Hi Bushsnuffler
I understand your problem. Some people are so annoying! You certainly don’t want it stolen after you went to the trouble of building it! Probably sensible to leave things as they are and you probably need some sort of extra protection if you are banking soil up against it. In those circumstances, the wood wouldn’t get much chance to ‘breathe’ anyway!
In slightly more open situations, I think ordinary wooden houses last longer than people imagine. One of mine which I’ve had for several years – can’t remember how long – it’s been that long(!) – just has roof felting type covering on the top – untreated wood and there is no sign of rot in it. But it is in a comparatively open situation and definitely not subterranean!
Hope you get a tenant/tenants and all the hogs there have a successful hibernation time.
