Helen Palmer and Richard Armstrong from Stepping Stone Timber Products prepare for the launch of their new website
WITH people turning more and more to wood-burning stoves for home heating, the demand for kindling and logs has accelerated, but where to get the proper product is the question?
Soft woods, which have to be dried out first, are not ideal, but a firm near Tempo has the answer.
Stepping Stone Timber Products, a family-run business located between Tempo and Clabby, has been going for the past 20 years.
It specialises in kiln-dried kindling and logs for the wood stove fuel demandin Ireland and in the UK.
And, while, due to its easy access just off the main road, it sells soft woods to the local community, its expertise in drying their products is the key to success.
The business is managed by the Armstrong family, Sinclair and his wife, Sylvia, their daughter, Helen and their sons, Richard, Sinclair, Jr and Stephen.
“Our main products are kiln-dried kindling and kiln-dried logs”, Helen explained. “It means there is no moisture content, fires going out and blocked-up flues.”
At their busiest, the firm employs up to 30 people but, with ‘a couple of loads’ a day going across the UK, not to mention the supermarkets north and south, it’s easy to see why.
“We would work mainly in the UK, but we recently moved into the South with our stove fuels. It seems everyone is talking about getting these stoves fitted, so it’s people with wood fuel burners that want the kiln-dried products.”
The firm adheres to environmentally friendly guidlines. All their timber is bought from Forest Stewardship Council-managed forests which means that a tree is replanted to replace the one that’s cut down.
Readers can satisfify themselves that a product is approved by looking out for the ‘FSC tree’ logo, which Stepping Stone products carry be in all its supermarket outlets, the likes of Ldl, etc.
Such is the demand that, at present, the company is working with Invest NI on developing an on-line, ecomerce website.
“We’re supposed to be quiet at the moment, what with the good weather, but we’re far from it. We still get a lot of local people coming in for wood and, now, with everyone looking for stove fuel, it’s more than a 5-day week. There’s no such thing as a holiday here, not even Christmas Day!”
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