Gene Kearns wrote:

NO! The concrete fable was not a fable....

Concrete is also just a big sponge, absorbing water from the ground
beneath. During the days of battery construction using asphaltic
cases, a potential could be set up through the case, if there was
enough water on the outside of it.... held there by the damp
concrete.

What would keep the wood from absorbing moisture, then? Wood is just as
much of a "big sponge" as the concrete it's sitting on.