Build A Simple Firewood Stand

Background

I have tress and limbs that periodically fall or need to be cut. The problem that I had is that I did not have anywhere to store the items so that they could properly dry out to be used in the firepit. Thus I built a firewood stand that would hold the wood until they were ready to be burned.

What You Need

Materials Needed

• 4 - 4 inch x 4 inch x 12 feet (10.16 cm x 10.16 cm x 3.65 m) pressure treated posts
• 3 - 4 inch x 2 inch x 12 feet (10.16 cm x 5.08 cm x 3.65 m) pressure treated boards
• 3 - 4 inch x 1 inch x 12 feet (10.16 cm x 2.54 cm x 3.65 m) pressure treated boards
• exterior or deck screws or nails
• spray paint

All of the parts that are used to build the stand are not included as I took this picture in the process of unloading the materials.

Tools Needed

• Saw - miter saw makes this easier, but circular saw works for this as well
• drill

Cut The Pieces

Vertical Posts

I made my stand 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall. To get this height, I cut the 4 inch x 4 inch posts in half.

Horizontal Pieces

I made the stand 4 feet (1.22 m) long by 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. I used 2 of the the 4 inch x 2 inch lumber cut at 4 feet, 4 feet, and then 2 feet. The remaining 4 x 2 will be used as cross braces between the outer pieces. The cross braces were placed at 16 on center.

Slats

I did not cut the slats until after I had completed the assembly. That way, they would be cut to fit the shelving that was used. I had some pallet wood on hand, so I was able to use that instead of using 1x4 wood.

Paint The Pieces

I painted the bottom and tops of the vertical posts with spray paint. Since I was placing the firewood stand directly in contact with the ground, I wanted some protection against the water that it would be in contact with. Paint is not necessary the best way to prevent the wood from rotting, but it does offer better protection than setting the posts directly on the ground.

I went up about 1 foot from the bottom of the post and painted it as well. The reason that I did this because when water hits the ground, it may splash up on the side of the post. Having paint up this far will provide protection against this splashing.

I had black spray paint already on hand, so I used it. Regardless of which paint that you use, make sure that you use exterior grade paint. Exterior grade paint will offer you the best protection for the wood.

Assemble The Pieces

For my setup, I made the top of the bottom shelf 1 foot (0.30 m) from the ground. This will allow for sufficient air flow for all of the wood that has been stacked on it. The top shelf is about 2 feet (0.61 m) from the top of the post. This will make sure that the items that are on the top do not easily roll off when they are stacked.

Pieces were secured together with 3 inch decking screws. I mentioned in the materials list, you may use nails for this as well.

Conclusion

This project was simple and only took a couple of hours to complete. As you can see from the photo, if you need to make it bigger or smaller to fit your space, then you can change the size of the horizontal pieces as necessary. In my case, the first one that I built, was not big enough. Thus I built a stand stand that looks like this one.