So fall of 2012 I ordered a cord of wood off of CL thinking we would be burning that winter. But other things came up and we didn't have the money to buy an insert, so the wood sat until this year. I scored probably about 2 cords of oak from weather downed trees that fall as well and then also got a 1/4 cord of 3 year old oak, so I thought I would be good. Then I start doing my research this fall as we got ready to buy an insert and Voila! I find out that I made the stereotypical amateur mistake: the CL hardwood I had bought was mostly poplar. AND the weather downed oak needed to be seasoned another year. So we blew through the 1/4 cord of 3 year old oak and all the "good" splits I could haul out of my CL purchase. The wife and I agreed to try to find something on CL to make it through the rest of the winter. I worked my way through CL listings, coming across individuals who didn't even know what a moisture meter was til I found a seller that talked the talk and claimed that he could walk the walk. And of course, he was the most expensive.
Me: "You're advertising that your wood is seasoned and is X%. I need to burn this now to make it through the winter and explicity need SEASONED wood. Will you guarantee that?"
Seller: "Of course! My wood is all oak and is truly seasoned, all under cover. That's why my price is so high."
Me: "Ok. I need this ASAP. You're a long way off so just to forewarn you that before you dump it, I'm going to split a couple of lengths and measure it with my meter. And if it's greater than say, 20%, I'm not going to take it. Capisce?"
Seller: "No problem. blah blah blah, mine is the best, blah blah blah, I'm the last CL seller left with true seasoned wood, blah blah blah, A way to find out if a wood seller knows his stuff is to ask him if he owns a moisture meter, blah blah blah, I heat a 6k sqft house with wood cause I'm the best, blah blah blah, it's illegal to sell firewood in MD that is 30% or greater in moisture content".
Me: "I've never heard of that law before."
Seller: "Yup, it's the law. Anyways, I may sound like a blowhard, but I'll put my seasoned wood where my mouth is any day of the week. See you tomorrow morning. $250 for the wood and $50 to deliver. Cold hard cash."
Me: "See you tomorrow."
So CL Seller shows up. Big trailer full of beautiful oak. "It's soaking wet from all the rain we just had. Other than that, this stuff is great. Here, check this split." And he tosses a split from his side of the trailer to the side I'm at. So I split it and whip out my $40 Home Depot meter that every one else on here has.
29%.
CL Seller: "Try another one. What kind of meter is that? Let me check it with mine."
Me: "It's a $40 Home Depot meter that every one else has."
Seller: "Huh. My meter says 29%. That must have been a fluke split. Try this one."
I check that one. 30%. He checks it with his. 30%. Next I hear a spewing of BS that started with, "You can burn my wood like this", "There's a hole in my tarp", "Jose is to blame, he loaded this trailer and probably put the wrong wood in" to ending with "Give my wood two weeks and it will be ready to go." Each line was contradictory to the previous and obviously didn't jibe with the concept of "SEASONED WOOD". Then he dropped the price $50 to unload it on me since he'd just driven almost 2 hours with the traffic. But we just spent $2k on a vacation and we don't have money to throw around. So off he went in a huff, right after telling me he would unload it on a lady down in Towson.
To top it off his F250 left two 6" diameter oil spots on my very nice, unmarked, still new-looking 6 month old driveway that I paid $6000 to have put in.
Me: "You're advertising that your wood is seasoned and is X%. I need to burn this now to make it through the winter and explicity need SEASONED wood. Will you guarantee that?"
Seller: "Of course! My wood is all oak and is truly seasoned, all under cover. That's why my price is so high."
Me: "Ok. I need this ASAP. You're a long way off so just to forewarn you that before you dump it, I'm going to split a couple of lengths and measure it with my meter. And if it's greater than say, 20%, I'm not going to take it. Capisce?"
Seller: "No problem. blah blah blah, mine is the best, blah blah blah, I'm the last CL seller left with true seasoned wood, blah blah blah, A way to find out if a wood seller knows his stuff is to ask him if he owns a moisture meter, blah blah blah, I heat a 6k sqft house with wood cause I'm the best, blah blah blah, it's illegal to sell firewood in MD that is 30% or greater in moisture content".
Me: "I've never heard of that law before."
Seller: "Yup, it's the law. Anyways, I may sound like a blowhard, but I'll put my seasoned wood where my mouth is any day of the week. See you tomorrow morning. $250 for the wood and $50 to deliver. Cold hard cash."
Me: "See you tomorrow."
So CL Seller shows up. Big trailer full of beautiful oak. "It's soaking wet from all the rain we just had. Other than that, this stuff is great. Here, check this split." And he tosses a split from his side of the trailer to the side I'm at. So I split it and whip out my $40 Home Depot meter that every one else on here has.
29%.
CL Seller: "Try another one. What kind of meter is that? Let me check it with mine."
Me: "It's a $40 Home Depot meter that every one else has."
Seller: "Huh. My meter says 29%. That must have been a fluke split. Try this one."
I check that one. 30%. He checks it with his. 30%. Next I hear a spewing of BS that started with, "You can burn my wood like this", "There's a hole in my tarp", "Jose is to blame, he loaded this trailer and probably put the wrong wood in" to ending with "Give my wood two weeks and it will be ready to go." Each line was contradictory to the previous and obviously didn't jibe with the concept of "SEASONED WOOD". Then he dropped the price $50 to unload it on me since he'd just driven almost 2 hours with the traffic. But we just spent $2k on a vacation and we don't have money to throw around. So off he went in a huff, right after telling me he would unload it on a lady down in Towson.
To top it off his F250 left two 6" diameter oil spots on my very nice, unmarked, still new-looking 6 month old driveway that I paid $6000 to have put in.
