Firewood |
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The comments below are unedited opinions of the colleagues who submitted them. A date (month and year) indicates that the comments following that date are from the given month and year. The most recent comments appear at the bottom.
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10/00 You should put a tarp underneath it if you do plan to store it on the ground (it will rot otherwise) and some people also put tarps over it so that the wood stays dry when it snows (obviously you can't burn wet wood). Some people store it against their house ... maybe under a porch or something (to keep it dry I imagine) but that is also not advisable because the bugs / spiders / insects tend to crawl into the house that way.
| *** Prices are skyrocketing this year due to the projected fuel cost hike. Just call around for the best aged hardwood (including delivery) but be careful where you store it or you will have termites in your house. I do not put it directly on the ground. *** a. A cord is a stack of wood 8 ft long by 4 ft high by 4 ft wide (although this can vary according to how it's stacked, and you have to make sure you're buying from a honest stacker. b. You cannot store wood on the ground (it will decompose and become one with it). You can make very simple platforms upon which to stack your cordwood, using pressuretreated lumber or redwood, or you can store your wood inside (but remember that critters are likely to make the journey in with the wood). Be sure to keep the top layer covered (a tarp will do); the inside will take care of itself. c. Only usage will determine how long your wood will last. If you're only using it for the pleasure of a fire in the fireplace, a cord will last several winters. If you're using it to heat, that's a whole different story. *** A half cord will be plenty if you only do a few fires a year in fact in it could last your several years. as for storage, i just keep a pile outside no fancy log contraption, no tarp and away from the house in case of termites. but you should let air circulate around the wood so it dries out when it gets wet, so simply alternate the direction of the logs for each layer so they dont nestle into each other. i keep a couple of fires worth of wood inside so that i am always sure of having dry wood on hand and also so you dont have to run outside to get wood in a snow storm. but i'm certainly far from an expert on fire wood, so if someone gives you different advice, its probably right. *** 1. A half cord is a LOT of wood. A real cord is (if I recall right) a pile 4' high, 4' deep, and 8' long. Some people say they are selling a "cord" when it is really what is called a "face cord" which is really half a cord only 2 ' deep. I would suggest you get less than half a cord, even if you pay more per unit.... because it will take you quite a while to use that up. 2. Storage set a few bricks on the ground in two parallel lines, and run two pieces of lumber parallel (on top of the bricks). That is all the base you need, and will let air under the pile. Stack the first row of wood across the two pieces of lumber, then pile up the lumber crosswise and crosswise again, so the pile is stable. It is not really necessary to cover the pile, as long as there is good air circulation. When it rains, the top few piees of wood get wet, but they dry quickly. The "wetness" you are trying to get rid of in the wood is the wetness of the wood's own sap, which dries with air circulation. You can tell when firewood is really ready for use when it looks kind of grey on the ends, and when it is "checked" as they say meaning you see cracks along the end of each piece. That should take a few months if the wood is freshly cut. If you want to cover the wood, only cover the top, don't let the tarp run down the sidesthat would impede the air circulation. | |||||||||||||||