Snake in the Garage - How I Used Firewood Storage Shed Plans to Build a Firewood Shed

A couple of years ago we decided to move out of town a bit so I wound have some room to tinker and maybe even get that long awaited shed I could finally call my own. Memories of my childhood also came flooding back when I saw that the house even had an indoor fireplace to keep us warm in the winter. Now that is something to look forward to I thought thinking about snuggling up to the wife in front of a nice warm fire.

However it was summer when we bought the house so I never gave the fireplace another thought until during those last days of summer the weather suddenly turned cold. It was at this point that I realized that to the previous owners the fireplace was purely ornamental and they had never actually used it.

Being the typical bloke my first thought was that I needed to acquire some firewood. So without thinking the whole process through I ordered a truckload of firewood through a fellow who advertized in the local newspaper. It was delivered promptly the next day but when asked where I wanted it put the reality of the situation suddenly hit me. How am I going to keep the wood dry and not end up with a pile of wet, rotting firewood that would not burn? So I stacked it up neatly in the back of the garage completely forgetting about vermin and insect hazards associated with firewood.

Some time later on a really cold night I miss-judged the amount of firewood we needed for the fire. As I was busy snoozing on the couch my wife decided to go out and get some more wood for the fire. Next thing I was woken by an awful yell from the garage. With a yawn I thought I better see what all the fuss was about.

All I could see was my wife lost for words pointing at a snake curled up in a crack in the firewood pile. I stacked the firewood pile again the next day but there was no sign of the snake. I guess he had moved to somewhere a little quieter.

A few days later day I was telling the story to a couple of mates with a bit of over exaggeration, like most blokes do, when one one seriously said that I was taking a bit risk storing firewood in the house. He went on to say that firewood attracts white ants (termites) and that I should get the wood away from the house. It was a this point that I realized I needed to build a weatherproof wood shed for my firewood.

Being a handy sort of bloke I drew up some rough plans and headed of to the local timber yard for some materials to build my firewood storage shed. So after a lot of cursing and swearing and numerous trips to the hardware store I finally had a rather ugly structure of three walls and a roof. For a floor I got some back plastic sheeting which I laid directly on the ground. Then I loosely laid some bricks on the plastic sheeting and placed a sheet of reinforcing mesh over the top so that my firewood would not be in contact the ground. This gap also allowed for airflow and a place to lay some mouse or rat bait, if required, so that it was out of reach of cats and dogs. Result one happy wife who was no longer concerned about a snake in her house.

Now they say experience is a great teacher and if I could do it all over again I would get some decent firewood storage shed plans. Just by downloading a copy of My Shed Plans with some 12,000 plans from http://www.woodshedkits.net.tc I would of had a better chance of building a firewood storage shed that I could be proud of as well as keeping my firewood dry.