Open or closed wood storage

[james]

I received a photo of a good-looking oven in Birmingham, AL today -- which has a wooden door over the wood storage. It looks really nice.

This brings me to a new poll. Did you enclose your wood storage or leave it open?

What was your logic? Bugs, snakes, rodents, design considerations, water, cleanliness?

After you vote, let us know what motivated you.
James

[Les]

I left it open. It just seemed to me that the darker it was, the more inviting for spiders

Les...

[RTflorida]

I had to put doors, too many critters to deal with here (snakes, squirrels, coons, dillos, rats, mice). The bugs still get in on occasion, but I do a pretty heavy perimeter treatment of isecticide to eliminate that threat for the most part.
Did I mention the horizontal rains we get daily in the summer? The doors do a very good job of keeping the driving rain out.

RT

[CajunKnight]

I do not yet have an oven but I would not put doors on the wood storage. The closed in area would hold moisture and cause mold growth. This taste really bad when cooking and you have moldy smoke.

If blowing rain is a problem just wait till oven has cooled and store enough wood inside for next firing. Besides rain water will dry out quite quickly, where natural moisture in fresh wood is a different story.

[Ken524]

I haven't added my door yet, but I plan to so I voted that I enclosed it. I want to keep the critters out.

[thebadger]

Agree with Ken, that's my plan.

I'm going to use the same woos stain from the pergola on both the outer oven door and woodstorage door...

Dick

[RTflorida]

Cajun, I don't buy fresh wood - everything I get is seasoned at least a year - pretty darned dry and I aim to keep it that way. During the summer, rain does not dry up quickly here, it stays wet from June thru Sept so leaving wood exposed will make it soggy (I found out the hard way last summer - leaving part of my first cord stacked behind my oven on an ucovered rack. Those logs are just now dry enough to burn smoke free after a very dry winter and spring, they were perfectly seasoned last June when I bought it). Humidity alone is more than enough to grow mold and mildew on anything and everything - as I'm sure you can attest to in LA. My biggest concern is the critters...I detest snakes (several venomous species) and rodents...brown recluse and black widow spiders are a big issue here as well.....thats why I go heavy on the insecticide around the perimeter.
Living in surburbia, I don't have the space to store wood ideally - out in the open (but covered) or in large quantities. The only space I have is below or directly behind the oven.

RT

[PizzaJNKY]

My wife told me that I will build a locking door for oven. I guess she's afraid our kids will try to play under the oven and that it could fall on them. I'm not sure, but I get the feeling she doesn't quite trust my construction skills just yet. Maybe after I tile our bathroom she will develop that trust.

[james]

Originally Posted by PizzaJNKY

My wife told me that I will build a locking door for oven. I guess she's afraid our kids will try to play under the oven and that it could fall on them. I'm not sure, but I get the feeling she doesn't quite trust my construction skills just yet.

I remember that. My wife had no faith that any of it would actually stand up. That was right before the bomb shelter comments. :-)

James

[gjbingham]

You all know I have doors on mine. It's a pretty pittyful wood storage area. I only store wood in there that has been kiln dried in the dome from previous firings. I've got at least 5 plus chords of wood seasoning. I'm going to build a real wood storage area adjacent to the oven/patio so that I can grab more when I need it.

Kindling storage is another topic. Where do you keep your kindling? I'd like to have another designated spot that held about 4 cubic feet/ 1 cubic meter of kindling. What a pain it is to chase those little guys around amongst the real wood.