Homemade Indoor Firewood Racks

Preparing to Build the Rack

• All the tools and equipment needed to build an indoor firewood rack can be found at your local hardware shop. The tools needed are a radial arm saw, drill, Phillips-head screwdriver and a tape measure. The materials needed are three-inch screws, wood glue and two-by-four wood lengths. Be aware, that the actual measurement of two-by-four wood is not actually two inches by four inches; it is actually three and a half inches by an inch and a half--this kind of stock wood is called a "factory cut."

  To ensure a safe working environment, wood gloves and protective eyewear should be purchased.

  The firewood rack should not be too large if it is right next to the fireplace--at least not larger than the fireplace. If the fire rack is in a mud room, you can line the wall with the fire rack, if that is what you wish.

  The possibility exists to supplement some of the wood needed with crafted wood, like pre-cut railing banisters, to create a more stylized firewood rack.

Building the Rack

• Measure the length, depth and height of the area you wish to install the fire rack. Make sure the fire rack will not block traffic in the room and become a fire hazard in case of an emergency. Set up your radial arm saw per the instructions that came with it. Put on the gloves and eyewear. Cut the two-by-four down to accommodate the length, depth and height you have measured and have decided upon to be the dimensions of the firewood rack. The pieces you cut will be: two pieces that are the depth minus six inches, two pieces that are the length of the fire rack and four pieces that are the height of the fire rack. For clarification purposes, the six inches were subtracted because there will be two pieces of two-by-four on each side of the depth of the rack that need to be compensated in the overall depth of the fire rack by subtracting the widths of the two-by-fours from the real depth of the rack you wish to build. Lay the two depth cuts of wood on their side on a flat surface, parallel to each other. Lay down the two length cuts of wood on their side parallel to each other in a way that secures the two depths between them; this will make the shape of a rectangle. Measure the length cuts of wood and divide the lengths into thirds. Mark with a pencil where the thirds lie. Position the depth cuts of wood on the third markers evenly. Make sure the shape of the fire rack you are building the base for is flush with itself-- that is, the wood is even and smooth where the different pieces of wood meet. Drill through the length cuts of wood into the depth cuts of wood. Apply wood glue to the ends of the depth cuts of wood and the reposition them at the markers again. Drill screws into the holes. The wood glue will become heated by the friction caused by the drilling and will solidify the bond between wood and metal. Take the cuts of wood that make up the height of the fire rack and position them on their ends, sticking up, on the outside of the cuts of wood that make up the length of the fire rack at its farthest points. Drill through the height cuts of wood into the length cuts of wood. Apply glue to the side of the length cuts of wood where the height will be screwed onto it. Reposition the height cuts of wood onto the length cuts of wood where you pre-drilled. Screw the height cuts of wood into the length cuts of wood. Fill your rack with firewood and enjoy the convenience of wood fuel readily at hand.