Have you ever had to venture out at night in the rain for some logs to keep the fire bright and hot? I have, and I live in Spain. ‘What!’ I hear you say, ‘sunny España and you burn a fire?’ You bet. Open fires and wood burning stoves are used from Barcelona to Cadiz – Alicante to Marbella. Spain is a cold country with a hot sun and the winters can be pretty nippy and, if living in the mountains like me, they can be quite long. Grabbing a wet, slimy log in the dark whilst holding a torch between clenched teeth, and with rain constantly finding its way down my back, was an experience I could have done without. That was before I purchased a Log Store. Now my firewood, or leña as we call it here, is kept dry – and so am I. No more muddy hands and fumbling around in the dark, just a flick of a switch and plenty of time to select the right firewood to hold the fire in the stove overnight.
A log store keeps the wood dry, but it must also allow plenty of air to circulate, aiding the drying process. Log stores can be built free-standing or adjoining a building, and with a light inside a trip to replenish the log basket is no longer the chore it used to be.
When purchasing a log store a few things must be taken into consideration: solid, wooden construction, treated timber against pests and the weather, a decent roof well anchored onto the timber framework. A free-standing log store should be closed on three sides and, ideally, with the walls constructed using an alternate planking design, like a double skin wall with the outside being one horizontal plank, a gap, then another plank. This is matched on the inside with the planks opposite the gaps on the outside. Make sense? What this does is prevent beating rain at an angle getting inside while maintaining a constant flow of air over the firewood. This design of log store can dry green firewood very quickly, even in the winter Spanish months when the sun is not strong.
When building a log store alongside an existing building the same principle applies, only one wall will obviously be solid, but the sides still allow the flow of air, which is very important. Whatever the specification, Woodworks Direct can supply a quality, fully treated log store in easy to assemble flat-pack, or constructed on site. Either way, don’t make feeding that hungry fire any more burdensome than need be, get a log store before the next Spanish winter bites.
To see our range of Log Stores visit www.woodworksdirect.com
