How to Stack Wood in a Fireplace

The key to building a roaring fire in a fireplace is properly stacking the wood. The wood must be stacked in such a way that oxygen can get to the fire and build up heat so that all the pieces of wood ignite. Here are some tips on how to stack wood in a fireplace.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Fireplace grate
• Small pieces of wood
• Large pieces of wood

1. Clean out the fireplace grate. Remove any large chunks of charred wood from previous fires before stacking wood for a new fire so when you go to stack the new wood, you're beginning with a flat surface.

2. Put smaller pieces on the bottom of the fireplace grate. Lay the small pieces of wood horizontally on the fireplace grate. Smaller pieces ignite faster and allow the heat to build up in the fireplace before you stack on large pieces that take more time to catch and burn.

3. Space the wood properly. When stacking wood in a fireplace, you have to make sure there is space between the pieces of wood. The space allows air in the room to feed the fire and keep it lit.

4. Add larger pieces. You need to stagger the larger pieces of wood so that the fire still gets oxygen and continues to burn. When adding the larger pieces, lay them at a slight angle on top of the smaller pieces so there is space between the smaller pieces on the bottom and the larger pieces on top.

Tips & Warnings

• Always start with just a few pieces. You want to allow the fire to burn and build heat before you begin adding many pieces of wood. Start with three or four pieces before adding more wood to allow this to happen.
• Oxygen needs to flow throughout the fire in order for it to burn. If you stack the wood in a fireplace too tightly, the fire will end up going out.

Resources

• Learn the effects of stacking wood properly at Hearth.com
• Learn about fireplace safety at tutorom.com