One of the easiest customer service experiences I've had in a long time! Mulch Mound made it so simple. After putting it off for a while, I looked at the weather and knew I needed to get to mulching ASAP before the rain came if I didn't want to wait another week. I put my orde...
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How Much Firewood Do I Need?
For most Raleigh households using a fireplace regularly through the winter, a half cord to a full cord covers the season, with heavier wood stove users needing closer to a cord and a half.
What is a Cord?
A full cord is a stacked pile of split firewood measuring 4 feet high by 4 feet deep by 8 feet long, about 128 cubic feet. Smaller sizes are the same stack at a quarter, half, or three quarters of that volume.
One of the easiest customer service experiences I've had in a long time! Mulch Mound made it so simple. After putting it off for a while, I looked at the weather and knew I needed to get to mulching ASAP before the rain came if I didn't want to wait another week. I put my orde...
How Much Firewood Do I Need?
For most Raleigh households using a fireplace regularly through the winter, a half cord to a full cord covers the season, with heavier wood stove users needing closer to a cord and a half.
What is a Cord?
A full cord is a stacked pile of split firewood measuring 4 feet high by 4 feet deep by 8 feet long, about 128 cubic feet. Smaller sizes are the same stack at a quarter, half, or three quarters of that volume.
One of the easiest customer service experiences I've had in a long time! Mulch Mound made it so simple. After putting it off for a while, I looked ...
Read full review
One of the easiest customer service experiences I've had in a long time! Mulch Mound made it so simple. After putting it off for a while, I looked at the weather and knew I needed to get to mulching ASAP before the rain came if I didn't want to wait another week. I put my order in for the next day online and they came right at 9 AM. The employee who dropped off the mulch did a great job, putting it right on the tarp I laid out, she even made sure none of it got on the yard and double checked the truck bed to make sure it all came out. The mulch was exactly what I needed and arrived right on time.
We have always spread our own mulch for the past 24 years. This was our first time with the Mulch Mound - things I liked: they have online ordering...
Read full review
We have always spread our own mulch for the past 24 years. This was our first time with the Mulch Mound - things I liked: they have online ordering and provide a digital receipt which means you can remember how much you ordered (I always forget for the next year!), they were on time, they were able to deliver in 48 hours, they were generous with the portion (we got 9 yards and it felt like a FULL nine yards!), the driver was polite! We have ordered from reputable places, and there is always a little trash in the mulch. The mulch we recv'd from Mulch Mound had barely any... we were pleasant surprised!!! Color was great! Not to mention - the price was competitive and LOWER than other mulch places around. We will use again !! Highly recommend! Thanks Mulch Mound!
While you are prepping your property for winter, check out our mulch and soil options on the same Raleigh page to protect garden beds and improve drainage in our clay loam soil before the cold sets in.
Raleigh's summer humidity means firewood stacked directly on the ground or against a house wall can reabsorb moisture even after it has seasoned. Stack your wood off the ground on pallets or rails, with the bark side up on the top row to shed rain, and leave the sides open so air moves through the stack. A simple cover over just the top row works better here than fully wrapping the pile, which traps humidity underneath.
Mulch Mound Pro Tip
When building a fire with local oak or hickory, start with a smaller kindling base of pine or thin sweetgum splits since these local softer woods catch faster in our often damp winter air. Once you have a solid coal bed going, add the denser oak or hickory splits, which will burn longer and produce steadier heat through a cold Raleigh night than a softwood only fire.
Mulch Mound Pro Tip
Order your firewood in late summer or early fall before the first frost typically arrives around October 30th. Ordering early means your wood has time to finish drying in your storage area before you need it, and you avoid the rush that hits local suppliers once the first genuinely cold nights show up in the forecast.
Wood Heat in Raleigh
Raleigh winters run from around the end of October through mid April, which means roughly five months where a wood stove or fireplace can be in regular use. Because our summers are long and humid, freshly cut firewood needs a full season or more to dry out properly before it will burn clean and hot. Local hardwoods like red oak, white oak, hickory, and sweetgum are common around the Triangle, and oak and hickory in particular hold heat well once properly seasoned. Wood that has not dried down will smolder, throw off more creosote, and struggle to catch in our damp winter air. Buying seasoned wood already cut and split saves you the months of Raleigh humidity working against you in your own backyard.
Local Hardwood Species
Expect dense regional hardwoods like oak, hickory, maple, and ash. These species burn longer and hotter than softwoods, which is what you want when a cold snap settles in and the stove runs all day.
Seasoning and Moisture
Firewood needs 6 to 12 months of drying before it burns well. Properly seasoned wood lights faster, throws more heat, and keeps creosote out of your chimney, which matters most in the coldest weeks of the year.
Buy Local, Burn Local
Firewood that travels long distances spreads invasive pests like the emerald ash borer. Our wood is cut and seasoned close to where it is delivered, which protects local trees and means fresher wood for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click a question to see the answer
Answer
How much firewood does a typical Raleigh home go through in a winter?
A household using a fireplace a few nights a week through our roughly five month heating season often burns through a half cord to a full cord. Homes that rely on wood as a primary heat source, which is less common here but does happen in outlying parts of Wake County, can use two cords or more.
Answer
What does seasoned firewood actually mean and why does it matter here?
Seasoned means the wood has been cut, split, and air dried for several months to a year, dropping its moisture content well below freshly cut green wood. In Raleigh's humid climate, green wood dries much slower than it would in a drier region, so buying wood that is already seasoned saves you from smoky, hard to light fires all winter.
Answer
What kinds of wood will I typically get in a Raleigh delivery?
Expect a mix of local hardwoods common to the Piedmont, most often red oak, white oak, and hickory, with occasional sweetgum or other mixed hardwoods depending on availability. Oak and hickory are dense and burn longer, which is ideal for cold nights when temperatures dip toward our typical winter lows.
Answer
Is this firewood actually cut near Raleigh, and does that matter?
Yes, our firewood is sourced locally near Raleigh rather than trucked in from far away. Keeping firewood local matters because moving wood long distances is one of the main ways invasive pests like the emerald ash borer spread into new areas, so buying local protects area trees.
Answer
How does delivery to my driveway actually work?
Once you choose your cord size and schedule a delivery date, we bring the wood loose and unload it directly onto your driveway at the spot you point out. We do not stack the wood, so plan on having a wheelbarrow or a helper on hand to move it to your storage area.
Answer
What is the difference between a quarter cord, a rick, and a full cord?
A full cord is a stack measuring 4 feet high by 4 feet deep by 8 feet long, totaling 128 cubic feet. Some folks who moved to Raleigh from Kentucky or Ohio ask about a rick or face cord, which is generally one row of wood 4 feet high by 8 feet long but only as deep as the log length, usually a third to a half of a full cord, which lines up closely with our quarter and half cord options.
Answer
Are there any local rules about burning wood in Raleigh?
Wake County occasionally issues air quality advisories on days with poor air circulation, and it is worth checking local conditions before burning on those days, especially if you are near neighbors in denser Raleigh neighborhoods. Otherwise, standard outdoor and indoor burning is common practice here as long as you are burning seasoned wood to keep smoke down.
