Pests Hiding in Your Firewood This Winter
There’s something satisfying about stacking firewood for winter, knowing you’re ready for the first cold snap. But if you’re storing that wood against the house or bringing it inside without checking it first, you might be carrying more than logs through your door.
Firewood is a natural habitat for insects. Bark beetles, termites, carpenter ants, spiders, and even rodents can shelter in or under stacked wood. When you bring that wood into your living room, they come with it.
What’s Living in Your Wood Pile
Several pests commonly found in firewood across the St. Louis metro deserve your attention.
Bark Beetles and Wood Borers
Small, cylindrical beetles that bore into the bark and sapwood of dead or dying trees. You’ll often see tiny round exit holes in the wood surface. They’re not a threat to your home’s structure because they only attack unseasoned wood. But they’ll emerge indoors once the wood warms up.
Termites
Subterranean termites can infest wood that’s in direct contact with the ground. A firewood pile stacked on bare soil next to your foundation is an open invitation. The National Pest Management Association notes that wood-to-soil contact near a home’s foundation is one of the top risk factors for termite infestation.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants prefer moist, decaying wood for nesting, exactly the kind often found at the bottom of an outdoor wood pile. If you see large black ants with sawdust-like debris near your firewood, they’ve likely established a colony. Our termite and ant services page covers both wood-destroying insects and the treatment options available.
Spiders
Wood piles offer dark, sheltered crevices that spiders love. In the St. Louis area, brown recluse spiders commonly nest in stacked wood and debris. We’ve written about how to identify a brown recluse if you’re not sure what you’re looking at. Wearing gloves when handling firewood is a simple precaution that the CDC’s NIOSH brown recluse guidelines specifically recommend.
Mice
A loose wood pile provides excellent shelter for mice, especially heading into winter. They’ll nest between logs and use the wood pile as a staging area before finding a way into your home. If you notice gnaw marks or droppings near your firewood, mice have already moved in.
How to Store Firewood Safely
For homeowners in Eureka, Wildwood, Pacific, and the wooded areas of St. Charles County where wood-burning fireplaces and stoves are common, proper storage makes a real difference.
Stack firewood at least 20 feet from your home and at least 5 inches off the ground on a raised rack or platform. Keep the top covered but the sides open for airflow. This helps the wood dry and makes it less hospitable to moisture-loving pests. Burn older wood first and avoid letting wood sit for more than one season.
The Don’t Move Firewood campaign, a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, recommends sourcing firewood locally and inspecting every log before bringing it indoors.
When you do bring wood inside, only bring in what you’ll burn that day. Don’t stockpile firewood in your garage, basement, or near the fireplace. This gives any hitchhiking pests time to disperse into your home.
How Pure Pest + Lawn Can Help
Schedule a free inspection. We assess your property for pest activity near firewood storage, along the foundation, and around other entry points.
We create a custom protection plan. Exterior perimeter treatments, termite monitoring, and targeted applications where pests are most active.
Enjoy your fireplace without worry. Heat your home the way you want to without bringing pests along for the ride.
Pure Pest + Lawn has been protecting St. Louis homes since 1933. Over 1,000 five-star reviews. BBB Torch Award for Ethics.
Keep your firewood outside and the pests with it. Call 314-222-PEST (7378) or schedule online.
