Retired Chimney Sweep: Pull These 8 Woods Off Your Firewood Pile Before Winter

Burning the wrong wood won't just waste heat—some of it can poison your family. Rotted, green, or treated wood all fail the same test: dry wood, hot fire. This covers eight woods to avoid, from waterlogged rounds and fresh-cut splits that won't heat, to salt-soaked driftwood and glued plywood that corrode your stove, to painted trim that may hide lead and pressure-treated lumber stamped with arsenic. It explains why poison ivy vines send their oil up in smoke, why pallets stamped MB stay out, and why dry pine and dead ash actually belong in the woodshed. A retired chimney sweep who opened thousands of flues explains what happens when the wrong thing goes in your firebox, how to check your wood with a thumbnail and a knock test, and why a free pile at the end of a driveway looks so good in January.