Firewood Safety

Firewood Storage

There are two main concerns with storing firewood:

  1. Moisture
  2. Insects

And three ways to protect yourself

  1. Keep it off the ground
  2. Keep it covered
  3. Keep it away from your house

While firewood must be kept dry to burn properly, it must never be stored indoors. This is because there is never a guarantee that insects will not find the wood. All firewood, regardless of type or source, will attract insects. The key is making sure they cannot become a nuisance.

Always store firewood in a rack that keeps the wood off the ground. This keeps moisture from rising into the wood from the ground and it keeps ground-crawling insects off the wood. Our firewood racks are a perfect solution.

When rain is coming or your sprinklers are going off, keep the wood covered by using a tarp or buy a firewood rack that comes with a cover. This will protect the wood from rain and other sources of moisture. But if you are using a tarp that doesn’t allow airflow, be sure to take it off on nice days because the wood will mildew or mold without airflow. Again, our firewood racks are a perfect solution with custom patent-pending covers that protect from moisture but allow airflow.

Never store firewood indoors and it is safest to not store firewood against your home. In the event that insects find the wood, you want to keep the distance to your home at a maximum. Only bring a small amount of firewood indoors within one day of burning.

When delivering, we will ultimately put the firewood where you tell us, but we strongly urge you to follow these guidelines.

Chimney Care

Get a chimney sweep once a year!

When burning firewood in a fireplace, you must always consider proper chimney care.

It is recommended that you have your chimney cleaned by a professional once each year for soundness, freedom of deposits, and correct clearances.

Creosote is a natural byproduct of woodburning and can buildup in your chimney. If left long enough, it can be a fire hazard. Even if you don’t use your fireplace, animals can build nests in the flue or there could be other deteriorations that could make the fireplace unsafe for use.

For more information on chimney safety and burning firewood:
http://www.csia.org/HomeownerResources/ChimneySafetyInfo/tabid/112/Default.aspx

Cooking

Piñon firewood is not good for cooking!
(marshmallows are okay, though ☺) 

Piñon firewood will give your food a funny taste. Because it is from the pine family it will make your food taste like turpentine, a sort of piney flavor. It is okay to roast marshmallows with piñon because the flavor comes out in the smoke over time and since you will be roasting them over the coals for a short period of time, it is just fine!