Code enforcement and wood piles

Published: October 1, 2024

Visitor Question: I thought it was supposed to be against codes to stack firewood on bare ground in a neighborhood. My neighbor in the rear of my property has a giant pile of wood he brought in from where he has property out in the country.

I understand that he needs a lot of firewood for the two large fireplaces in his house, but at the same time, I have seen two rats along my fence line since he started bringing in this wood. I thought I had heard you were supposed to keep the firewood off the ground, and that one reason was to discourage rodent infestations. Is that true?

Editors Reply: Yes, you heard correctly. Many property maintenance codes, and other housing codes of various kinds invented and administered by municipalities, specify that wood must be stacked neatly at least six inches off of the ground. Preventing termite, ant, and rodent infestations in the neighborhood is the rationale given for this code provision. Sometimes the code even specifies that a metal rack must be used.

Of course, whether or not you can use this knowledge to force a neighbor's cleanup depends on two things. First, has your particular municipality, township, or county enacted a code that requires that firewood be kept up off of the ground? If not, it won't do you any good that some cities prohibit direct stacking on the ground. All of the model codes in the world don't apply unless your governing body, such as a city council, has enacted an ordinance that adopts the code, even if exceptions are noted.

Second, even if your town has adopted the relevant code, it is not necessarily assumed that they are willing and able to enforce it. I hear from far too many residents that have trouble getting any code enforcement action even after they report an obvious violation.

In your case, at least the standard probably is pretty objective. All of the code provisions on this topic that I'm personally familiar with actually give a minimum number of inches from the earth that firewood must be stored.

One problem that arises fairly often with this particular code provision is that often the wood piles are kept at the rear of the lot line, and many municipalities are afraid to send their employees behind the house, and the inspectors themselves are afraid to go there. Sometimes state law or case law actually supports limitations on code inspection to the effect that the code violation must be visible without stepping onto the property itself. That is a possible difficulty for you since presumably this wood pile is along your neighbor's rear property line too.

If you are friendly with your neighbor, be sure to have a direct conversation about this matter. Keep the tone light, but do relay that you saw some rats and were just wondering if the wood could be contributing to that problem. On a practical note, you can make the point that stacking of firewood above ground has the homeowner benefit of helping the firewood dry out enough that it plays its proper role in the fireplace. Keeping the wood stored next to the ground lends itself to moisture retention and makes it less valuable in the fireplaces.

Depending on the nature of your relationship with this neighbor, you may want to try this informal conversation first. The drawback of this approach is that if the neighbor refuses, and you then call the city to request code enforcement, the neighbor is sure to figure out that you were the one getting him in trouble (as he would see it, probably). So weigh your options carefully.

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