Smart tests before you book a firewood delivery

Author : Victor Sexton | Published On : 18 Oct 2026

A firewood delivery is only as good as the wood that lands on your driveway. You can order early, pay fairly and still end up with logs that hiss, smoke and refuse to burn. Most of the trouble comes from a handful of beliefs that sound sensible until you test them.

Myth: seasoned logs just mean old logs

Age sits on a shelf. Seasoning happens in the wood.

A log left in a soggy heap for two years is old, not seasoned. Seasoning is the slow loss of moisture, and it depends on airflow, sun, stacking method and how the wood was split. Split wood dries far faster than rounds because water has to travel less distance to escape, and for a fuller background on firewood delivery, read further at Mikqaapp.

Say you buy a load described as seasoned logs. If the pieces are whole rounds the size of dinner plates, they will still be wet inside. Good suppliers split and stack before selling, and they can tell you roughly when the wood was cut and how long it has sat.

You can check this yourself with a cheap moisture meter. Push the pins into a freshly split face, not the bark, and aim for readings around 15 to 20 percent. Anything above 25 percent will fight you all winter.

Myth: any dry wood burns the same

Dryness is the entry ticket, not the whole show.

Different species behave differently. Dense hardwoods burn long and steady, giving you a bed of coals that keeps going overnight. Softer woods light fast, throw heat quickly and vanish. Neither is wrong. What matters is that you match the wood to the job.

Ask what species you are buying. A vague answer like "mixed hardwood" is not fatal, but a supplier who knows their stock will name what is in the load and tell you whether it is better for kindling, a stove or an open fire.

Myth: a cheap load is always the cheaper option

The price per load tells you very little. The price per usable unit of heat tells you a lot.

Wet wood wastes energy boiling off water before it can heat your room. It also creates more creosote, which means more chimney sweeping. If you buy two loads of damp wood to save money and end up burning both by midwinter, you have spent more than one load of properly dried wood would have cost.

Ask how the wood is measured and whether the quantity is a loose tipped load or a stacked volume. A tipped cubic metre and a neatly stacked cubic metre are not the same amount of wood. That difference can be a third of your order.

Myth: firewood delivery is just a truck and a pile

The delivery itself is where a lot of orders go sideways.

Think about where the wood will actually go before the truck arrives. A tipper needs space to raise its bed and a clear run to reverse. A pallet needs firm, level ground. If your driveway slopes, is soft after rain, or has a low branch overhead, say so when you order. Drivers deal with this daily and will work around it if they know in advance.

Then think about the drop point. A tonne of wood dumped at the far end of a long garden is a wheelbarrow job you will still be doing in March. Ask for the load as close to your store as the vehicle can safely reach.

One more thing worth confirming: who unloads. Some deliveries are kerbside only, and that is fine as long as you expected it.

Myth: you should order the moment you see an advert

Timing is a real factor, but panic buying is not the answer.

Prices and availability move through the year. Late summer and early autumn tend to be calmer, and suppliers have more room to talk through what you need. The week before a cold snap is the worst possible moment to be comparing options.

Order with enough lead time to let the wood settle. Even well-seasoned logs pick up surface moisture in transit, especially in a covered but unheated trailer. A few weeks stacked and aired under cover before you burn them makes a noticeable difference.

Myth: you cannot tell much until the fire is lit

You can learn a great deal before you pay.

Start with the questions you ask. A supplier who answers clearly about species, moisture, cut length and delivery method is usually running a tighter operation than one who only quotes a price. Vague answers are the cheapest warning sign you will get.

Then look at the wood itself on arrival.

Pick up a piece. It should feel light for its size, not heavy and cold.
Knock two logs together. A dry crack is good. A dull thud is not.
Look at the end grain for cracks radiating from the centre.
Check the bark. Loose bark often means the wood dried properly. Tight, damp bark can mean it did not.
Split one piece open and feel the inside. It should feel dry to the touch, not cool and clammy.
Check the cut lengths match what you asked for. Stove owners with a small firebox care about this more than anyone.
Look for mould, fungus or a musty smell. That points to wood stored badly before it reached you.

If a load fails these checks, raise it straight away. Most suppliers would rather sort out a problem than lose a repeat customer. The ones who argue are telling you something useful too.

There is also the question of how the wood was handled before it was loaded. Wood stored on bare ground wicks moisture back up through the bottom of the pile. Wood kept under a tarpaulin wrapped tight around the sides traps condensation. Wood stacked off the ground with air moving through it dries properly. You cannot inspect the yard, but you can ask how the stock is kept, and the answer says plenty.

What to settle before you commit

A few decisions up front save a lot of irritation later.

Decide where the wood will live. You need a dry, ventilated spot, ideally off the ground and covered on top only, with open sides so air can move. A shed with no airflow is barely better than leaving the pile in the rain.

Decide how much you actually burn. Track your usage for one winter if you can. Most households overestimate at first and end up with a pile that has to last through a wet spring.

Decide your cut length and split size. If your stove takes 25 cm logs, a load of 33 cm logs is a sawing project, not a delivery.

Decide what you will do if the wood arrives too wet. Some suppliers will take it back. Others will not. Knowing this before you pay changes how you feel about the whole arrangement.

Finally, keep a note of what worked. Species, moisture reading, delivery timing, drop point, how the load burned in January. Next season you will be ordering with evidence instead of guesswork, and that is worth more than any discount.

Questions people ask before ordering

How do I know the wood is dry enough?

Split a piece and test the fresh inner face with a moisture meter. Around 15 to 20 percent is a good target. Without a meter, look for light weight, cracked end grain and a sharp knock rather than a dull thud.

Should I buy loose tipped loads or stacked?

Stacked gives you a clearer idea of volume. Loose tipped loads are usually cheaper per load but hold less wood than they appear to. Ask how the supplier measures and compare on that basis rather than on the pile you can see.

How far in advance should I order?

A few weeks before you need it at minimum, longer if you want the wood to settle after delivery. Ordering well before the first cold spell gives you more choice and a calmer conversation about what you actually need.

Can I refuse a load that looks wrong?

That depends on the supplier's terms, so ask before you pay. If you can inspect on arrival, check moisture, species and cut length before the driver leaves. Sorting it out then is far easier than a phone call a week later.