I received my first chord wood delivery ever, last Monday. As I have started stacking I noticed that a large amount of the wood has mold and a lot of decay and is completely saturated. It appears that it was at the very bottom of an old wood pile that was directly on the ground. the 18"logs are extremely heavy, and others are falling apart in my hand. In my guestamation about 25-30 percent of the load is this way. I was told that all the wood would be a minimum of "2 years seasoned." I am novice to firewood burning. My question, Is this par for the course? If not do I have any recourse. I started separating the bad from the good. Any info would be helpful.
Sounds rotten. Got some pics? If the sapwood is just punky, keeping the splits covered from the rain will let them dry out quick
Falling apart in your hand, saturated, doesn't sound very good. Post some close up pictures if you can. I would be calling the seller up immediately let him know you're not happy. Most of the time people say the wood is Seasoned but it actually is not, but crumbling rotten wood is definitely not the norm. Do you have a moisture meter, I'm guessing not can you test some out, burn it outside in a fire pit or something? If you're buying from someone you never bought from before it's good to,, just buy a third of a cord (face cord) than if you're happy you can buy more and you will not get screwed so bad if your not happy
Tell the supplier to replace the rotten unseasoned pieces with properly seasoned (under 20% moisture content) firewood. If they refuse, take a look at this site.. http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/WM/WMwood.html And contact these people. Hopefully you have a receipt and the ability to get a hold of the supplier.
Oh yeah.. and welcome to FHC!!! Unfortunate first post but you've come to the right place for advice and to improve your wood burning knowledge!!!
Welcome to FHC, Hunker down ... A lot of good reading on here, so grab a seat and enjoy... But it does sound like you were taken advantage of. I'd be calling them back to see if they will make it right. IF not do as Stuckinthemuchk suggest... And just learn from the situation... Good Luck...
It sure sounds like you were taken for a ride everyone on here doesn't pay for wood. We go and get it. Call the guy up and let him know that the stuff u paid for is not seasoned wood. GOOD LUCK
[QUOTE="stuckinthemuck, post: 165749,it member:don't ]Oh, we ALL pay for it... In one way or another....[/QUOTE] Thats so true hard labor but we love It and we dont have to pay the oil man
Hunker down did you check the FHC map to see if any big dudes live near you? Sounds like you may need to take a little persuasion with you.
Welcome aboard! Unfortunately it's hard to find an honest wood processor... When he says dry two years that usually means laying in a log form for two years. The wood will not dry at all in log form vs splits. Hardly any wood processors split more than a few months on advance and do not like to tell you that fact so they fudge the truth. It's sad but true! There are good ones out there so google the snot out off their names and look for the best reviews you can!
I would just like to thank everyone, for the responses. It's nice to have a site like this to be able To ask the novice questions. I will send some pics. Thanks again for all the helpful info!
First off, welcome aboard Hunkerdown. Next, call this guy and tell him you bought firewood, not mulch. Come back and take the mulch, and replace with firewood. What kind of wood is it? You've definitely come to the right place for gooder info on all things firewood.
Papadave, the mulch description was dead on. And actually snapped me into reality and gave me a chuckle in a bad situation.. I know buying wood is not the norm here! How ever I live in suburbia Long Ialsnd, surrounded by sand from eroding beaches. I am trying to better my family by lowering our monthly fuel costs. I have a two year old daughter and last winter it cost me approx $700 per month from November to April to heat our home. At an Average temp of 66 degrees. We were cold. So that is why im here. There is a part of me that is envious of the members of the site who have the opportunity to heat there homes with blood, sweat and tears.. Thanks again to all the members, that responded to my post. Happy to be here!