Tackling Lumber Storage

I have the fortunate problem of too much lumber on hand.  In years past I was able to get dropped trees cut up into boards and dried for relatively cheap.  Until now I never had a good way to store it.  I've been using one of the tarp sheds (or garage in a box).  It's been up for nearly 10 years and has done OK.  However, back during Hurricane Sandy it was broken and I've had it patched together ever since.  It's full of holes, has a broken frame and needs to go.

While the tar shed worked for an interim solution, it had some issues.  For starters, they have poor ventilation and the wood can't breathe as well during temperature/humidity changes.  Also, it's open on the ground so rainwater flows along the bottom.  My wood stacks turned into mouse nests (cats weren't pulling their weight!).  Plus, the top started leaking so much that the stacks of lumber in the tarp shed were themselves covered with tarps.  Oh, and the spiders.  So many spiders.

And then there's the problem of needing a board that buried under 10 others.  Getting one piece of wood often turned into a frustrating workout.  Not to mention coming back from the lumber yard only to realize I already had some of the same stock I just bought still on the stack somewhere.  Stacks get a little tippy.  It's hard to get just one board.  I think you see how this was a problem.

Time to change all that.  I dropped by a local shed company and put in an order for a new one.  Sure, they aren't cheap, but it's oh so necessary.  I'm going with 12x16 (the biggest I can go before I need a permit and a permanent pad).  I'm putting double doors on the side, near to the back.  When opened, I'll have racks going back about 10-12' for the long board storage.  This will let me separate sets of wood and then I'll have less digging to get one board.  I'll have some room at the opposite end for sheet good storage and then a bit of space along the front for scraps, spare equipment, etc.  I will have a single door on the front.

Now I'm moving everything out of the tarp shed onto temporary stacks under tarps.  Then I need to get rid of some small trees and a bush and take down the old tarp shed.  It's a good bit of work, especially since we're into summer temps.  But, I am so looking forward to having dry, covered, protected and easy to access lumber storage.  This coming winter will be the first time I don't have to go out during snowstorms and knock the snow off the shed!

BTW - I ran into lots of camel crickets in the tarp shed.  Biggest I've ever seen.  They are funny critters, hopping around like mad in all directions.  I don't know if they are destructive but I always found them to be neat bugs.  Other than that were some good sized fishing spiders (much to my wife's dismay) and a nice snake skin (but no snake, probably just a garden snake, that what we have here).