I'm almost ashamed to even ask this.

[warden1]

We just bought a new house and we finally have a fireplace! Only problem is apparantly we both completely suck at building fires! Lol. So can you all help me by giving me tips to build a good fire?

[Danaus29]

Hmm, fireplace, I don't do so well. I know the flue has to be open some. Otherwise, dry wood, I use pine shavings and cardboard or newspaper and twigs or small pieces of wood. I usually pile those on top of a pile of logs or kind of in the middle of a stack of boards. In the stove I just pile up the pine shavings and paper and toss in a match. I guess I'm a natural pyromaniac.

[rider]

i dont know if my way is the correct way or not but i put in a bunch of crumpled newspaper no colored paper tho its bad for chimmeny build up then kindling about 1 inch square then a bit bigger wood on the kindling them light the paper when the larger wood is burning good them put on bigger wood we use a wood burning stove so damper control is different than a fireplace i am not sure fireplaces have dampers guess they probably do this controls the amount of air thefire gets also in a fireplace its good to have a thing not sure of its name to hold the wood up off the floor of the fireplace sorry i am not of much help with the names of things

[The Paw]

crumpled paper on bottom, tiny little kindling sticks next.
somewhat bigger sticks on top of those, and then your smaller pieces of split wood on top of that. light the pile.

Oh, and when you are stacking, alternate the direction of the wood criss cross, so there is lots of air and room for the fire to make contact with the wood.

Wood must be dry. Slightly damp wood is hard to start, although it can go into a roaring fire okay.

[uncle Will in In.]

If you get desperate you can squirt a little charcoal lighter on the top of the kindling set up like described above. BEFORE you light the match to the bottom paper. Don't squirt it on the fire.

[arcticow]

Originally Posted by rider

i dont know if my way is the correct way or not but i put in a bunch of crumpled newspaper no colored paper tho its bad for chimmeny build up then kindling about 1 inch square then a bit bigger wood on the kindling them light the paper when the larger wood is burning good them put on bigger wood we use a wood burning stove so damper control is different than a fireplace i am not sure fireplaces have dampers guess they probably do this controls the amount of air thefire gets also in a fireplace its good to have a thing not sure of its name to hold the wood up off the floor of the fireplace sorry i am not of much help with the names of things

I think andirons is what you meant... they make sure there is airflow under the bottom logs. Otherwise the bottom logs should be laid in from front to back, does the andiron function that way.

[oneokie]

Good suggestions above. One thing not mentioned is to have an air source that will allow the fireplace to draw, so that the smoke will go up the chimney and not out into the room.

[warden1]

Thanks so much for all your help! I will give this all a try! We are moving in next week so wish us luck! Also, has anyone tried the rollers that turn newspapers into logs? My Dad works for the local paper so we have a free endless supply.

[dennis60]

I haven't tried the rollers, but we have a goodly supply of used animal food sacs that are heavy duty paper. We roll them up real tight and tie them with a piece of string. They work great as a second tier log. After the crumbled newspaper, we put two or three paper logs on, then some kindling and some thinner pieces of split wood. Let that go untill you have some good coals and put on some bigger logs..... i think the roller would be a great idea. The tighter and bigger the roll the longer and hotter they will burn. Like someone said i wouldn't roll up the glossy color printed pages though.

dennis

[RonM]

Anymore I just buy one of those artificial fireplace logs let it burn for awhile then throw some wood in on top of it and whaaaaalaaaa.

[arcticow]

Yeah, well when you do it the easy way... LOL!

[EDDIE BUCK]

If you could find some "fat lightwood"stumps around where some land has recently been cleared,take a chainsaw and cut in one foot sections.Load them up and take home.
Then take an axe and a splitting wedge and split in to one inch squares.It will only take about two to get that firewood burning.To tell if the stumps are lightwood,just cut a sliver off with a knife and smell it.Should be a strong pine scent.Thats what we always used,and we would get warm quick.

[Betty Jean]

I would have the chimney cleaned and inspected first thing. When we bought our last house with a wood burning fireplace, we required that of the seller in the contract. If you have to pay out of pocket, it is not very expensive and well worth starting off clean and safe. Look for chimney sweep in the phone book.

You have no idea the creosote buildup that may be in the chimney. Chimney fires are bad ju-ju.

[Cindy in NY]

If your damper is open and you're still getting smoke in the room, open a door or window nearby before you light it. Sometimes it needs to draw some cooler air in order to go up the chimney. BTW, if you're going to be using it a lot, you'd be better off installing a wood stove. Much more efficient!

[Cabin Fever]

Build your fire on a warm day onaccounta all the heat in your house is gonna get sucked right up and out the chimney. In other words, fireplaces are nice for viewing, but not so great for heating.

[Cascade Failure]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

Build your fire on a warm day onaccounta all the heat in your house is gonna get sucked right up and out the chimney. In other words, fireplaces are nice for viewing, but not so great for heating.

Depends on the fireplace. Ours has airtight doors, an adjustable air intake and two 8" convection ducts running about 4 1/2' each. Go ahead and put your hand on the exhaust. I dare ya! Heats the ground floor quite nicely.

That said...your right. We get MUCH more efficient heat from our woodstove in the basement.

[Cascade Failure]

Warden. Think progressive size fuel and good air supply. 2 decent logs with some crumpled newspaper between them and progressively larger, DRY, fuel from pine needle size to twig to to branch to log stacked on the paper works well.

[Cascade Failure]

Don't be ashamed to ask anything here. There are some really nice and helpful folks on this board. Heck, if you can't bring yourself to ask something, PM me and I'll do it on your behalf.

[Curtis B]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

Build your fire on a warm day onaccounta all the heat in your house is gonna get sucked right up and out the chimney. In other words, fireplaces are nice for viewing, but not so great for heating.

I heard this for years. They may not be the most efficiant, but I burn mine all day long on the weekends. It has been in the single digets some days and my furnace never runs when I have a fire going, and the house stays warmer. I'm sure some air goes out, but it helps.

Cedar is very good for starting fires also. It burns verrrrrrry hot, and will light even wet wood. It does burn up fast though, but it is so hot it gets the larger logs going faster than the fatwood.

[mnn2501]

A propane torch work very well also.

Originally Posted by Betty Jean

I would have the chimney cleaned and inspected first thing. .

YES! - Chimney cleaning costs around $100 and worth every penny