Thread: So I'm a little ticked off...

Earlier this year I decided I wanted to start using wood to heat my home. For the last 4 years the only thing I had was electric heat and the winters were brutal on my wallet. I cut wood for next year but I needed some for this year so I had to pony up and buy some.

I got 2 cords in December from Wainwright Timber Products located in Waterford, Connecticut. The stuff burned great and got me through the brunt of the winter.

In February I was getting low so I called again and ordered another cord. He calls me an hour after he was supposed to deliver and told me "I totally forgot about you, I can be there in an hour" I say fine and he comes over.

I had a few dozen logs left over from the last 2 cords so I burned through those first before I got to the new stuff. When I finally threw the new stuff in I was for a suprise...the stuff was soaking wet. I tried several different pieces with the same result. I call and explain the situation and he tells me that "This load was from the middle of the pile so it may not have gotten a lot of air & it will probably dry out". He offered to look for some stuff to swap out and call me back.

Well after waiting a day for him to call I called him. He said he didn't have anything to swap out and that he burned some and it was fine. I explained it wasn't my imagination and that the stuff was wet. I told him I wanted a refund & for him to come pick up the wood.

Today he calls to let me know he can come by to get it but now he's going to deduct what I burned, which was all of 8 pieces, and that there was a 10% handling fee for him to come get it. He went on to tell me that I could bring it back to him in my pickup and forget about the 10% fee.

This is where I came unglued.. Since he was a friend of a friend I was nice about it up until this point although I was fuming inside. This joker sold me green wood and now won"t stand behind his product. To show how crappy this stuff is I took a few pics...

I think I have a valid argument here, how about you guys...?

Originally Posted by Echo6 Sierra

Earlier this year I decided I wanted to start using wood to heat my home. For the last 4 years the only thing I had was electric heat and the winters were brutal on my wallet. I cut wood for next year but I needed some for this year so I had to pony up and buy some.

I got 2 cords in December from Wainwright Timber Products located in Waterford, Connecticut. The stuff burned great and got me through the brunt of the winter.

In February I was getting low so I called again and ordered another cord. He calls me an hour after he was supposed to deliver and told me "I totally forgot about you, I can be there in an hour" I say fine and he comes over.

I had a few dozen logs left over from the last 2 cords so I burned through those first before I got to the new stuff. When I finally threw the new stuff in I was for a suprise...the stuff was soaking wet. I tried several different pieces with the same result. I call and explain the situation and he tells me that "This load was from the middle of the pile so it may not have gotten a lot of air & it will probably dry out". He offered to look for some stuff to swap out and call me back.

Well after waiting a day for him to call I called him. He said he didn't have anything to swap out and that he burned some and it was fine. I explained it wasn't my imagination and that the stuff was wet. I told him I wanted a refund & for him to come pick up the wood.

Today he calls to let me know he can come by to get it but now he's going to deduct what I burned, which was all of 8 pieces, and that there was a 10% handling fee for him to come get it. He went on to tell me that I could bring it back to him in my pickup and forget about the 10% fee.

This is where I came unglued.. Since he was a friend of a friend I was nice about it up until this point although I was fuming inside. This joker sold me green wood and now won"t stand behind his product. To show how crappy this stuff is I took a few pics...

I think I have a valid argument here, how about you guys...?

Nope I don't like it when my wood hisses and spits at me either.....

You bought wood in Feb.. The seller is probably out of all his seasoned stuff. You underbought this year and now have a good idea of what you need for next year.

A lesson learned (however painfully).

By the looks of the pics, I'd say that your wood is WET but not GREEN. It appears to be dull, and checked (cracked) some which indicates some level of seasoning. That outer shell will certainly spit and hiss if wood is uncovered and wet from the elements, but that shouldn't last long once you have some coals going. Did he say when he cut it ?

Originally Posted by Dale

By the looks of the pics, I'd say that your wood is WET but not GREEN. It appears to be dull, and checked (cracked) some which indicates some level of seasoning. That outer shell will certainly spit and hiss if wood is uncovered and wet from the elements, but that shouldn't last long once you have some coals going. Did he say when he cut it ?

exactly..I see water. Just burn it and go on..Next year you will be prepared. That would has signs of seasoning on the ends.. It might be rained on wet.. But that is different than green wood.

Looked at the pics.

Just this morning I put in some two year old, (split, under cover, south facing) wood, and it foamed/spit on the ends for about 5-10 minutes. It burned fine, no smoke after that.

Your pics show wood that has end checking, which is one benchmark for determing if wood has been cut/split/seasoned adequately, and it looks like you did get decent wood. It could have been better, but you could help your situation by keeping three days worth of wood in the house so it drys out further and warms up more. It does make a difference if you've had humid days in your area, even though its winter.

I've had red oak that took three years, stacked loose, in the sun/wind before it didn't hiss like that.

It's entirely possible that you received wood from the middle of a large pile, and yes, it will have more moisture, but it would still qualify as being seasoned.


Take some pieces, keep them in the house where it is room temperature, good airflow(not in a corner), and watch them over 24 hours, if the ends show checking, and the checking opens more over time, then its just atmospheric moisture that is coming out. Wood is hygroscopic, it absorbs the outside moisture like a sponge. You need to allow for that.

In the future, try to have one years wood ready, and another years wood stacked/drying off the ground, like on pallets.

Thanks for the pics, it made it easier for us to help you.

Also, thanks for keeping the kb size down.

Thanks for the feedback. I only bought 2 cords in Feb because I move it all inside and didn't have room for a third.

I have 5 cord outside that I cut seasoning for next year, I only bought this because I was in a pinch and didn't want to use electric heat this year.

The wood may have been cut a while ago and be somewhat seasoned but this is from the bottom of the pile by his own admission. My friend tells me he doesn't even stack it, just throws it in a heaping pile in a field. No wonder its not burning. My chief complaint is that I can't get my stove up to 600-650* like I was with the last stuff. Also I have to leave the door cracked for a while before I can close it or else the fire dies, even with a good bed of coals.

Unfortunately, this is what happens when you get wood from someone else. Rarely will you find completely dry wood, even if it has been cut for a while. You'll get through using it, but it won't be as good. Keep an eye on your chimney, as boiling the water will take BTUs and allow for more creosote build up.

Originally Posted by Dale

By the looks of the pics, I'd say that your wood is WET but not GREEN. It appears to be dull, and checked (cracked) some which indicates some level of seasoning. That outer shell will certainly spit and hiss if wood is uncovered and wet from the elements, but that shouldn't last long once you have some coals going.

Originally Posted by Dale

By the looks of the pics, I'd say that your wood is WET but not GREEN. It appears to be dull, and checked (cracked) some which indicates some level of seasoning. That outer shell will certainly spit and hiss if wood is uncovered and wet from the elements, but that shouldn't last long once you have some coals going. Did he say when he cut it ?

The gray ended pieces were seasoned but I bet they got rained on and so now are wet. There are some pieces that show fresh saw marks and are not gray. They look to be cut from a downed log and they have some checking indicating they are dry, but they could still have a lot of moisture in them. If you can stack the wood inside it will lose that soaked up water pretty fast this time of year. Houses are dry and that moisture comes out pretty quick. I have some pieces from my pile that were right under a leak in the tarp and so they are very wet. They get put into the bottom of the wood box and left for 2-3 days and then they are usually good to go. If I can leave them a week they are very dry.

looks like red oak ..and we all know that stuff takes a long time to season properly

Get out your splitter and split it smaller to get more surface area exposed to air or coal...The trade off will be it might burn a little faster, but should put off more heat and get rid of the moisture faster...

Originally Posted by outdoorlivin247

Get out your splitter and split it smaller to get more surface area exposed to air or coal...The trade off will be it might burn a little faster, but should put off more heat and get rid of the moisture faster...

I was going to suggest something similar for the wood you intend to burn over the next 1-2 weeks while the rest of the supply dries out.

I'm a bit hesitant to point to end checking as a surefire proof of seasoning - especially since surface checking can take place in the firebox itself. But based on the 'look' of most of the splits, it appears you have wet seasoned wood.

And "wet moisture" is preferable to "green moisture." Assuming you have space indoors to stack and dry, you should be okay by late month.