Insects in firewood are the reason we advise customers against keeping large quantities of logs inside the house, and it is a subject people are slightly embarrassed to raise. It should not be. Wood is a natural material that spent its life outdoors, and a certain amount of life comes with it. As a supplier of fencing and timber supplies in Clitheroe we would rather explain it plainly than have customers assume something has gone wrong with their delivery.
What You Might Find and Why
Spiders, woodlice, beetles and the occasional earwig are all normal in firewood, particularly in the bark and in the gaps between logs. None of them are a sign of poor quality wood and none indicate a problem with how the logs were processed.
Kiln drying substantially reduces what survives in the wood, because the temperatures involved are hostile to most of it. That is one of the practical advantages of kiln dried over air dried firewood, alongside the moisture content. It does not sterilise the wood, however, and anything that takes up residence in a stack after delivery is a storage matter rather than a supply one.
The Indoor Storage Problem
Bringing a large quantity of logs indoors and leaving it for weeks is what turns a non-issue into a nuisance. A warm house is far more hospitable than a cold garden, and anything dormant in the wood becomes active.
The rule most households settle on is to keep the bulk outside and bring in only what will be burned within a day or two. A basket by the hearth is sensible. A stack in the living room through December is asking for trouble.
Woodworm Concerns
This is the question that worries people most, and the reassurance is straightforward. The beetles associated with structural timber problems are attracted to different conditions from those found in seasoned firewood, and kiln dried logs at low moisture content are a poor host.
The genuine risk is not the logs themselves but leaving them stacked against something you care about for a long period. Keeping firewood away from structural timber, joinery and stored furniture removes the concern entirely.
Storage That Solves It
A proper outdoor store handles this along with everything else. Logs kept off the ground, covered from above and open to airflow are far less attractive to anything looking for a damp, still place to settle.
Damp is the key variable. Woodlice and similar want moisture, and a well ventilated stack does not provide it. Our log storage solutions are designed around airflow for burn quality reasons, and the side benefit is a stack that stays largely uninhabited.
Do Not Treat Firewood
It should go without saying, but insecticides and wood treatments have no place anywhere near logs you intend to burn. Anything applied to the wood ends up in the smoke and in the ash.
The same principle works in reverse. Treated timber, including the material we supply for outdoor construction through our timber boards range, must never be burned. Keep the two entirely separate.
Shaking Logs Off
The simple habit is knocking two logs together outside before bringing them in. It dislodges loose bark, which is where most of the interest lives, and it costs nothing.
Keeping a metal or canvas log basket rather than an open pile on a carpet helps too, since anything that does come in stays contained and goes back out with the next load.
Bark and Debris
Loose bark is the other reason to shake logs off outdoors. It carries most of the dirt and insects, it makes a mess of a hearth, and it burns fast without contributing much heat.
Some customers deliberately knock bark off before bringing wood in, which keeps the house tidier and makes very little difference to the burn.
A Manageable Reality
None of this is a reason to be wary of firewood. It is simply the difference between a natural product and a manufactured one, and sensible storage handles all of it.
Bringing Logs In Overnight
One habit worth adopting is bringing the next day’s logs indoors the evening before rather than immediately before lighting. Wood that has spent a night in a warm room is marginally drier at the surface and noticeably easier to light, particularly in damp weather when everything outdoors has taken on moisture from the air. A basket holding a day’s supply is the right quantity, since it is small enough that nothing has time to settle in and large enough to save repeated trips outside in the dark. It also means you are handling logs in daylight rather than fumbling at a stack with a torch, which is when splinters and dropped logs tend to happen.
Customers ordering logs for sale Langho or logs for sale Billington for the first time often ask about this, and the answer is always the same, which is to store outdoors and bring in what you need. For advice on storage, call us on 01200 449930. We supply certified Ready to Burn firewood from Clitheroe with free delivery on orders over £150 across all BB postcode areas.
