Where can I buy dense firewood?

[Mar]

I like having fires on my back deck when company comes over but those pieces from the gas station are very porous so I find it burns out very fast and costs like $10. Is there somewhere close I can chop down some birch legally or buy it?

[theken]

Go to burnco, get a truck load for like 40 bucks I think

[ExtraSlow]

Lots of places locally sell birch or other dense woods for firewood. Some of them deliver. Burnco is probably your cheapest option, they sell birch.
Google and ten minutes will solve this problem.

[C_Dave45]

Or, just go to a new sub-division and grab a bunch of the left over lumber from a newly framed house. Cut it up with a chop saw to uniform lengths (24") and you've got perfectly clean, dry wood for your firepit. Free. I can fill up my entire van inside of 30 minutes...takes me about the same at home with the chop saw and that will last me most of the winter for my firepit and inside fireplace.

[Mar]

Originally posted by C_Dave45
Or, just go to a new sub-division and grab a bunch of the left over lumber from a newly framed house. Cut it up with a chop saw to uniform lengths (24") and you've got perfectly clean, dry wood for your firepit. Free. I can fill up my entire van inside of 30 minutes...takes me about the same at home with the chop saw and that will last me most of the winter for my firepit and inside fireplace.
Do the builders welcome the free clean up or do they want to keep it for some reason?

[BrknFngrs]

Old pallets are great too if you can get them. They also burn really hot.

[ExtraSlow]

2x4 lumber burns really fast, I thought Mar was trying to avoid this?

[Guillermo]

if you're looking to cut your own you can get a permit from SRD for like $10, but you can only cut standing dead.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Ornamental Stone up by the airport sells birch by the cubic foot or truckload, but it's more expensive than pine.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by Mar

Do the builders welcome the free clean up or do they want to keep it for some reason?

Well I always go on a Sunday. Going mid-week is a bit tough, as its packed with trucks and workers, and technically each house is a "construction site", and coming in with street clothes digging through the lumber will probably get you a little flak. Most of the lumber is just thrown into the garbage bins. The framers couldn't care less what you take (as long as your not grabbing good lumber). But going on a Sunday is a lot easier.



Originally posted by ExtraSlow
2x4 lumber burns really fast, I thought Mar was trying to avoid this?

Yes kiln dried lumber does burn quite fast. But using twice as much "free" wood is still better than paying for half as much. A truck load from Burnco will run you about $100. Birch is even more expensive. Like I said...an hours worth of work gives me enough wood for a good few weeks of fires.

But there is many advantages to using conventional lumber:


It "snaps, pops, and crackles" like a motherfucker!
It stacks perfectly in your garage or patio
It's clean...no sap, and no dirt or bark all over the place
It cuts into kindling with a hatchet like butter
You help our landfills from getting filled up
And...its FREE!! :)

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


Well I always go on a Sunday. Going mid-week is a bit tough, as its packed with trucks and workers, and technically each house is a "construction site", and coming in with street clothes digging through the lumber will probably get you a little flak. Most of the lumber is just thrown into the garbage bins. The framers couldn't care less what you take (as long as your not grabbing good lumber). But going on a Sunday is a lot easier.




Yes kiln dried lumber does burn quite fast. But using twice as much "free" wood is still better than paying for half as much. A truck load from Burnco will run you about $100. Birch is even more expensive. Like I said...an hours worth of work gives me enough wood for a good few weeks of fires.

But there is many advantages to using conventional lumber:


It "snaps, pops, and crackles" like a motherfucker!
It stacks perfectly in your garage or patio
It's clean...no sap, and no dirt or bark all over the place
It cuts into kindling with a hatchet like butter
You help our landfills from getting filled up
And...its FREE!! :)


This man speaks the truth!

[e31]

I've got a line on a metric shit-ton of 45 year old sun dried cedar shakes. Not only do they stack, but they burn hot as hell.

Let me know if you are interested.