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If you burn firewood to warm your house then you should follow a few tips to make sure you are doing it properly.

The right wood

This should be properly seasoned. Check it is by knocking on it and listening for a hollow sound. Wood that isn’t dry enough creates unnecessary smoke.

Small fire

A small fire that burns with a lot of heat is much better than a big fire. It also helps preserve your wood supply.

Shut the windows

When your windows and doors are open, the heat generated by the fire goes straight up the chimney. Keep them closed and your fire’s warmth will radiate around the house.

A report from the Wood Resource Quarterly has revealed that the price of wood from Brazil is currently falling.

The pine sawlog wood is experiencing a dip in price due to reduced demand. Prices had been steadily on the rise up until 2008 at which point they experienced a sharp rise which is likely to have triggered the latest little drop.

According to the report, in spite of falling 11% in relation to its price in 2008, the price of the Brazilian sawlog wood is still significantly greater than its Russian and North American counterparts. The three nations are amongst the leading exporters of sawlog wood.

An American chain saw artist has spent ten years carving a sculpture out of a huge oak tree log. The sculpture he has made is of two dolphins swimming amongst corals and it stands at ten feet tall.

The sculpture is valued at $25,000 and the chain saw artist, Charlie Knight, is now looking for an art and wood lover to stump up the cash for his precious piece.

It remains to be seen whether Knight will find a buyer for the log, but people have been known to splash out much more on far stranger things. The sculpture took so long because he had to do it all in his own time.

A charity that helps mentally ill people to gain vital work experience has benefitted from the extra work brought in by the recent freezing weather. Blyth Star Enterprise’s Woodfuel Centre has seen its operations increase by 400% and moved to thank customers who had chosen wood fuel to fulfil their heating needs.

The charity was delighted that they had the opportunity to provide for the community in more ways than one by giving those it helps the opportunity to give something back in the form of a little warmth over the biting winter period.

Wood burning stoves have seen something of a resurgence in UK homes of late.

The ancient Peruvian Nazca civilisation has long been thought to have been wiped out by a flood as the result of the climatic phenomenon El Nino. However, new research suggests that the people’s attitude to logging left them exposed.

The Nazca had access to a tree known as the huarango tree which has the deepest root system on Earth. Unfortunately, the Nazca found the huarango too useful a resource and they cut the trees down for timber and fuel.

The extensive logging projects meant that the civilisation crossed a so-called tipping point in their ecosystem leaving them exposed to the devastating effects of the El Nino flood.

The news may come as a timely reminder of the duty people have towards the planet and the consequences of an ignorant environmental outlook.

Wood burning stoves have seen somewhat of a comeback over the last few years. There are however people who bemoan the use of wood as a heating source because of the pollution it can cause to the environment. If you use the right type of wood you can however reduce some of the emissions burning causes and hence help the environment.

Wood used for burning should be split and stacked and then covered for 6 to 12 months before it is burned. This will mean that the water content in the wood will not be more than 20 percent. This will reduce the amount of smoke produced and hence lead to cleaner air.

People have been using timber to build their homes for hundreds of years. This versatile building material has many advantages over other construction techniques and is environmentally friendly.

Timber frame construction can cut your build time in half if all the work is done at the factory and then erected on site. This means costs and lead time can be reduced. Timber frame design is also aesthetically pleasing and when large timbers are used in the interior of the building large open spaces can be created to enhance the design.

Timber frame homes can be clad with brick or stone to create a brilliant effect and when combined with new energy efficient techniques the home can be eco-friendly also.

Speed of construction is a major advantage of using wood in the construction industry and Shepherd Construction are testament to that fact due to the speed of erection of one of their latest projects at the University of York.

The £100 million pound project which includes six new accommodation blocks built across the site in conjunction with Barn Construction will also see new theatre facilities, computer science departments and management and law schools.

The accommodation buildings are being built using a new prefabricated timber panel system which means the structural loading is lessened and ground works can thus be completed in a much quicker time frame.
Shepherd’s managing planner, Steve Hayman stated:

“Timber is easy to get hold of, quick to build with and there are great environmental and sustainable benefits from using it. Our design team managed to redesign under the initial brief in something like 10 weeks.”

The biggest treehouse ever built has been constructed in Tennessee. The 10 story 100 foot tall structure is approximately 10,000 square feet in size and is built entirely out of reclaimed materials which mainly encompass timber.

Each floor is about 10 feet in height and it is a really imposing structure although it can not be classed as the tallest wooden structure in the world because it uses a foundation of an 80 foot tall white oak tree.

The tree house is build from reclaimed wood that has either been salvaged or donated and proves just how good wood is as a building material.

Wood is such a beautiful material to work with; it’s easy to see why it is the material of choice for craftspeople around the world. With so many different types of wood available, all having their own unique appearance, texture and strength it’s not too difficult to find the right type for your application.

Whether you work in the building trade or you are a furniture designer you will already know of woods versatility. But, wood comes into its own when used in the construction industry. The UK construction industry relies on sustainable supplies of this building material for a wide range of applications. Whether used as a supporting structure or to add style to a design statement, wood is the perfect choice.