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I have a bunch of recently chopped wood on a few racks now located on the side of my shed. I'm looking to set up a semi-temporary sloped tarp canopy above it to keep the rain off but make sure there's plenty of room for the wood to dry.

I'm planning on mounting a couple of screw hooks (like these) to the side of the shed on either side of the wood racks for a tarp (like this tarp). Then, I want two poles away from the shed (on either side of some rhododendron bushes). I'm no DIY engineer, so I'm not sure of a safe, cheap, easy, reliable, and non-trashy way to set those poles up.

Currently, I'm thinking of getting a pier block with a mount (like this); a 4x4 of appropriate length to reach as high as I want (5 ft or so) with a bolt, washers, and nut to mount it; and a screw hook (same as above, this) at the top. Then, I want to just set them on the ground away from the shed.

Would two stands like that be stable enough? Would the supplies be suitable for an outdoor setup for an indeterminate amount of time? (I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US, so it needs to be resilient to 3 months of sunlight and 1,000 months of light-to-moderate rain per year.)

chaosTechnician
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  • I would refrain from using the hooks and just wrap the tarp edge in a 1x2 and drive screws through that into the framing. This will hold much better for a longer period of time, especially with the wind and rain. – matt. Sep 03 '23 at 19:18
  • Obviously slope the tarp to shed water. – popham Oct 03 '23 at 19:38
  • PVC pipe might be a suitable building material for this. – popham Oct 03 '23 at 19:41

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Wind may be an issue...

But if you just need something to keep rain off, why not just do a lean-to style? Keep the hooks in the shed (make sure they're into studs), but use tent stake style fasteners on the outside edge of the tarp. Basically just stake the opposite edge to the ground.

I doubt it would last 1,000 months, but I'm assuming you're just being tongue-in-cheek here.

Huesmann
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  • I've thought of setting up a lean-to, but the wood racks are between the shed and some rhododendron bushes. There isn't much space between the wood and the rhodies. Enough to walk between them to take wood of the piles, but not much more. If poles won't work, that's what I'll probably do though. (And yes, 1k months of rain per year was facetious.) – chaosTechnician Sep 03 '23 at 16:12
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    You could do a semi lean-to. Think "across, then down." Do exactly the same as I suggest but stick a line of uprights outside the bushes, with a bar across the tops. Between the shed and the front of the bushes, the tarp will be flattish, then drop down at an angle in front of the bushes to the ground. You do want some slope to drain, so the upright bar should be a few inches below the fasteners at the shed. Have you considered how this will affect the bushes as far as sunlight, though? – Huesmann Sep 04 '23 at 12:17
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I did a simple roof for my dad's logs:

4 poles and two long side rails and 2 end ones - a rectangle. Just a simple flat roof to keep the direct rain off with an overhang.

Logs dry fine with wind getting in from all sides. Rain sometimes gets to the edge ones but as it is surface dries off quick...

Solar Mike
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