Landscape Maintenance Advice for Everything Firewood
Probably the most common landscape maintenance topic discussed in the winter months is firewood. For too many people, this is a topic critical to their survival. A lot goes into operating a fireplace beyond just building a fire. It’s crucial to know how to buy firewood, what type of wood to look for and what to look for in the wood you buy, where to store your wood, and of course, operating your fireplace safely. If this seems overwhelming, have no worries, Landworks, Inc. in Kansas City is here to make sure you have all the landscape maintenance information to get started operating your fireplace.
How to Buy
Firewood is sold by many major hardware stores as well as by local harvesting businesses. Wherever you buy your firewood from, if you’re new to the practice, you’ll want to know what a cord is. A cord is the standard measurement for firewood, a cord is 128 cubic feet. When stacked, it measures approximately 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long.
When buying firewood for an indoor fireplace or wood stove, you’ll want dense firewood like oak or maple. Softer wood will burn faster and doesn’t create long-lasting coals. Wood that is well seasoned is ideal. Dry seasoned wood is lighter than wet wood and will make a hollow sound when you hit two pieces together. Look at the ends of the log, if they are dark in color and cracked, they are dry. If there is any green color visible or the bark is hard to peel, the log is not yet dry.
Storing Wood
The ideal solution for storing your firewood is to have it outside. This might require some landscape maintenance preparation. Logs should be stored neatly, with the outside of the wood exposed to the air. Firewood should be placed on top of plastic sheeting or on a wooden log store.
To avoid pests entering your home, you should store firewood a short distance from the home away from the building’s exterior. Additionally, to avoid pests, don’t store firewood under trees and don’t leave the firewood in a heap. An elevated rack that is covered yet ventilated to allow airflow is the best solution.
Fireplace Safety
Our team’s most important landscape maintenance advice around firewood is how to safely operate a fireplace or wood burning stove:
- Never leave a fire in a fireplace or wood burning stove unattended
- Make sure the fire is completely out before going to bed or leaving the house.
- If you leave the room while a fire is burning or the fireplace is still hot, take small children out of the room with you.
- Put fireplace tools and accessories out of the reach of children
- Clean the interior of your fireplace
- Install carbon monoxide and smoke alarms
- Check your chimney and chimney cap
Landworks, Inc. is here for all your landscape maintenance questions. Call us at (913) 422-9300 or click here to contact us online.