Got wood?

September 14, 2005 1:27 AM

We have a number of open fires in our house, and I'd like to start using them. But where can I find a decent source of wood?

We've had the chimneys swept, and the sweep gave them a once over and said we were fine to start using them. But I don't know where to source fire wood in the UK. Any tips on cheap sources for good fire wood? More specifically I'm in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.

posted by blacksky to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Call these folk and see what they say:
Lowther Brothers (Bradford)
Rob Holmes (Bradford)
Bingley Log Services (Bingley)
posted by pracowity at 2:14 AM on September 14, 2005

Landscapers often have loads of wood that they have to dispose of. My father in-law has an arrangement with a couple of landscapers. He lives on their way out of the city and they would much rather drop off loads at his house than have to drive them out to a disposal site in the country.

He basically heats his house for free all winter with the free loads of wood that occasionally show up after they've cut a hardwood tree somewhere.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:24 AM on September 14, 2005

see if you can find a local sawmill. They will have offal from sawing called "slab wood". They usually bundle and sell this as firewodd. you will probably need to saw the pieces into a manageable size yourself.
posted by cosmicbandito at 6:45 AM on September 14, 2005

If you have a local Craigslist equivalent, that's where I usually find my firewood. That, and friends who live out in the countryside invariably have logs from trees they've removed over time, and a weekend with a chainsaw and the cost of renting a splitter will get you more than you'll ever need.
posted by SpecialK at 2:05 PM on September 14, 2005

If you know anyone that works in a warehouse, you may be able to source fee or cheap pallets*. You'd have to cut them down to size & they're full of nails, but they're often in plentiful supply. Sometimes they're even piled up near garbage bins if you don't mind scavenging.

*(not sure if that's what they're called in the UK - but I mean the flat wooden boxes that cases of products are often shipped on)
posted by raedyn at 3:53 PM on September 14, 2005

Don't burn pallets unless you need to. They burn horribly.

Try to find hardwoods - oak is what we use here (Oregon), and it will burn forever. Stay away from anything soft.

As for where to get it... call people that live out of town (the UK does have countryside, doesn't it?), and see if they'll let you cut some wood. A few oak branches will last you a winter easily, if they're trimming.
posted by devilsbrigade at 4:29 PM on September 14, 2005

I wonder what your local Council does with all of its storm damaged trees, etc.? And some people I know make recycled logs from compressed newspaper, which seems to work (though I'm not sure of the method).
posted by wilful at 7:45 PM on September 14, 2005