Fireside Sawmill & Lumber
A division of Fireside Farm, LLC
STANDARD TERMS & CONDITIONS
These Standard Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern all services and products provided by Fireside Sawmill & Lumber, a division of Fireside Farm, LLC (“Fireside”), including custom milling, kiln drying, edging, planing, moulding, flooring production, and the sale of lumber and wood products. By approving an estimate, paying a deposit or invoice, delivering materials to Fireside, or accepting any product or service, the client (“Client”) agrees to these Terms. These Terms apply together with any project-specific estimate; where an estimate and these Terms conflict, these Terms control unless a signed writing states otherwise. The current version of these Terms is available at www.firesidesawmill.com/terms.
1. Estimates Are Estimates
All estimates are good-faith projections based on the information available and the conditions anticipated at the time of estimating. They are not fixed-price quotes or guarantees of final cost, quantity, yield, or appearance. Time-and-materials items — including milling, labor, blades, stickers, and related services — are billed at the actual time and materials required. Fireside may notify Client of material changes to estimated costs when practical; this notice keeps Client informed and does not waive Client’s obligation to pay the actual charges incurred. Projects inactive due to Client delay for more than 90 days may be subject to re-estimation at current rates and specifications.
2. Client-Supplied Materials & Representations
Where Client supplies logs or other raw material, Client is responsible for the accuracy of all information provided about that material, including species, dimensions, quantity, condition, and origin. Estimates based on Client-provided descriptions are not guaranteed. Fireside measures and assesses material at intake, and the actual measured material governs the work, regardless of any prior verbal or written description. Verbal descriptions of material are not binding representations by Fireside.
Recoverable yield cannot be determined until milling. Logs may contain internal defects, rot, checks, shake, sweep, taper, knots, insect damage, embedded metal, or other conditions that reduce usable output. All board-foot, square-foot, board-count, and coverage figures are estimates only. Fireside does not guarantee a specific yield, board count, or coverage from Client-supplied material.
Client acknowledges that a substantial portion of a log may become waste during normal milling due to defects, taper, sweep, checking, cracking, bark inclusions, drying degrade, edging, trimming, machining, or quality-control decisions.
3. Embedded Metal & Foreign Objects
Client-supplied logs frequently contain nails, fencing, wire, bullets, or other embedded objects that are not visible externally and that damage or destroy saw blades and equipment. Client is responsible for the cost of blades and any equipment repair resulting from foreign objects in Client-supplied material, whether or not Client was aware of them. Fireside is not responsible for delays caused by foreign-object damage.
4. Quantity & Coverage
Client is solely responsible for determining the quantity of material required for Client’s project, including an appropriate waste, cutting, and trimming allowance (typically 10–15% for flooring). Coverage figures provided by Fireside are estimates of finished, installed-width coverage; Client remains responsible for cutting and installation waste. Fireside makes no representation that any estimated quantity will satisfy Client’s installation requirements and is not responsible for shortages. Additional material or processing required beyond the estimated quantities may differ in color, grain, and figure, may require additional lead time, and will be billed at Fireside’s current rates. Client acknowledges that any quantity, square-footage, board-footage, board-count, or coverage calculations provided by Fireside are based upon information supplied by Client and are not independent verification of Client’s project requirements.
5. Sourced & Supplemental Material
Where a project combines Client-supplied material with lumber sourced separately by Fireside, any sourced material will be selected in good faith to reasonably complement the Client material. Exact visual matching between material from different trees, logs, or sources is not possible and is not guaranteed, and shall not constitute a defect.
6. Natural Characteristics & Aesthetic Acceptance
Wood is a natural product. Color, grain, figure, mineral streak, ray fleck, sapwood content, texture, growth rate, board width, board length, and tonal variation occur naturally within a single tree and increase significantly across different trees and sources. A uniform commercial appearance is not the objective of custom work and is not guaranteed.
Aesthetic dissatisfaction alone does not constitute a defect. Variation in the characteristics described above, between boards or between material sources, is expected and often desirable in custom hardwood and is not grounds for rejection, replacement, refund, withholding of payment, or claims for damages.
7. Samples, Photographs & Representative Material
Any samples, photographs, species examples, mockups, profile samples, finish samples, representative boards, or reference images provided by Fireside are intended solely to illustrate general characteristics of the material or process. Natural wood variation means the final product will differ from any sample or photograph. Approval of a sample, photograph, representative board, or reference material does not create a warranty that all material supplied will match that sample exactly. Differences in color, grain, figure, texture, mineral streaking, sapwood content, board width, board length, and overall appearance are expected and shall not constitute a defect. No sample can fully represent the variation present within a tree, among multiple trees, or among materials sourced from different locations.
8. Scope & Suitability
Unless expressly stated otherwise in a signed writing, Fireside’s services cover the manufacture of lumber and wood components only. Client is responsible for confirming that the products ordered are appropriate for Client’s intended use. Fireside does not warrant suitability for any specific construction project, siding system, flooring layout, installation method, finish system, building-code requirement, design objective, or quantity requirement.
9. Changes, Revisions & Additional Work
An estimate includes only the scope described in it. Additional consultations, redesigns, alternate pricing scenarios, revised estimates, project management, site visits, meetings, specification changes, or scope revisions requested by Client are outside that scope and may be billed at Fireside’s standard consulting rate of $155 per hour. Any change to scope, quantity, dimensions, species, profile, or specification must be approved in writing and may affect price, yield, and timeline. Verbal requests are not binding unless confirmed in writing by Fireside.
10. Written Communication Controls
Fireside communicates with clients through phone calls, text messages, emails, social-media messages, in-person conversations, and written project documents. Because information exchanged during informal communications may be preliminary, incomplete, or subject to misunderstanding, only signed agreements, approved estimates, invoices, written change orders, and written confirmations issued by Fireside constitute binding project terms. Informal discussions, preliminary opinions, recommendations, rough calculations, estimated yields, projected timelines, or verbal statements do not constitute warranties, guarantees, or modifications of these Terms unless confirmed in writing by Fireside.
11. Client Cooperation & Project Participation
Client agrees to provide timely decisions, approvals, measurements, specifications, selections, and responses reasonably necessary for completion of the project. Delays caused by Client, including failure to provide information or approvals, may result in increased costs, revised schedules, suspension of work, or rescheduling of production. Fireside shall not be responsible for delays, additional expenses, or scheduling impacts resulting from Client inaction or delayed responses.
12. Deposits
Fireside may require a deposit before purchasing material or beginning work. Deposits are non-refundable and are applied to the final balance. Material purchasing, scheduling, and production do not begin until any required deposit is received and the estimate is approved.
13. Payment
Payment is due upon receipt unless otherwise agreed in writing. Accepted methods: Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, ACH/wire, cash, in-person check, or credit card/PayPal (+3%). Checks payable to Fireside Farm, LLC. If payment is not received within thirty-one (31) days of invoicing, Fireside may sell the material or begin court proceedings to secure payment, and Client is responsible for reasonable costs of collection. Title to finished product passes to Client only upon payment in full.
14. Cancellation & Custom Orders
All custom-milled material is produced to Client specification and cannot be restocked or resold as standard inventory. Orders are non-refundable once processing begins. Cancellation after processing begins incurs a fee equal to 50% of the project total plus the full cost of any materials purchased on Client’s behalf. Deposits remain non-refundable.
15. Moisture, Installation & Exterior Applications
Kiln-dried flooring and lumber are delivered at 6–8% moisture content for interior use unless otherwise specified. Wood is hygroscopic and will expand and contract with ambient humidity. Client is responsible for proper transportation, storage, acclimation, climate conditioning, and installation in accordance with current NWFA guidelines and good building practice. Fireside is not responsible for cupping, gapping, checking, movement, finish issues, or performance problems resulting from site conditions, improper acclimation, transport, storage, or installation.
Siding, cladding, trim, soffit, fascia, and other exterior wood products are exposed to weather, sunlight, humidity fluctuations, and installation conditions beyond Fireside’s control. Natural movement, checking, cupping, shrinking, swelling, surface weathering, color change, extractive bleed, finish degradation, and variations in appearance are normal characteristics of exterior wood products and do not constitute defects. Client is responsible for proper design, flashing, ventilation, finishing, sealing, maintenance, and installation. Fireside makes no warranty regarding the long-term performance of exterior products once installed.
16. Defects & Claims
A covered defect is limited to material milled outside agreed dimensional tolerances (±1/16″) or kiln-dried outside the agreed moisture range (±2%). Natural characteristics — including color and grain variation, knots, mineral streak, ray fleck, sapwood, figure, texture variation, board-length variation, and the appearance characteristics described in these Terms — are not defects. Claims for covered defects must be submitted within seven (7) days of pickup or delivery and before installation, finishing, or modification of the material. Material that has been installed, finished, or altered is deemed accepted. Any claim must include a written description of the alleged defect together with photographs reasonably documenting the issue. Fireside shall be provided a reasonable opportunity to inspect the material before any installation, removal, repair, replacement, corrective work, or third-party modification is undertaken. Failure to provide an opportunity for inspection shall constitute acceptance of the material and waiver of the claim.
17. Pickup, Delivery & Haulers
Client is responsible for arranging and paying for transport unless delivery is expressly included in a signed estimate. Raw logs are handled only at locations equipped to receive them, such as a mill yard; Fireside does not deliver raw logs to residential or unequipped sites. Where Client engages a third-party hauler, that hauler acts for Client, and Fireside is not responsible for the hauler’s charges, scheduling, conduct, or any damage occurring in transit. Risk of loss passes to Client upon pickup or upon release to Client’s hauler.
18. Storage & Abandonment
Storage is free for the first seven (7) days after notice that material is ready. Thereafter, storage is $12.50 per pallet per week. Client is responsible for contacting Fireside to arrange pickup; reminders are not Fireside’s responsibility. Raw logs not picked up within ninety (90) days after written notice may be deemed abandoned. Finished lumber, flooring, millwork, or other completed products not picked up within one hundred eighty (180) days after written notice may be deemed abandoned and may be sold, disposed of, or otherwise used by Fireside without notice or refund. If Client no longer wants stored material, Fireside may, at its option, purchase it for up to $100 per pallet and waive accrued storage fees.
19. Standard of Workmanship
Client acknowledges that custom sawmilling, kiln drying, and woodworking involve natural materials and variable manufacturing processes. Products and services provided by Fireside shall be evaluated according to a standard of reasonable workmanship consistent with customary practices within the custom woodworking and sawmilling industry, and not according to a standard of perfection. Minor variations, reasonable tolerances, natural material characteristics, and differences inherent in custom manufacturing shall not constitute defects.
20. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Fireside’s total liability for any claim arising from its products or services is limited to the amount Client has paid Fireside for the specific product or service giving rise to the claim. Fireside is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or special damages, including lost profits, installation or removal costs, or damage to other property, however arising.
21. Timeline & Circumstances Beyond Control
Any completion target assumes an approved estimate, any required deposit, material approval, and timely Client responses throughout. Client delays in approvals, payments, decisions, material selection, or responses exceeding seven (7) calendar days may result in rescheduling. Kiln schedules, equipment availability, material condition, material procurement, weather, utility interruptions, illness, and other circumstances beyond Fireside’s reasonable control may affect the timeline, and Fireside is not liable for delays arising from such circumstances.
22. Good-Faith Resolution
Before commencing litigation, the parties agree to make a good-faith effort to resolve any dispute through direct communication. If the dispute remains unresolved, the parties agree to participate in non-binding mediation in Orange County or Alamance County, North Carolina, before filing suit, unless immediate legal action is necessary to preserve a claim, collect an unpaid balance, or protect property rights.
23. Photography & Marketing
Fireside may photograph or video material and finished work for portfolio, website, and social-media use, without identifying Client or project location unless Client consents. Client may opt out by notifying Fireside in writing before work begins.
24. Governing Law & Venue
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina. Any dispute arising under them shall be brought exclusively in the state courts located in Orange County or Alamance County, North Carolina.
25. Entire Agreement & Severability
These Terms, together with the applicable estimate, are the entire agreement between the parties and supersede any prior or contemporaneous verbal or written understandings. No verbal statement modifies these Terms unless confirmed in writing by Fireside. If any provision is found unenforceable, it shall be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT & ACCEPTANCE
By signing below, Client acknowledges that custom work from natural wood, and from multiple material sources, contains natural variation and may differ from expectations regarding color, grain, figure, texture, and appearance, and accepts these characteristics as inherent to the material and process. Client confirms the estimated quantity and coverage meet the project’s requirements and agrees to all of these Terms.
Project reference/description:_________________________________________
Client signature: ______________________________ Date: ______________
Printed name: ______________________________________