just what is he doing wrong -- UPDATE

[simba20]

UPDATE: I don't know what happened, maybe the planets aligned in the right way, maybe he touched a lucky horseshoe, maybe we need to go buy a lottery ticket now, but today HE GOT THE FIRE GOING! We did stop at the grocery store after church and bought these little Duraflame firestart logs, and he cleaned out the fireplace and all the stuff under the grate that we had previosuly tried (newspaper ask, small logs/branches), and somehow the fire started and took. We've had it going for 2 hours now, and are doing successful adding logs.

Anyway, I read your tips this morning before church (didn't have time to respond) and passed some on to him, so maybe he used some of them. I don't know, but now we have a fire. WOOT!

Chances are some of the wood is not cured. It came from a landscaping yard near our house, and while there are always large piles (cords) of wood that we can see from the road, who knows when it was cut. Anyway, to the person who suggested not keeping it in the garage for fear of critters, don't worry, we do plan on moving it out, likely next weekend, after the storm that is coming passes. We have it at the end of the garage, near the garage door. we put it inside to help keep it fry and to help get it dry. We have a pile that is chest high, so we plan on cutting that down to knee high and moving the rest outside. We don't plan on having fires every night. As I told the hubster when he brought the wood home yesterday "OMG this load is endless. We could sell some to the neighbors." LOL!

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We have a wood buring fireplace. Last week, hubster went rummaging around where they are clearing land for some new housing developments and got some wood to build a fire with (logs/tress/branches). The fire just would not start.

Today he decides to go to this landscaping yard near our house, and bought a ton of wood (like an entire truck bed full) for $60. It was really a huge amount. We almost bought a cord before Christmas for $120......

Anyway, he brings the wood home, we stack it inside our garage (only dry covered place at our house) and we bring in a few pieces to try to start a fire. Fire would not start. One piece of wood burned slightly (got charred), but the fire quickly fizzled out.

What is he doing wrong?

Tomorrow we plan on buying some long matches and a firestarter log (duraflame), but we have been using some of the smaller/kindling pieces of wood and newspaper to try and start the fire, but it just won't take. I say we, but I mean he.

Growing up, I had a wood buring fireplace, which my parents used until I was 8. Then they said it just sucked all of the warm air out of the house and quit using it. My husband grew up in a house with a wood buring fireplace and a family that embraced having a fire so he is stumped as to why he cannot get this going, as he did it growing up (although the last time he ever probably started a wood bring fire would have been 16/17 years ago).

 

[Tinijocaro]

Could it be that the wood hasn't been aged (dried out)? Don't they usually leave the wood sit for a certain period of time so it can dry out? Freshly cut wood has too much moisture in it to burn.

 

[J/T Gramdma]

The wood is probably green wood. We used to get downed wood all the time and cut it into short lengths. We always had to let it sit and season, so we could use it the following year.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You cannot use "green wood" or new wood to have fires with in your home, it needs to be aged at least 1-2yrs.

It is full of moisture and sap.

Here is a link how to season green wood.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4511689_season-green-firewood.html​

 

[muffyn]

We have a wood buring fireplace. Last week, hubster went rummaging around where they are clearing land for some new housing developments and got some wood to build a fire with (logs/tress/branches). The fire just would not start.


Anyway, he brings the wood home, we stack it inside our garage (only dry covered place at our house) and we bring in a few pieces to try to start a fire. Fire would not start. One piece of wood burned slightly (got charred), but the fire quickly fizzled out.

What is he doing wrong?

Tomorrow we plan on buying some long matches and a firestarter log (duraflame), but we have been using some of the smaller/kindling pieces of wood and newspaper to try and start the fire, but it just won't take. I say we, but I mean he.

Growing up, I had a wood buring fireplace, which my parents used until I was 8. Then they said it just sucked all of the warm air out of the house and quit using it. My husband grew up in a house with a wood buring fireplace and a family that embraced having a fire so he is stumped as to why he cannot get this going, as he did it growing up (although the last time he ever probably started a wood bring fire would have been 16/17 years ago).

we use a franklin stove in our kitchen & regular woodburner in the great room to heat our home . (when we are away, we will use a secondary gas wall heater).
I can never get our kitchen fireplace to start burning unless I use a starter log. I get a log & chunk out pieces , usually with a big scewdriver, & put a couple in under the wood. (the smaller sticks are less messy, but more expensive) using a propane heating torch also is a lot easier than trying matches.
also to get a good draw stuff some newspaper up the flu, light it and open a door a bit to get an air flow sucked up the chimney.

been times we have used pretty green wood ( in fact this years wood supply is from forested trees downed in september) & still usually been able to get fires going. & more often than not it has snow on it when we bring it in.

LOVE the fireplaces. carrying wood , not so much........ chopping it in under 30 degree weather,,even worse... ( which seems to be when we are doing it this year...


I dunno about the theory that all heat is sucked up chimneys. since we ONLY use the fireplaces we have to heat the house, it is certainly toasty in house with it still being 20 degrees out now.

 

[DMRick]

Does he have air coming in (and under the wood)? We heat with wood, so our woodstove is going all the time..but on the few occasions it has to be started anew, hubby opens the window in the backdoor.
If we don't have some really light and soft pine nice and dry, he'll use a firestarter to get it going. He needs a pretty big flame, to get the draft going (he did open the draft, right?).
By the way, that's a great price for a cord of wood..it's double that for hardwood here for a full cord.

 

[goofyernmost]

I'm thinking it could be a number of things. The first is that the wood is too wet. Another more basic thing would be the use of kindling and maybe old news paper to start the fire first and then throw the larger logs on top of it after a good bed of hot coals and flames have been established.

If the venting isn't good enough you should know that quick enough because the smoke will be inside your house instead of going out the chimney. If all that fails see if you can locate a friend that has experience and see if they can pinpoint the problem.

 

[Lucky4me]

Be careful with the starter logs. They are full of chemicals and not the best for fireplace chimneys.
We've been heating with wood only for 15 years.
This is how I make a fire-
Start with rolled newspaper. Really twist each piece up tight. Put about ten-twenty sheets on the bottom of stove/fireplace. Add kindling loosely over the top of the paper. I like to build a teepee of sorts if possible. When that catches, add slightly larger pieces, but not whole logs yet. When the slightly larger pieces are going well, add your bigger logs.
We've had years where all we used was green wood. It was more difficult, but doable. The most important thing is making sure there is air flow through everything you put in. Paper, kindling and wood. Don't stack everything too close together.
You also may want to crack a window near the stove for more air flow.
When it's above freezing outside we have to do this.

Sometimes my dh can't get a fire going no matter how hard he tries. Then I come to the rescue and get one started pronto using the above directions.
I think it's funny, he gets mad.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Also, be careful when storing wood in your garage. If the wood has termites or any other "critter" your house could easily become infested. We store a pile near the house and covered with a tarp.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Also, be careful when storing wood in your garage. If the wood has termites or any other "critter" your house could easily become infested. We store a pile near the house and covered with a tarp.

Great advice. The OP probably has green wood that needs to be aged to dry it out.

 

[Skywalker]

It could be that the chimney needs to be cleaned. We had that happen a couple of times in the past when the fire just would not start...turns out it was all the black stuff building up in the actual chimney was suffocating the fire.

 

[Nancyg56]

It could be that the chimney needs to be cleaned. We had that happen a couple of times in the past when the fire just would not start...turns out it was all the black stuff building up in the actual chimney was suffocating the fire.

DH will not use our fireplace until the chimney is cleaned. We have it done every year to be on the safe side. DH was a volunteer firefighter and he said there were too many chimney fires so we never take a chance.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

It could be that the chimney needs to be cleaned. We had that happen a couple of times in the past when the fire just would not start...turns out it was all the black stuff building up in the actual chimney was suffocating the fire.

Chimneys should be professionally cleaned and safety checked yearly!
And that "black stuff" (creosote) builds up really fast if your wood is not properly cured...one of the big dangers of using green wood.

 

[golfgal]

Make sure the flue is open too.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Chimneys should be professionally cleaned and safety checked yearly!
And that "black stuff" (creosote) builds up really fast if your wood is not properly cured...one of the big dangers of using green wood.

Yep. esp. fresh cut! It has to just be full of sap. It is not smart to use "green wood".

 

[undertheradar]

Like others have posted, you need to build your fire slowly. An insulating pile of ashes helps to hold the heat as the chimney warms. If you have a cold chimney, the downdraft of cold air is working against the rising heat from your small fire. Starting with rolled newspapers and dry kindling, you should be able to get a small fire going. You need to keep building the fire slowly, adding larger logs once you have the fire stoked. Otherwise, your cold logs will kill the flame.