Why does my woodpile smell so bad?
My boyfriend cut down an oak tree that was in his yard. He hauled it to my house where he cut, split, and stacked it for me. I’m glad to have it, I love to sit by the chiminea at night, but the wood smells like vomit. I bought a bag of mulch recently that smelled similar, ugh. So this is a two part question: A. Why does it smell bad? Could it be disease or insects? We found a large larva in one of the pieces. B. Is there anything I can do about it? Hose it down? Cover it with a tarp?
The wood may be rotting. Not a whole lot you can do. You could try pouring a gallon of bleach over the logs, taking care to not splash yourself or your clothes and be sure and get the logs thoroughly wet all over. The runoff will kill things so place your woodpile somewhere where you won’t mind a dead zone. Or cover it to prevent the rain from causing runoff. Or set it all on fire until the bark is well charred, then put it out with a hose, being careful not to start a huge fire. I kinda like that idea better@
I think you are asking this in the wrong area. This is the dog section. Maybe someone threw up on your woodpile?
When I was young, my parents had a huge wood pile in the back yard. It was back more towards the woods. We kept hearing noises and kept smelling something awful. This went on for awhile.
My father decided to undo the wood pile to see what was going on. Underneath the wood pile, he found a dog. The dog was alive but the dog was hurt, thus the smell. He pulled the dog out and brought him to the vets, etc.
But you may want to check out your wood pile. The part the dog was in was wood that was just put there.
Just an idea….I would either try to get the wood pile off the ground. They do have covers but a tarp would be a great idea!
however, I’d describe it as more like cat poo than vomit…
the critical follow up question is: is the woodpile elevated off the soil and protected from rain.; and is the wood still wet. wetness in the woodpile will both make a smokier fire, and contribute to rot and insects in the wood.
if the woodpile is subject to wetness, then taking steps to reduce the wetness will allow it to dry better, and may, as a side effect, reduce the odor.
I would not recommend hosing it down, and if you tarp it, be sure to allow airflow, so the wood can remain dry.
If the woodpile is fresh-cut, then you may just be getting the fresh-cut oak smell, and it will fade as the woodpile dries.
I wonder if there are any "woodpile freshener" products out there?