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Posted: 3/14/2009 6:59:19 AM EDT
I have a bunch of 8-10" pieces of 2x4's left over from a project. These are not pressure treated, salt treated etc. they are just too small to do anything with. I just did not know if during the processing of the lumber if they were treated with anything that would output a toxin or something. I just wanted to ask before I made the family sick.
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Untreated. You should be good to go.
I used to burn a lot of scrap lumber when I still had a fireplace. Never had any problems with the untreated, everyday studs. |
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not ideal, best if you add them in to a fire along with regular firewood.
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As long as it's not pressure-treated you should be fine. I have a friend who does it all the time. You gotta watch though as they have that "Yellawood" now that treated and it's still yellow.
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I mix it in with harder stuff. It burns up to quick by itself.
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If its pine, you might as well stand next to the fireplace and feed it.
Hot and fast is the name of the game with pine. Get the number of a good chimney sweep while you're at it. |
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Every poster has been correct, You are good to go, I burned all my excess & Garbage lumber in my fireplace insert this winter; All left over from a recent renovation I just completed, Easier & better than throwing it in the garbage, It burns great & I used it mostly as kindling to start the fires with. It burns so good that I would not load up the fireplace with it for fear of overfiring it., Just limit the amount you burn at one time and you will be OK.
Just remember as has already been stated "DO NOT BURN TREATED LUMBER OF ANY KIND " |
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NO!
Don't do it - the lumber is so dry, and the resin in the pine will burn with flames so high that they will go up into your chimney. It's a good way to catch your house on fire. |
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NEVER EVER BURN ANY PINE OR PROCESSED LUMBER IN YOUR STOVE OR FIREPLACE!
Even though the lumber hasn't been pressure treated, it still may have been dipped into chemicals to prevent temporary mildew/staining. That stuff is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. The resins, like Zhukov said are very flammable and could cause a chimney fire. Think of it this way would you start a fire in your fireplace with wood that has been soaked in gasoline? |
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<snip> "DO NOT BURN TREATED LUMBER OF ANY KIND " Why? Poisonous gases? |
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I usually burn 5 cords of hardwood a year. I keep the building scraps ( I try to get a truck load every couple of years) only for kindling. I use very small amounts. For example a 2 ' 2x4 I'll cut in three lengths then split it down at least three more times and use a hand full to start the fire. I also clean my chimney two or three times a year.
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Quoted: Quoted: <snip> "DO NOT BURN TREATED LUMBER OF ANY KIND " Why? Poisonous gases? I think they stopped using CCA (Chromated copper arsenate) as the chemical of choice when talking about "pressure treated", but the ash of CCA-treated lumber is toxic that one teaspoon is enough to kill an elephant. That's on top of the vapors which may leech out while it's burning. I've read reports of families suffering through heavy metal poisoning after burning treated lumber for a while - hair falling out, gums bleeding, etc. [ETA] I was wrong about the toxicity of the ash. Here's what I found: "...a single 12 foot 2 x 6 contains about 27 grams of Arsenic - enough arsenic to kill more than 200 adults. A tablespoon (about 20 grams) of CCA wood ash has enough arsenic to kill an adult human." Source |
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It never fails though. Just as soon as you get rid of a short piece of 2X4 you end up needing it for a project. Then off to the lumberyard!
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Just go ahead and burn it all in your fireplace –– treated lumber be damned, they just want to take all the cheap firewood for themselves! Burn treated wood in your fireplace FTMFW!
OP, I'm joking. My dad never burned processed wood in his stove for 40 years and counting, he just took an axe and made his firewood smaller. Bonfires where there's no marshmallow roasting... |
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They burn hot real hot have been known to start chimney fires. This is what UL uses to get stoves and chimneys hot for testing.
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Rule of thumb to follow is if you have lumber which you didn't saw yourself, assume that it has been treated with some type of chemical.
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How about you sweep your fucking chimney and you won't need to worry about a chimney fire?
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Quoted: How about you sweep your fucking chimney and you won't need to worry about a chimney fire? It's not just the creosote in your chimney; the one time I burned remnants of a 2x4, the flames leapt up into the flue itself - I'm sure that's not a safe thing and might heat the temperature of the chimney pipe to unsafe levels. |
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We always save little pieces of wood so we can throw them down in the creek and shoot them. It's fun to see chunks of 2x4 fly about 30ft over your head, which is already 15ft over the creek.
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A guy I work with breaks down and burns old pallets in his fireplace.
If it ain't treated with any kind of chemicals, I would think you'd be alright. |
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I burned a 10 ft Christmas tree in my apartment fireplace in Chicago once, because I was too lazy to drag it down three flights of stairs to the curb.
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Millions of truckloads of "lumber" have been used for fuel in the last 100 years. The mills call then "planer ends". So does everyone who ever burned wood for heat. If it's not pressure treated, you are good to go. Yes pine can be pitchy and burn hot and fast. No, it won't cause a problem with a properly built and mainntained flue/chimney if you use common sense.
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Split it into slivers and it's pretty good kindling. This....or what I do is cut it into about 1' sections and use a few to get the fire started. They make great kindling...but once the fire is going I usually stick with aged hardwood. Alternatively, if you camp, throw a bunch in the back of the truck before the next trip...make life simple at the campground. |
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Split it into slivers and it's pretty good kindling. this |
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NEVER EVER BURN ANY PINE OR PROCESSED LUMBER IN YOUR STOVE OR FIREPLACE! Even though the lumber hasn't been pressure treated, it still may have been dipped into chemicals to prevent temporary mildew/staining. That stuff is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. The resins, like Zhukov said are very flammable and could cause a chimney fire. Think of it this way would you start a fire in your fireplace with wood that has been soaked in gasoline? psshhh, why not. My grandpa would burn green wood sometimes if he had nothing else. However, he had kerosene on his side. I remember one Christmas when he came tromping thru the living room with a five gallon bucket that had 3 big pieces of wood sticking out of it, yeah, they were soaking in kerosene. He would throw that sucker on the fire an WOOOSH. It was alsmot comical how mom and my aunt would take cover. I'm lucky to be alive, I'm most sure of it. |
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Just last weekend we had a neighbor set their house on fire by burning scrap lumber from the construction site next door. Neighbor went out and picked up a bunch of scrap 2x4's and such and packed the fireplace of their new house, the fire burned WAY too hot and fast ended up melting all the siding off the chimney side and caught roof on fire.
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Quoted: I burned a 10 ft Christmas tree in my apartment fireplace in Chicago once, because I was too lazy to drag it down three flights of stairs to the curb. |
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Quoted:
Just last weekend we had a neighbor set their house on fire by burning scrap lumber from the construction site next door. Neighbor went out and picked up a bunch of scrap 2x4's and such and packed the fireplace of their new house, the fire burned WAY too hot and fast ended up melting all the siding off the chimney side and caught roof on fire. Some people got to learn the hard way |
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Quoted:
NEVER EVER BURN ANY PINE OR PROCESSED LUMBER IN YOUR STOVE OR FIREPLACE! Even though the lumber hasn't been pressure treated, it still may have been dipped into chemicals to prevent temporary mildew/staining. That stuff is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. The resins, like Zhukov said are very flammable and could cause a chimney fire. Think of it this way would you start a fire in your fireplace with wood that has been soaked in gasoline? Up here in the PNW, EVERYONE who uses a woodstove burns pine––it's everywhere. Hardwoods are relatively rare here. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
NEVER EVER BURN ANY PINE OR PROCESSED LUMBER IN YOUR STOVE OR FIREPLACE! Even though the lumber hasn't been pressure treated, it still may have been dipped into chemicals to prevent temporary mildew/staining. That stuff is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. The resins, like Zhukov said are very flammable and could cause a chimney fire. Think of it this way would you start a fire in your fireplace with wood that has been soaked in gasoline? Up here in the PNW, EVERYONE who uses a woodstove burns pine––it's everywhere. Hardwoods are relatively rare here. Yes it can be done with some smarts |
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I use scraps to get the logs to light. Your good to go. Or even better is a barrel fire.
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Quoted:
Quoted:
NEVER EVER BURN ANY PINE OR PROCESSED LUMBER IN YOUR STOVE OR FIREPLACE! Even though the lumber hasn't been pressure treated, it still may have been dipped into chemicals to prevent temporary mildew/staining. That stuff is baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. The resins, like Zhukov said are very flammable and could cause a chimney fire. Think of it this way would you start a fire in your fireplace with wood that has been soaked in gasoline? Up here in the PNW, EVERYONE who uses a woodstove burns pine––it's everywhere. Hardwoods are relatively rare here. Don't you just these fireplace threads, people act like pine is made out of napalm or something. Good grief, we've been burning nothing but pine since I was a little kid and have never had a chimney fire. |
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Thanks for the info, I think I am going to save it for the summer and just use outside in the fire pit!
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It's ok, just do it in moderation. 2x4's (pine) contains a lot of tar which will muck up your chimney over time. I still throw them in once in a while to get things going.
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Styrofoam makes good kindling to.
Seriously don't burn pine in your fireplace. |
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Knew someone that got arsenic poisoning after cutting PT for a deck all day. The sawdust sat on his sweaty arms, neck, etc. and entered his bloodstream that way. I'm cutting a tree down tomorrow. I'll save you some Maple to put in that fireplace. Throw 2x4's out.
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
<snip> "DO NOT BURN TREATED LUMBER OF ANY KIND " Why? Poisonous gases? I think they stopped using CCA (Chromated copper arsenate) as the chemical of choice when talking about "pressure treated", but the ash of CCA-treated lumber is toxic that one teaspoon is enough to kill an elephant. That's on top of the vapors which may leech out while it's burning. I've read reports of families suffering through heavy metal poisoning after burning treated lumber for a while - hair falling out, gums bleeding, etc. [ETA] I was wrong about the toxicity of the ash. Here's what I found: "...a single 12 foot 2 x 6 contains about 27 grams of Arsenic - enougharsenic to kill more than 200 adults. A tablespoon (about 20 grams) ofCCA wood ash has enough arsenic to kill an adult human." Source |
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A guy I work with breaks down and burns old pallets in his fireplace. If it ain't treated with any kind of chemicals, I would think you'd be alright. Keep in mind that many pallets are made of hardwoods. Particularly the smaller, very sturdy ones with the fully planked top. |
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Only in GD could a thread about burning wood in a frikken fireplace turn into some kind of apocalyptic, end of the world scenario.
Its a wonder mankind has made it this far. |
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Should see what years of burning eucalyptus in our wood burning stove did :)
Stove still works but that back wall of the stove is seriously warped. Catalytic converter also kinda turned to powder after a couple years of burning that shit. But man does that yoook burn hot. |
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I just throw that stuff in my burn barrel when I'm burning leaves and yard waste & shit.
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Most of the 2x4s sold around here are fir and hemlock, not pine. They all burn fine, just pop more than hardwood. Cedar makes good kindling, none of the untreated KD lumber is going to be a problem. The stuff you need to avoid is demolition scraps because then you never know, and treated. iI's the green stuff that's really toxic, sunwood is zinc and salt.
I'm really careful about what goes in my stove beacause my ashes go into my garden compost. I saw most of my own lumber these days, or have somebody do it. I'm working with a pile of Western Red right now making new porch rails and such so I'm going to have kindling for a long time. What kind of goofy construction results in siding MELTING off a chimney from a creosote fire? I just burn a real hot fire once a year and then after it burns out I drop a chain down the chimney and bang it around until the stuff stops falling out of the pipe into a bucket, and then hook it back up to the stove, no big deal. I've seen many chimney fires and none of them did any damage if the chimney was built to code in the first place. Fir makes decent firewood, makes a lot of creosote, I burn Madrone mostly, once I get the box hot enough to get it going good. It's probably the best firewood on the planet, it's 30% denser than oak or elm. |
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