Burning scrap timber

[olimain]

In the middle of a loft conversion and there's a huge amount of timber being removed (hip to gable as well as rip-out of an existing conversion). It seems such a waste for it to go in the skip when it could be keeping me warm in the wood burning stove but there's such a conflict of opinion online as to whether I'm going to poison the family if it's been tanalised or if it's completely fine as a stove is sealed.

Builders are more than happy to set it aside for me. Any opinions?

[8-P]

Try it and see what happens. I tried burning a load of pallet wood recently and all it did was blacked my glass on numerous occasions so I stopped.

May have been too damp? May have been too full of chemicals Im not sure

[olimain]

Well the problem is the stove's not going in for a few weeks by which time the skips will have gone and I'll either be left with a huge pile of timber that I'm going to need to dispose of (and could have done for nothing) or I'll have chucked of a load of quality firewood!

[Simpo Two]

Pallet wood works fine for me. However some woods do put a strange smell into the room somehow; I tried burning an old stained pine bookcase once and it made such a pong I threw the rest away.

[bobtail4x4]

I burn little else but scrap wood,

[Tonsko]

Roofing wood might have been treated with various chemicals, takes a while to get going and might not burn that well. As a result of this, I wondered whether it was some kind of fire retardent for new specs. I know this is true of modern wood used for beams - ehther this holds for older stuff. I guess you could try a sample of it.

Edited by Tonsko on Monday 1st February 10:09

[olimain]

It's a mixture of 100 year old rafters (Edwardian house) and timber used in a loft conversion in the 80s which we're ripping out. Bobtail - tanalised as well?

[Tonsko]

Is it the tanalising which is that slightly green colour? I guess it's some kind of copper injection which is rot proofing. [Google since tells me that there's arsnic in it as well, but not all arsenic compounds are poisonous I suppose]. I did keep a load of old offcuts from a recent job, but junked the lot after a few attempts.

So I would burn the older stuff and skip the newer stuff.

Another thing, if it's pine (as the newer timber will be) then it will soot up your chminey more.

Edited by Tonsko on Monday 1st February 10:16

[Simpo Two]

olimain said:

It's a mixture of 100 year old rafters (Edwardian house) and timber used in a loft conversion in the 80s which we're ripping out. Bobtail - tanalised as well?

Do you know anyone wirth a stove who could try some out for you before you keep/bin it?

[olimain]

I guess I should keep it. Worst case is I end up with a load of nice 8x3 timber to play with

[bimsb6]

I had a load of roof timbers off a builder doing a loft conversion , it was fine it will burn quite quickly as it's had a 100 yrs to dry out .

[austinsmirk]

I burn anything in my multifuel stove- except timber with lots of paint on.

pallets etc, all good for me and the glass is still spot on.

[soad]

Take it to the council tip?

[8-P]

My pallets must have been damp, annoying at the time. I have quite a few available but this time Ill dry em out a year before chucking them in the stove.

[tivver500]

Both my neighbors have had their roofs done and 'donated' all the old (1860's) battening to me .
We're on the second winter of burning it in our large open fireplace in the lounge and boy does it burn well....
All in favour of free heat!!

[Davel]

Burn a bit outside in a brazier and see how much smoke comes off it and what the fumes are like.

If it stinks or gives off dark smoke then you have a problem - if not then enjoy!

[olimain]

Excellent, that's my mind made up then. Would have been a criminal waste for it to be skipped. Reading horror stories online about the arsenic in the tanalith but couldn't see how in a sealed stove this would be a problem - nor could I find any reports of anyone ever actually suffering from the effects!

[Davel]

So long as you have fresh air flowing into the house, to avoid any build up of carbon monoxide etc., and not dark smoke exiting your chimney then I'd have thought you were okay.

I'm no expert though...

Had a wood burning stove in my old house and loved it !

[Simpo Two]

olimain said:

Excellent, that's my mind made up then. Would have been a criminal waste for it to be skipped. Reading horror stories online about the arsenic in the tanalith but couldn't see how in a sealed stove this would be a problem - nor could I find any reports of anyone ever actually suffering from the effects!

My fairly standard Stovax multifuel stove isn't 'sealed' - even with all the vents shut you still get puffs of wind down the chimney on windy days, and when lighting it on a cold day, smoke comes out of the top vent for a minute or so until the flue starts to warm.

[bimsb6]

Davel said:

Burn a bit outside in a brazier and see how much smoke comes off it and what the fumes are like.

If it stinks or gives off dark smoke then you have a problem - if not then enjoy!

Sounds like a scientific solution .