Is it OK to bring firewood in from another county or state?
In Leicester, wood heat is a way of life — the rural properties out toward Sandy Mush and Turkey Creek run on propane and wood, and plenty of folks cut their own or buy from a neighbor. Keep it that local. Hauling firewood in from another county or state can carry the emerald ash borer into woods you heat from every winter.
Cut-your-own country
Leicester is genuinely rural — large wooded properties, many on propane, with wood heat popular and a real culture of cutting your own or buying from someone up the road. That's about the healthiest firewood habit there is: wood that never leaves the neighborhood can't import a pest. The trouble only starts when a load comes in from far off, hiding larvae and spores under the bark that stay invisible until they've killed a stand of local trees.
Cold hollows, long burns, close wood
Cold-air drainage runs these valleys five to eight degrees colder than Asheville on clear winter nights, so hearths out here work hard and burn real cords over a season. All the more reason to keep sourcing tight — within about fifty miles, same-property when you can — and never carry your local wood out to a distant campground either, which spreads pests the other direction.
If you ever need wood to travel, certified kiln-dried and heat-treated is the only safe kind, because the process kills the hitchhikers. Some remote properties out here also run limited electrical capacity, which makes a non-electric wood stove genuine backup heat. Call (828) 545-0525 to talk wood-stove sourcing or install.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.