If you have a fire place or a fire pit, you know that trying to start a fire with wet logs is the absolute worst. So in this article, I am going to show you how to build a super simple covered fire wood rack that will keep your fire wood dry and ready for burning yearround.
I put together some FREE Plans for this fire wood rack that includes a materials list, a cut list, and color coded assembly instructions to try and make building this as simple as possible. You can grab that FOR FREE, at the end of this article. I also have a cost breakdown at the bottom of the article.
Step 1: Grab Your Materials
Obviously, the first step of building this fire wood rack is to build the materials. The exact quantity of materials is in the plans, but you are essentially going to need a few of the following:
- 2″x4″ Pressure Treated (PT) lumber
- 2″x6″ PT Lumber
- 1″x6″ PT Lumber
- Corrugated Metal (for the roof)
- 3″ Exterior Rated Screws
- 2″ Exterior Rated Screws
- Gasketed Screws (for securing metal roof to the wood rack)
Step 2: Cut Your Lumber to Size Per the Cut List
As mentioned, I have a detailed cut list for EVERY cut you will need to make in my Free plans, but here is a snippet below.
I made all of my cuts using a Miter Saw, but you can also use a circular saw just as easily (it will just take a bit longer).
Once all of the lumber is cut to size, you can begin constructing the Fire Wood Rack.
Step 3: Build The Base
After cutting the lumber to size, build the fire wood rack BASE using 2″x6″ lumber as shown below:
At each connection location, install 2, 3″ exterior rated screws.
Next, install 1″x6″ exterior rated decking boards as shown below.
At this point, the base is constructed and you can move on to the next step.
Step 4: Attach the Vertical Support Braces
After building the base, cut the 2″x4″ vertical support braces to size as shown below:
Attach the Vertical Support braces to the base using 3-4 screws per connection.
Step 5: Attach the Slats to the Back and Sides of the Wood Rack
With the veritcal support braces attached to the wood rack base, you can now install the slats. Using 1″x6″ pressure treated lumber, attach the slats to the back of the fire wood rack as shown below:
Once all of the longer slats at the back of the fire wood rack are installed, install the shorter vertical slats on both sides as pictured below:
Next, it is time to assemble the roof.
Step 6: Build the Roof
To build the fire wood rack roof, cut all of the 2″x4″ lumber to size as shown below:
Similary to all the other connection, use two screws at each connection to secure the fire wood rack roof together.
Next, it’s time to attach the roof structure to the vertical support posts.
Step 7: Attach the Roof to the Vertical Support Braces
To attach the roof to the vertical support braces, I recommend that you first attach a few bar clamps to the top of the vertical support posts. That way, they will help to support the roof while you get it positioned.
For this Fire wood Rack, you want to have a 6″ spacing from the front of the roof strucuture to the front of vertical support brace as shown below:
Additionally, you want to ensure that the vertical support braces do not extend past the roof structure (refer to the circles in the image above).
After getting the roof structure positioned as shown above.
Step 8: Install the Corrugated Metal Roof
After attaching the roof to the fire wood rack, you will need to cut the metal roof to size. I recommend that you cut the corrugated metal a few inches wider and longer than the roof frame to ensure that you have a waterproof overhang of a few inches.
I cut the corrugated metal using an angle grinder and metal cutting wheel.
Next, attach the corrugated metal to the fire wood rack roof using gasketed screws.
If you need to overlap various segements of corrugated metal to get the correct width, ensure that you overlap them by a few inches to ensure that water cannot infiltrate through the seam.
Step 9: Final Touches
At this point, the fire wood rack project is complete. However, if you want to customize the fire wood rack (e.g. paint it, stain it, etc.) you can do that at this time.
For the Fire Wood rack I built for my Instagram (@atimprovements), I stained the wood a “Walnut” color.
The overall dimensions for this fire wood rack are show below:
Cost Breakdown
The cost of lumber to build the fire wood rack described in this article is approximately $90. The corrugated metal roofing material is approximately $29. Lastly, I would include a $30 allowance for fasteners. Therefore, the Total Cost of materials to Build this Fire Wood Rack is just under $150.
When it comes to afforability, this Fire Wood rack is really not much cheaper than buying one… just look at all of the options you can buy:
However, I am very confident that the durability of the one built from scratch using 2″x6″ and 2″x4″ lumber is much higher than some of the other options shown above. Whether you decide to buy or build your fire wood stoage rack, I wish you nothing but Dry Firewood from here on out!
Free Plans
If you do choose to build the fire wood rack described in this article, you can download the FREE Plans below. Free Plans will be delivered as a PDF download via email (please check spam folder if you don’t see it in your inbox at first glance).
Conclusion
Overall, this fire wood rack is a simple and affordale DIY project that anyone can tackle in an afternoon. If you are more of a visual learner, you can watch me build this entire Fire Wood Rack (from start to finish) in my YouTube video linked below (this will appear once video is published:
Thanks so much for reading and good luck building!
DISCLAIMER: This is a reference guide only. Consult local code requirements. Links included in this article might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide, I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting ATimprovements so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!