Where to find free firewood

Wondering where to find free firewood? This post should give you some great ideas!

Is there any feeling as good as having a fire in your backyard? I absolutely love having a big fire, whether we have guests over and burn for hours or just do a quick fire at home alone at night.

However, I hate paying for firewood. Maybe it's my inner cheapo, but if I am just going to throw something into the fire, I don't really want to pay for it. One note to go with all of these options, make sure you burn only local firewood and don't transport it to a different area of the state. This can transfer non-native bugs and cause issues.

You can read all about how we built our fire pit here!

Where to find free firewood

• Online Marketplaces- People frequently list free firewood online. I have seen it on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Sometimes you might need to chop it or carry it yourself. If you can put in a little work, you can get some free wood!Here are our tips for using Facebook Marketplace!
• Freecycle + neighborhood groups- Along the same vein as Craigslist, be sure to check freecycle, nextdoor, or any other neighborhood groups. People frequently list free wood there. You might even could run a free WANTED ad!
• On the side of the road- I am always amazed at what some people throw away. Firewood included! Many people take down trees in their yards and leave the logs for the trash.Pay attention to bulk lawn waste pickup rules and dates in your area. Where I live, large landscape waste doesn't have to be bagged so it's easy to see what is available for taking.Speaking of firewood on the side of the road...
• After a big storm- We live in hurricane country, and every time a smaller storm comes through, trees come down. This can be the best time to get free wood! Tons of people chop those trees up and sit them on the curb. Gather them for a big stockpile of firewood! Even better? Invest in a chainsaw and help your neighbors out with the cleanup efforts. Offer to help them chop up a downed tree and then ask to keep some of the wood!
• Pallet wood- Pallets are great to burn. The wood catches fire really easily. They are easily accessible and very easy to chop up (we use a reciprocating saw) for easy burning. Check out tons of ideas for where to find free wood pallets in this blog post!
• Construction sites- Construction sites often have big dumpsters full of burnable scrap wood. I would 100% ask before raiding anything, but we have gotten permission to dig through these types of dumpsters before and come out with some great stuff!
• MyFreeFirewood- I have never tried this service - but for $100 annual fee, MyFreeFirewood will notify you of free firewood bulk pickups in your area. I actually love that they are trying to help both landscapers trying to get rid of scraps and also those looking for free wood!
• Your own yard- This might be obvious, but don't forget to scavenge your own yard! You might not realize it if you look at the space every day, but there are often new trees that need to come down or downed branches and tree limbs to chop up. In the least, it's a great place to start!

How to bring firewood home

This is easy if you have a pickup truck, but if not, you will need a new plan. I'd suggest laying down a tarp to prevent the inside of your car from getting too dirty. Stack cords of wood, but you can use boxes or those big blue Ikea bags to carry loose wood more easily.

Can you burn pallet wood?

We really frequently burn pallets and often get comments on it from our friends. I have heard that you should not burn pallets indoors because of the chemicals in the wood. We don't use our indoor fireplace so that is a non-issue for us! 

I have also heard that there is danger in the nails in the wood "popping" and flying out and stabbing you in the eye. I'm no doctor, but we have burned pallets hundreds of times and never had it happen. Yes, there are leftover nails in the bottom of your fire pit after the wood burns away. That being said, burn at your own risk!
We wrote a whole, detailed blog post about burning pallet wood safely, so check that out if you have any concerns!

Did I forget any good places to get free firewood?