5 Tips for Preventing Firewood Pests

Nothing says “cozy season” like settling down for an evening in front of the fireplace. The sound of a crackling fire on a cold night might even create a core memory, but nothing kills the vibe before it begins like grabbing a log to throw on the fire and finding out it’s full of bugs.

Improperly stored wood can attract a wide variety of pests… from relatively harmless beetles, millipedes, and centipedes to dangerous or destructive ones like wasps, spiders, termites, carpenter ants, mice, and rats. Once these pests are in your woodpile, your home is at risk of having them coming inside.

Is it Safe to Keep Firewood Indoors?

We don’t recommend storing firewood inside your home because of its tendency to attract pests. If you must keep wood indoors, be sure it is completely dry and check often for pests. Keeping wood in the garage is better than inside the living spaces of your house – but that is still non-optimal.

So, if you’re supposed to keep your firewood outdoors, how do you protect it and keep it safe and ready to burn?

How Do You Keep Pests off Firewood?

Pests are attracted to stacked wood because it offers everything they need in cold weather – shelter, moisture, and a food source. Luckily, there are actions you can take to decrease the likelihood they will take up residence in your woodpile.

1. Keep your pile dry. Pests nest near moisture, and a damp woodpile is an open invitation for them to take up residence. As a bonus, your wood will burn so much better if you keep it dry.
2. Stack wood neatly. Poorly stacked wood has more surface area that could be exposed to moisture. As a bonus, it’s much easier to grab logs from a neatly stacked pile than to pull them out of a messy one.
3. Allow for air circulation. Too little air circulation allows moisture, rot, mold, fungal growth, and insects to infiltrate your pile.
4. Rotate your pile. Don’t stack new wood on top of old. It’s important to use the oldest wood first to prevent pest infestation and rot. The longer you leave old wood in the pile, the more comfortable pests become, the more they reproduce, and the more likely they are to attract larger predators.
5. Eliminate small pests immediately. If you let insects move into your woodpile, rodents and larger predators may view it as an all-you-can-eat buffet… attracting additional pest threats to your property.

Following these guidelines can decrease the likelihood of bringing pests into your home. Be sure to follow any local or state regulations regarding the use and transport of firewood. These laws were enacted to protect our ecosystem from invasive pests that are carried from place to place in untreated firewood.

Should You Spray Your Woodpile?

Spraying over-the-counter pesticides on your woodpile may cause pests to burrow deeper into it… where they’ll actually be warmer, safer, and harder to eradicate. Even worse, chemicals in some sprays emit toxic fumes and burn unpredictably when you use the wood in your stove or fireplace. So, spraying your woodpile is not a solution.

Where Is the Best Place to Store Firewood?

The best place to keep your firewood is outdoors, at least five feet from your home’s walls and foundation, and away from trees. Stack wood on a tarp, pallet, or dedicated log storage rack so it isn’t directly touching the ground. Cover loosely with a tarp or specially made woodpile cover – but be sure to air out the pile on dry days.

Twin Forks Pest Control® Keeps Your Property Pest-Free All Winter Long

If you find bugs or rodents in your yard, woodpile, or home, Twin Forks Pest Control® is your Long Island pest removal specialist. Our team has protected Long Island residents from pest threats for more than two decades… and look forward to making your home pest-free. Contact us online for a free estimate, or call (631) 324-9020 in East Hampton; (631) 287-9020 in Southampton, or (631) 298-0500 in Southold.