How your Home can Benefit from Reclaimed Timber

Guest Blog #53, Entry #467, April 3, 2011

I’m always amazed at how many new uses reclaimed and re-purposed materials are being used in today’s homes. While many of the uses are for furniture, and finishes, timber is often used for structural elements of your home, as well as everyday uses that we forget about.

Reclaimed timber has a multitude of uses

Today, I’m fortunate to have found a Guest Blogger from “My Blog Guest”, a great interactive forum that helps blog owners find excellent blogger guests that will deliver fresh information to you! Jarrah Timber, Jarrah Flooring, will explain to you where reclaimed timber comes from, the different types and how it can benefit you in your home.

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Recycled timber is one of the most environmentally friendly products available. By using recycled timber for construction, we are able to reduce our reliance upon timber sourced from unsustainable resources. This is important given that timber products are so heavily interwoven into our day to day lives; houses, furniture, paper, boxes, packaging, magazines, guitars, pencils, bridges, railways, jetties… and the list goes on.

Thankfully, recycled timber is a great alternative material for some of the timber products listed above. It can be sourced at extremely high quality, and most importantly, directly contributes to a reduction in old growth logging and habitat destruction.

So what exactly is recycled timber? It is timber that has been reclaimed or salvaged from a source that would otherwise go to waste, and that may have also been re-milled. Although the definitions for some of the above terms may vary in usage, it is possible to draw some high level categorizations for the terms.

Reclaimed timber – interior wall paneling

Reclaimed Timber

In general, it is possible to define reclaimed timber as that which has been harvested, processed, and used in the construction of a building or structure, before then also being carefully reclaimed by disassembling that building or structure. Old buildings are regularly being demolished as part of the natural process of urban renewal that occurs in our cities and metropolitan areas. In fact, it is also something that occurs on a widespread basis in industrial and agricultural areas too. The timber that was used in the original construction of old structures can be extremely valuable. They have a lower tendency for warping than recently felled and kiln dried timbers, and are also well suited for matching the color of existing timbers in home renovation projects.

Salvaged Timber

Salvaged timber is usually defined as waste timber which has not been processed or used in construction. This timber is likely to have been felled as a result of the land being cleared during mining, agriculture, or construction. It is important to draw a distinction here between timber that is created as a side-effect of land clearing, and timber that is being harvested from land clearing as part of the intention behind clearing that land. With the latter, it’s called logging, and with the former, it’s called waste timber. To illustrate this point, imagine a scenario where a mining operation has been given approval to clear some land, and as part of the process they will be clearing the ground for strip mining or open-cut mining. Now imagine that this has resulted in a large number of trees being bulldozed, and that the end-game for those trees would normally be to get piled together and burnt. If the alternative scenario is that those trees are salvaged by a recycled timber company, then this timber has been legitimately recycled. It is making good use of a product that would otherwise go to waste. Although it may not be desirable to clear the land in the first place, it’s better to make good use of the trees that are cut down rather than see them be wasted.

Timber in wood flooring or stair railings

Salvaged timber can also be found in the form of lumber that was originally harvested for use in construction, but that was never processed. This may be found in abandoned farmsteads, old mills and lumberyards, and anywhere large quantities of wood may have been used.

Salvaged timber is often still in a full log form, and will need to be processed through a milling operation before it can be used in construction. That is of course assuming that the building project requires beams, posts, and planks, as opposed to natural bush poles. Salvaged timber may have also been naturally seasoned, depending on the period of time that has passed between felling and salvaging. However, it is likely that it won’t have been seasoned to the same degree as reclaimed timbers. This is due to the fact that un-sawn logs are more prone to retaining moisture than processed timber. The extent and quality of seasoning makes a big difference to how the wood reacts and performs when put to use, so it may be deemed necessary to kiln dry salvaged timber before using it for construction.

Re-milled and De-nailed Timber

Re-milled and de-nailed timbers are essentially variants of recycled timber. Reclaimed timber may have been sourced from a location in which it was nailed in place, and it may also have been subjected to surface wear over the years. In order to bring this timber back to its former glory it may be necessary to remove any and all nails from the timber, and re-mill it to create a smooth and new finish. Recycled timber that has been treated in this way can be of at least the same quality as freshly harvested timbers, and in fact can be superior in quality; it is less prone to warping, bending, and cracking, and so is deemed to be a highly stable building product.

Timber has many uses in your home – flooring, railings, doors, etc…

Why?

It of course goes without saying that recycled timber is much better for the environment, and we’ve already stated that recycled timber can be of higher quality, but it’s also worth considering some of the other factors that contribute to the appeal of recycled timber. Firstly, reclaimed and salvaged timbers can be used to create some very beautiful and unique styles of architecture. The wood’s ‘experience’ may have contributed to a very distinctive and characteristic appeal, as the marks and wear patterns accrued during its years of service are worn like a badge of honor. Furthermore, utilizing timber that has been reclaimed from an iconic or historic building or structure can infuse a new building with ready-made history, tradition, and story. So next time you’re thinking timber, think recycled.