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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Burning Ceder Fence Board

My son has been helping my father-in-law take down an old ceder privacy fence over the last week or so. We are also helping with hauling the old wood away. Since it is tremendous amount of old ceder boards, and we had not gotten around to getting firewood for this winter, I took the old ceder wood to use for firewood. However, knowing that painted or treated wood (especially old pressure treated wood) contain dangerous chemicals, including lead, copper and/or arsenic, I wanted to check on burning the old ceder boards.

I have to say that the information is mostly all over the place. Unfortunately, there was little authoritative information I was able to find in a quick search. Mostly it was questions to various forums. Some answers were that it is okay to burn ceder; other warned against burning ceder or any machine cut lumber because you don't know if it has been treated or painted; others dismissed treatment of ceder being a problem, but warned against using it because it contains high levels of creosote, creates a hot fire, and/or pops when burned.

Here seems to be the best (i.e., most authoritative information I could find): The University of Tennessee Forest Products Extension generally warns about burning treated woods, but then adds:
 Some wood species such as cedar, redwood, cypress and black locust are used outside because they naturally contain chemicals which protect them from insect and fungal attack. It is perfectly safe to burn these woods.
(This site, however, warns against burning old ceder shingles because they have been chemically treated). I also found a site that discusses the advantages and disadvantages to burning ceder.

The popping doesn't bother me--we are not using an open fireplace, and the most commonly available firewood in this area is pine, which presents most of the same problems. If anyone has thoughts on the matter, I would appreciate the input.

1 comment:

  1. My irises which came from my mom's garden in Ontario. She shipped them to me in a box wrapped in damp paper towels in a freezer bag. It worked so well! new fence

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