Jefferey Pouros
These plans are detailed with pictures, assembly diagrams and material and lumber cutting specifications. All prices are calculated for the pressure-treated lumber as this is a recommended material choice for building outside wood storage. Pick one homemade firewood rack plan that fits your wood storage needs and matches the style of your deck or patio. Recommended tools you will need besides an electric screwdriver - a right angle tool (or angle square or framing square) to keep your uprights vertical and at least one C-clamp (with over 3″ max opening) to hold firm pieces of lumber together when driving screws in. It'll make your job driving the screws in so much easier, and you'll avoid potential cracks in 2x4s. TIP: Use an outdoor glue in addition to screws in your DIY projects.
NOTE: Because it won’t be adjustable, you must carefully plan the size of your homemade rack before cutting 2x4s. Also, if these woodworking plans seem like too much work then you may want to check out our guide to Quick & Easy to Build Firewood Rack Bracket Kits.
One rick is an 8' wide by 4' high stacked pile of firewood cut into 16" length.
Check out the free plans below ... Cost estimates are based on average Home Depot prices for pressure-treated lumber.
Bruce Johnson at Minwax decided that "after a prolonged winter, one of his firewood piles was beginning to look just a little unsightly and it was time to spruce it up a little bit by building a simple wood rack." Also, we raised the bottom a bit higher – it’s nice to have a meaningful gap so you can easily clean the floor underneath.
The steps are ordered for maximum assembly convenience while accounting for a must-have easy access to the affected work areas by an electric screwdriver. STEP 1 - assembling one 4' high by 4' wide vertical frame as shown on the diagram above.
Start by marking (in accordance with the dimensions shown on the Building Plan) and pre-drilling 4 holes at each end of the horizontal 4' plank.
STEP 2 - connecting the 2 just assembled vertical frames using 4 Horizontal 12" Links. While holding firm one of the Links, drive in 2 screws through the holes pre-drilled in the top frame. Turn your improvised assembly upside-down and secure the 4 Links on the opposite side.
One Saturday morning, they brought a picture of a log holder they wanted to make to Home Depot. After discussing their design plan with a couple of experts there, they left home with all the necessary pressure treated boards, all cut at the store.
And their woodworking plan already got fans - another couple built a log holder from Susan's directions. Also, one potential problem with this plan is that the commonly sold 16" firewood logs will fall through the 24" open sides. For steps #1,2 and 3, pre-drill all the 'through' holes - it'll be more convenient to assemble and much easier to drive the screws in. In STEP 2, if you're building the rack right in your backyard, you may want to lean the first frame on a fence or a wall, then get on a small stool and from this higher position, drive the screws through the Top Links into the vertical posts.
Of course, assembling this rack on a large work bench or a table would be easier but neither may be available. In STEP 3, for convenience, I would carefully turn the partially assembled rack upside-down.
STEP 4 - attach ten 2-foot pieces (cut from the 1x6 x 10' boards) as the flooring of the firewood rack. Firewood Rack Plan for Half Rick of Wood Built on Cinder Blocks The designer of this plan above wanted to build a firewood rack just the right size for 1/2 rick of wood, and he did a great job. This is a simple but quite sophisticated firewood rack design, with a top shelf.
The plan is comprised of four similar frames built out of 2×4’s and raised above the ground on 3 Cinder Blocks. In overall, our free woodworking plan for this rack design follows the original dimensions (photo above) precisely. Still, we couldn't match his very low cost. x 4 ft. Cedar Fence Picket 5 $1.38 $6.90 Box of Screws 1 $7.97 $7.97 Cinder Blocks 3 $1.15 $3.45 Total Cost $42.17 You simply won't have enough room to maneuver an electric screwdriver while attempting to make some of the joints.
STEP 5 - nail 4 Cedar pieces (13") to Top Shelf's Vertical Sides. STEP 6 - nail 11 Cedar pieces (16") to Top Shelf Base, spacing them evenly.
The designer made this firewood rack to dry and store wood for his fire pit. He had Home Depot cut the pressure treated lumber to his dimensions and he assembled it with 3" wood screws in just 45 minutes.
This is actually one of the simplest but nicest outdoor DIY firewood rack designs.
Many people want to reproduce it but there hasn't been a detailed building plan so we've created one free one - look for it below.
Just like with the other 3 plans, we suggest you assemble the two identical Vertical Frames first (including the Center Legs) and then connect them with 8 cross braces (12" Links). If you don’t really have a dedicated spot for your firewood and it just ends up in a pile somewhere, one of these 4 free plans could be a great solution for you.
All plans are relatevely simple and are designed for someone who is not incredibly handy when it comes to DIY projects.
