Newbie Saying Hey

[dorkweed]

I've been lurking here for a couple weeks now. All I can say is; WOW! Great site. I've read/skimmed back about 75 pages worth. Learned a bunch. Seems like I know some of y'all already!!

Don't have a wood stove yet, but I'm in the planning stages for install once the weather breaks in the Spring. I'm gonna tear out an old POS ZC fireplace and replace it with a wood stove. Leaning toward a Jotul F3CB now, but that may change. I'm not using the ZC fireplace because the hearth and surround are falling apart. Don't want to burn my little POS ranch house down

The chase for the ZC is in the garage (retrofit) and goes up into the attic above the garage, and then out the roof. I plan on getting rid of the garage chase completely and re-framing, insulating, etc. the hole in the living room where it was. From there; I plan on building a hearth pad for the stove and put nice tile or stone on the wall behind it.

Most of my initial questions have been answered in my lurking and reading, but I'm sure I'll have some as the project gets underway. Thanks again!!

 

[corey21]

Welcome on board you come to the right place.

 

[ScotO]

i was the same way not too long ago. I have been burning for years and thought I knew a lot, till I came here and found out there's lots more to learn....this is a great community of folks who may have different ideas, opinions, and views. But we all have one thing in common...the love of heating with wood! Welcome to the family!

 

[PapaDave]

Welcome to the Hearth, dorkweed. If you've done all that reading, you may have read that w/o pics, it didn't happen. That's your cue.
We'll wait. :coolsmile:

 

[jharkin]

Welcome dorkweed!

I cant believe it that I'm going to beat the long timers to saying this! :

Start collecting your wood now, before you install that stove. It will make for a much happier first burn season.

 

[spaceman spiff]

Welcome dorkweed!

I cant believe it that I'm going to beat the long timers to saying this! :

Start collecting your wood now, before you install that stove. It will make for a much happier first burn season.

words of wisdom, heed well.........


I'm a newby to this site too. Most of the trials a woodburner faces are due to unseasoned wood.


spaceman

 

[Huntindog1]

Good time to get your stuff as winter clearances are starting to appear.

 

[remkel]

Welcome. Looking forward to hearing about your purchase/install process.

 

[dorkweed]

Welcome dorkweed!

I cant believe it that I'm going to beat the long timers to saying this! :

Start collecting your wood now, before you install that stove. It will make for a much happier first burn season.

I hear that!! I've got about 1/2 cord in my shed now that was gonna be burned in the ZC fireplace. It'll get saved until next season. At least initially, I just plan on supplementing my home heating until I become a bit more proficient at burning. I also scrounged about another 1/2-3/4 cord from a fellow down the street. We had a terrific wind storm here this past summer that had the whole neighborhood without power for anywhere from 3-8 days. Anyhow this neighbor has had 3 trees down in his yard since. I finally stopped and asked if they were spoken for one day; and he said they were mine.

I went there last week and cut a bunch of it up. Still have a fair bit to go, but now it got cold and we've finally got snow on the ground..........so gotta wait to get the rest of the wood.

When y'all talk about "seasoned" firewood, does that start once the tree is cut into appropriate length pieces and stacked to dry..........or after it's split and stacked to dry further??? I did a search on that, and nothing really answered that question for me. Thanks again!!

 

[Gark]

Welcome to the right place, DW. My understanding of seasoning (and experience) is that the wood fuel must be CUT and SPLIT and STACKED in the windiest sunny place you can manage before the wood really seasons. Some species take longer to season- oak can take years. C/S/S is a discussion seen here alot. The Wood Shed is a good resource for sure.

 

[firefighterjake]

Welcome to hearth.com.

 

[Wood Duck]

Hey right back atcha.

Try to get your wood split and stacked with plenty of air space in an open location ASAP. If you can get a cord or two stacked now it will get an extra couple of months to season compared to waiting for spring, and that might make a big difference in the fall. I am sure wood seasons a little as soon as the tree dies or falls, and a little faster once cut to length, but neither of those conditions is anywhere near as good as split and stacked.

 

[Jags]

Welcome Dorkweed. What part of the state do you reside?? Your initial thought of supplemental heat will probably change after about week two of burning. Mark my words - get your wood supply ready asap. Your gonna want to burn baby burn. ;-)

And your question had already been answered, but I will say it again. CUT - SPLIT - STACKED.

 

[firefighterjake]

Welcome dorkweed!

I cant believe it that I'm going to beat the long timers to saying this! :

Start collecting your wood now, before you install that stove. It will make for a much happier first burn season.

I hear that!! I've got about 1/2 cord in my shed now that was gonna be burned in the ZC fireplace. It'll get saved until next season. At least initially, I just plan on supplementing my home heating until I become a bit more proficient at burning. I also scrounged about another 1/2-3/4 cord from a fellow down the street. We had a terrific wind storm here this past summer that had the whole neighborhood without power for anywhere from 3-8 days. Anyhow this neighbor has had 3 trees down in his yard since. I finally stopped and asked if they were spoken for one day; and he said they were mine.

I went there last week and cut a bunch of it up. Still have a fair bit to go, but now it got cold and we've finally got snow on the ground..........so gotta wait to get the rest of the wood.

When y'all talk about "seasoned" firewood, does that start once the tree is cut into appropriate length pieces and stacked to dry..........or after it's split and stacked to dry further??? I did a search on that, and nothing really answered that question for me. Thanks again!!

Most of us consider the start of seasoned wood to be when the wood is cut, split and stacked . . .

Also . . . as Jags mentioned . . . get more than you think you need. A) You may be like a lot of us who originally thought we would just supplement our heating by burning with wood on weekends or evenings . . . and then discovered the cheap, beautiful to look at wood heat was far, far better or B) By having more wood you will not run out . . . no one ever complains about having too much wood at the end of winter . . . for most folks it just means any left over wood is the start of the following year's firewood.

 

[CTYank]

When y'all talk about "seasoned" firewood, does that start once the tree is cut into appropriate length pieces and stacked to dry..........or after it's split and stacked to dry further??? I did a search on that, and nothing really answered that question for me. Thanks again!!

Mostly, talk about "seasoned" wood just warms the air. Doesn't really tell anyone anything quantifiable. IOW, waste of time, enabler of scams.

OTOH, lumber (which is wood- doh) processing professionals have researched air-drying of wood, along with USDA researchers. Authors of woodworking books sometimes include details of managing moisture in wood. Not rocket-science. How to get water to leave wood, and stay gone.

The metric involved is "MC" (moisture-content.) Lower is better. Water leaves via cut ends & split faces; longer distances -> more time rqd. Thus, the advice to get it cut and split ASAP. Water leaves wood as water vapor to the air. Thus the advice to also get it stacked ASAP (exposed to air.)

MC below 20% means "burnable." MC at/below 10%, IME, means "very nicely burnable." Moisture-meters can be had for $10 @ Harbor Freight.

Bottom line: get it c/s/s ASAP off the ground, exposed to the SW breezes, and cover the top so rain doesn't infiltrate. Do this with far more wood than you might think you'd burn. Your first season, you'll use notably more than in subsequent seasons, and figure out just how much you need per season. THEN you continue adding to wood inventory, so you're years ahead. Others will explain why that's good, except in odd spots in MN.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

dorkweed... huh huh
dorkweed

welcome aboard!

 

[FireAnt]

Welcome! What everybody said above. Get more wood than you think you need! Get it C/S/S.

 

[dorkweed]

Welcome Dorkweed. What part of the state do you reside?? Your initial thought of supplemental heat will probably change after about week two of burning. Mark my words - get your wood supply ready asap. Your gonna want to burn baby burn. ;-)

And your question had already been answered, but I will say it again. CUT - SPLIT - STACKED.

Jags, I'm in West Miltmore aka, unincorporated Lake county South of Lake Villa. Technically I have a Lake Villa mailing address, but I use West Miltmore.

Thanks for your advice!!

 

[kenny chaos]

We smoked a lot of dorkweed in the Marines and found many answers there.
I bow to you Dorkweed.
Kenny

 

[dorkweed]

We smoked a lot of dorkweed in the Marines and found many answers there.
I bow to you Dorkweed.
Kenny

Semper Fi!!

 

[kenny chaos]

We smoked a lot of dorkweed in the Marines and found many answers there.
I bow to you Dorkweed.
Kenny

Semper Fi!!

Semper Fi Scrotus!!
Kenny

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum dorkweed.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome dorkweed!

I cant believe it that I'm going to beat the long timers to saying this! :

Start collecting your wood now, before you install that stove. It will make for a much happier first burn season.

It's all in the timing jharkin! ;-)