DIY Help – Turning a shed into a wood store

We have a shed by our back gate. Its pretty standard 6×4 but it has a dutch door. It needs some paint but its in reasonable nick.

I’d prefer a wood store in its place, as we don’t need this shed. Is it possible to turn a shed into a woodstore? Would leaving the top of the door open be enough to ventilate? The shed seems dry enough inside at the moment. Alternative is to knock it down and build / buy a wood store but that costs money which I’d rather not spend if possible.

Thanks all

Pictures:

I guess it partly depends on the prevailing wind direction as to which bits to remove. But the front looks to have an upright on the hinge side of the door, so you could just remove the door and the t+g to the right of the door to open it up.

I’d be inclined to take the door off completely, and take the windows out for better ventilation. I built a wood store of a similar size and it’s completely open at the front and slatted at the sides with a proper roof.  When I’ve stored wood in sheds before, it can go mouldy. Ventilation is key.

You might want to put some battens or a raised floor in too so the air can get underneath.

Definitely raise the floor so air can circulate underneath, a couple of pallets would do. It’s all about the air flow, my word store is basically a roof between the fence and my garage, fully open front and back and raised off the ground.

Ours is a “playhouse’ more than a shed but I simply removed the end panel & refitted it inside the original structure about 2/3 of the way in.  A couple of metal shelves added & it’s been great for us – leaves some general storage space in the remaining part too.

On yours I’d be tempted to do similar but pull the front off (to the right of the door) & turn it 90 degrees, trim & fix it there.  A couple of pallets to raise floor level & maybe even knock a slat or three out down the side.

Big hole saw 150mm ish, drill loads of holes. Point the drill up so water doesn’t flow in.
Staggered planks instead of the windows.
The door is tricky, probably remove a few slats if possible

I inherited a similar shed when we moved here 10 years ago. It had 2 doors at the front though and no windows. I just removed the doors and screwed them together in the middle with a couple of slat shelves to give me 4 compartments. It’s a bit worse for wear now, but this is it:

I put some slats down at the bottom to keep the wood off the floor and also wedged some bits of wood under the roof to get some airflow

Image upload didn’t work 🙁

I think all it’s missing is some wood

Looks like the roof needs redoing as well…

Looks like the roof needs redoing as well…

The edges are a bit crusty, but the roof is OK. Its dry inside.

Thanks everyone – sounds like my idea wasn’t awful after all.

@lankystreakofpee – thanks for the images, they help a lot.

Patio could do with weeding etc. 😉

I’d never willingly post pictures of my garden for forensic scrutiny by STWers!

If you’re looking to store already dry wood, then you might not need that much ventilation? My wood store is fully enclosed and absolutely fine with seasoned wood

If I’m drying wood, then I put it in a different location. Which at the moment is stacked on a pallet with some plastic sheet on top

Yeah, remove the front completely,  and maybe every 3rd plank on the sides.

Then fit a gutter to the front, to stop all the roof water running down the face of your logs and give a few inches more shelter overhang. You can see splashback has already trashed the lower edge.

Here’s one I made earlier this year.

Faces north and rarely gets the log face wet, although litteraly just had a shower blow from the north-west. Since it was filled with fresh cut wood in Feb/March, drying shrinkage has dropped the top of the stack 4-5″.

Roof drains towards the house, with a gutter there just under the window ledge. Store is about 4ft deep, but a gap is left against the house wall for ventilation when stacking the logs.

Then fit a gutter to the front, to stop all the roof water running down the face of your logs and give a few inches more shelter overhang.

I’ll see if there’s space – its quite a narrow walkway between the shed and the garage on the other side and a gutter might be at head height.

You can see splashback has already trashed the lower edge.

Would raising the floor with slats / pallet help minimise this?

I’d like to say “thank you” on behalf of all the massive spiders you’re gonna get.

Just remove the door and window.   I have, or had, a 8’6″ by 6’6″ shed that was rotting away,  not a store for tools and when I needed a wood store I just removed the door and 2 windows.  I gets packed completely full with around 9 cube and the wood dries great down to 17-18%mc.  It’s not even in a sunny spot as its shaded by trees.   We’re I building from scratch I’d build a more open structure,  mainly for easier access,  but just removing the door and windows will give ample ventilation

If you’re going to be drying the wood out think ventilation and air flow. I’d remove the front completely and install an upright if the roof is sagging. Extend the roof out to create an overhang this keeps the front of the pile dry. Use old pallets to stack the wood on.

Insects love wood  storage for nesting so remember to check every piece prior to chucking it in the stove. Mine’s like a hotel for solitary bees wasps and spiders :o)

Brace the inside of the shed.

It will help avoid smashing the outer boards, create air gap and help hold the sides together once you’ve put 3 cube of logs in.

Big overhangs are good if you can.

More airflow if putting in green stuff, lob it in, don’t stack neatly.

Update, finally got round to having a go at this on a sunny afternoon.

Thanks for everyone’s advice so far! I’m unsure about removing the middle brace, maybe if I add an additional brace at the top of the hole it’ll be strong enough?

After that, I plan to add slats to the pallet as the logs will need to face the wrong way at present, then treat / paint.

Why do people pile dry combustible fuel right next to their house?

It’s always puzzled me.

I’d have it away from the house.

#overthinker

It’s not next to the house, it’s at the bottom of the garden between my garage and my neighbour’s.