AITA - burning wood in the garden edition

[Cloo]

gsv had a bit of a set-to with neighbours today... he has broken down our giant shed and wanted to burn some of it this afternoon, the only window we have for a bit as he's out for his dad's birthday tonight and it's raining next two days. The shed was large, our car is small and we're mid terrace, so taking the whole thing to the dump is super awkward, burning seemed the best way.

Neighbours have baby and toddler and had parents over gsv reluctantly (though I think it was totally the right thing to do and there was not need to be resentful) agreed to wait until they were gone from the garden to start burning - he did go and warn them he needed to do it. They nonetheless complained it was inconsiderate to them as neighbours and were worried about 'toxic fumes' and we should just take it to the dump/burn it in the evening (which is not an option tonight). The burner is 2.5m from their garden and after 2 hours all it smells of is wood, and even that's not noticeable from more than about 2m away. It hasn't especially blown into their garden and wouldn't reach where they were eating or where the kids' trampoline is. There is only a low wall between our gardens, so it's quite exposed.

But should we have taken it all to the dump despite the inconvenience and not burn any of it? Should we only burn it in the evening? I think we will book some dump runs next two days as we can't do anything else with it in the meantime, but burning is the quickest way to get rid of the unsightly pile that they can clearly see from their garden. We don't have a driveway and there's almost no off-street parking, so skips are a big inconvenience to anyone on the road.

You be the judge! You don't have to be nice to us

 

[maomao]

I voted option one. Gardens are a social and recreation space particularly at weekends and bank holidays and I don't see why your rubbish had to be burnt. Not sure why you have quotes round toxic fumes either, even plain wood smoke contains toxins and carcinogens and your shed was probably made of treated or painted wood.

I used to live in a three story building, the ground floor of which had a postage stamp sized garden. The twat who lived there seemed to think it was an allotment or something and had a wood burner. On several occasions it forced my wife to keep the windows closed while I was at work on Saturdays. Unpleasant and unnecessary. I got him to stop in the end by telling him I'd be extinguishing it with a bucket of piss if he tried it again.

 

[Winot]

Think they are in the right. See here:

Guidance for wood burning in London

What you can do to reduce pollution from burning wood and other solid fuels in London.

www.london.gov.uk

 

[Storm Fox]

From what I have googled burning treated wood is not good. So 'toxic fumes' are actually fumes that are toxic and depending on the wind direction I think your neighbours have grounded concerns, especially with a baby.

Can I Burn Pressure-Treated Wood? | Cutting Edge Firewood

From chairs and tables to patio flooring, framing studs and more, pressure-treated wood is used in a variety of applications. Learn more here.

www.cuttingedgefirewood.com

Why Pressure-Treated Wood Is NOT Safe to Burn!​

It may look the same as traditional wood — giving you a false of sense of security — but pressure-treated wood is not safe to burn. When burned, pressure-treated wood releases a cocktail of harmful chemicals and pollutants into the air, some of which will inevitably end up in your lungs.

One of the most common types of pressure-treated wood is chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Originally invented in the 1930s, the solution consists of copper, arsenic and chromium. Following a report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) raising concerns over the safety of CCA in 2002, however, the EPA began restricting the use of CCA for residential construction.

The EPA said that exposure to CCA-treated wood may cause illness, so it now restricts CCA-treated wood to commercial construction applications. Nonetheless, many homes and consumer products — especially those constructed or built before 2002 — still contain CCA wood. Burning CCA wood means that toxic chemicals like copper, arsenic and chromium will be released into the air where you and your family live.

Even if pressure-treated wood doesn’t contain CCA, it still contains other hazardous insecticide and fungi chemicals. Ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate (ACZA) is a newer formula and successor of CCA. It consists of copper, zinc and arsenic to protect wood from pests and fungi.

Unfortunately, ACZA is also harmful when burned, and exposure to it increases the risk of chronic respiratory disease and even cancer.

So the question is if you had a baby and your neighbours started burning treated wood, would you be happy about that?

 

[platinumsage]

Totally unacceptable these days, although he might have gotten away with it in 1950 the neighbours would still have been annoyed.

 

[Cloo]

Thanks, all useful to know. To be clear, I'm OK with not burning it but it's convincing my other half who tends to take this stuff personally and feel he shouldn't 'give in'. I hadn't realised the wood might be a problem chemically, so I'll let him know. The CCA thing is the kind of thing he is likely to take seriously.

 

[platinumsage]

Tell him to ask an Environmental Health Officer from the local council whether they would be minded to declare such a fire a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. I'm pretty sure the officer would say "yes".

 

[izz]

I think the fact that it's treated in some way is the kicker Cloo but everyone else has said that already

Personally I do love me the smell from a bonfire, so tree and garden clippings but surprisingly many people are very set against it,. we've made ourselves very unpopular with neighbours by having bonfires.

 

[platinumsage]

FWIW I measured the air quality when a nieghbour about 8 doors down had a bonfire of garden waste last year, and it was 800ug/m3 of PM2.5, more than twenty times the highest safe limit and well above the 500ug/m3 recorded in Beijing during their worst ever pollution event.

 

[Storm Fox]

FWIW I measured the air quality when a nieghbour about 8 doors down had a bonfire of garden waste last year, and it was 800ug/m3 of PM2.5, more than twenty times the highest safe limit and well above the 500ug/m3 recorded in Beijing during their worst ever pollution event.

OT platinumsage what air quality meter do you have? I have been wanting one for ages, but I'm not sure which one to get.

 

[platinumsage]

OT platinumsage what air quality meter do you have? I have been wanting one for ages, but I'm not sure which one to get.

I have a Kaiterra Laser Egg+. While I'm confident it's sufficiently accurate, I'm not sure I'd recommended it as the app is a bit shit and the TVOC reading is pretty useless.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

There’s just no debate here in this day and age, take it to the dump.

 

[maomao]

Or just leave it to rot in the garden. You could make a bug hotel. No more aphids on the roses.

 

[Epona]

Or offer it for collection on freecycle for others to use in garden/craft projects

 

[8ball]

Depends on neighbours, how the air flows etc. but in a built-up area and where you have potential issues with chemical treatments, I think the dump is the right path.

And what Epona said if any of the bits are suitable. Recycling is good.

 

[Cloo]

Or offer it for collection on freecycle for others to use in garden/craft projects

There's a couple of bigger sold bits and some old doors that may be of some use, the rest is too small/full of nails/ messed up.

 

[dessiato]

Because of the situation around the potential toxicity of the fumes I think you should have taken the wood to the dump, even if it required several trips.

 

[Sasaferrato]

gsv had a bit of a set-to with neighbours today... he has broken down our giant shed and wanted to burn some of it this afternoon, the only window we have for a bit as he's out for his dad's birthday tonight and it's raining next two days. The shed was large, our car is small and we're mid terrace, so taking the whole thing to the dump is super awkward, burning seemed the best way.

Neighbours have baby and toddler and had parents over gsv reluctantly (though I think it was totally the right thing to do and there was not need to be resentful) agreed to wait until they were gone from the garden to start burning - he did go and warn them he needed to do it. They nonetheless complained it was inconsiderate to them as neighbours and were worried about 'toxic fumes' and we should just take it to the dump/burn it in the evening (which is not an option tonight). The burner is 2.5m from their garden and after 2 hours all it smells of is wood, and even that's not noticeable from more than about 2m away. It hasn't especially blown into their garden and wouldn't reach where they were eating or where the kids' trampoline is. There is only a low wall between our gardens, so it's quite exposed.

But should we have taken it all to the dump despite the inconvenience and not burn any of it? Should we only burn it in the evening? I think we will book some dump runs next two days as we can't do anything else with it in the meantime, but burning is the quickest way to get rid of the unsightly pile that they can clearly see from their garden. We don't have a driveway and there's almost no off-street parking, so skips are a big inconvenience to anyone on the road.

You be the judge! You don't have to be nice to us

Tell them that as you can't burn it, they are welcome to it, and lob it over their fence.

 

[izz]

OR you could try to Freegle it, if it isn't in too bad a condition.

 

[WhyLikeThis]

I’d pile it up and use it for bonfires for evening garden drinks throughout the summer.

 

[Cloo]

gsv reckons condition probably not a goer for giving away the larger bits - the thing hasn't been watertight for a while, so some of the bigger bits, like doors (which would have gone to dump anyway) and unlikely to be of use.

 

[danski]

If it’s hassle to transport, saw things up small.

 

[Epona]

Apparently the ash left over if it has been burned is probably quite toxic to breathe in or handle and needs to be disposed of properly, no putting it in compost or digging it into the ground.

 

[platinumsage]

If it’s hassle to transport, saw things up small.

Or pay a licensed waste disposal contractor to come and take it away. Or hire a Transit van.

TBF if you have a small car and buy a mid-terrace house with no garden access and a shed that’ll need disposing of some day, you should be prepared to pay for such things.

 

[Cloo]

Apparently the ash left over if it has been burned is probably quite toxic to breathe in or handle and needs to be disposed of properly, no putting it in compost or digging it into the ground.

Yes, I sent gsv the link - he was already planning to dispose of it carefully JIC.

gsv's already chopped it up quite small - it's a shame his dad doesn't have his ancient volvo estate any more as that made this kind of thing much easier! Luckily question resolved for future in that he spoke to our mates 2 doors down about something else and they said it was a bit impactful for them and that's fortunately definitely resolved him not to burn any more of it and I think we should apologise to next door and say we didn't realise it'd have that much of an impact and we'll avoid it in future.

 

[maomao]

Or pay a licensed waste disposal contractor to come and take it away. Or hire a Transit van.

TBF if you have a small car and buy a mid-terrace house with no garden access and a shed that’ll need disposing of some day, you should be prepared to pay for such things.

I did that once, it cost the earth. I just cut things up very small and put them in the normal rubbish a little at a time. Though there's currently a sideboard at the unfashionable end of our garden that needs dealing with.

 

[Duncan2]

Often wish those brilliant machines that make useful attractive wood chippings out of garden waste were a bit more affordable.If you can't burn your garden waste at least with a chipper you can render down huge volumes of it to either use as mulch or otherwise pop in your green bin.They cost many hundreds of pounds though

 

[Pickman's model]

Should have put it all through a wood chipper, hire one for ~£100

 

[Epona]

Often wish those brilliant machines that make useful attractive wood chippings out of garden waste were a bit more affordable.If you can't burn your garden waste at least with a chipper you can render down huge volumes of it to either use as mulch or otherwise pop in your green bin.They cost many hundreds of pounds though

You can't do that with pressure treated wood and use it as mulch though, it's still toxic.

 

[Pickman's model]

Yes, I sent gsv the link - he was already planning to dispose of it carefully JIC.

gsv's already chopped it up quite small - it's a shame his dad doesn't have his ancient volvo estate any more as that made this kind of thing much easier! Luckily question resolved for future in that he spoke to our mates 2 doors down about something else and they said it was a bit impactful for them and that's fortunately definitely resolved him not to burn any more of it and I think we should apologise to next door and say we didn't realise it'd have that much of an impact and we'll avoid it in future.

Take them a £5 bottle of wine or similar