find comfy homes under the shed or even inside after they chew a few holes in it.

The reason most firewood isn't stored in a shed is that it's just a waste of a perfectly good shed. :)

DA01
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Won't be airtight anyway, and if you are buying dry wood (that is) it won't matter if it somehow manages to approximate airtight. Ventilation is for actively drying.

Ecnerwal
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