Lately I've noticed a lot of talk on social media and chat rooms about salvaged wood. A lot of consumers love it, a lot of craftspeople hate it. (That's a broad generalization, but it seems to hold pretty true)
I've been working with reclaimed or salvaged wood for the last few years and for a time I used it exclusively. I have a kind of love hate relationship with it myself. I figured I'd weigh in on it with some pros and cons and a little education as well. Most of what I've learned I learned the hard way so maybe it'll help you when trying to decide on when and how to use salvaged material.
I'm a "bad news first" kind of guy so here's some of the cons in my experience
-It's dirty. Not just dirt but animal feces, lead paint, maybe asbestos (if you're really unlucky), ect. Pressure wash it, strip it (or hire a pro) with chemical strippers, wire brush it. Do what you gotta do. If it's really old and it's painted, assume it's lead. I don't mess with old lumber that's painted any more, not unless I strip the paint. Even then I try to avoid it. You or your contractor or builder should always err on the side of caution.
-It's naily. Screwy. Full of metal. The best way to find nails in old wood is to put a fresh set of blades in your planer. (you think I'm kidding) There are metal detectors out there for reasonably cheap. If you're going to mill or cut reclaimed wood at any level think about a metal detector. And safety glasses.
-Moisture. Not rain. That's moisture content at a cellular level. MC to woodworkers. I hear all the time "It's so old, it's super dry". Most lumber that's lived outside (here in the midwest) will come down to around 12% MC after awhile (years). That's pretty low but not quite low enough in my opinion. Most heated homes will have a MC of 6% or less in the winter. The wood in your home will try to keep up with the air in the home. If it starts at 12% and drops to 6% there's a chance that wood will crack as it shrinks. Lots of people see this expansion./contraction at work in their hardwood floors during the winter and summer. How much more so on a large piece of wood, like a table top? At the very least you should know your wood's MC and plan accordingly.
-Patina. This is both a pro and a con. Sure the texture and color and imperfections are beautiful. But, consider cleaning a mess off of it or sitting on it. I'm not trying to shoo any one away from using salvaged. Just be mindful of it's intended purpose. Once, a lady wanting salvaged oak counters saw some boards at my shop, straight from the barn, and said "I want THOSE, don't do anything to them, they're perfect!". I had to talk her out of them, at least in that state, because from a practical standpoint they would've been a nightmare. Just keep in mind the intended purpose. A super rough entry table might be perfect but an unfinished, unsanded counter or dining table is probably going to prove frustrating.
-Bugs. Let me preface this by saying I've NEVER seen a living insect in any salvaged lumber I've worked with but I have seen evidence of where they've been. I now run any and all lumber through my small kiln at a minimum of 140 degrees for a few days to kill any bugs are larvae. There are chemical options as well. Something to consider. Though, keeping wood up off the ground and dry discourages lots of pests and lots of what attracts the insects to the wood dried out and dissipated tens if not one hundred years ago.
With all that in mind, why would anyone ever want to use salvaged wood?
Well, after all the headaches mentioned above, I still use it at times and here's a few reasons why;
-Patina. I know that was a con, but it's also a pro. Lots of people try but you can't fake aged wood. It develops a really cool patina and character over time. Lot's of story and lots of history. As long as you use and highlight the patina in a functional way you get furniture AND a story.
-History. This ties in with the patina. But, to think that someone hand hewed a log, with an axe they sharpened, to house their family on land they cleared, farmed and settled is pretty humbling and cool. If the barn the wood came from is 150 years old it's probably safe to assume that the trees the wood came from were another 100 (or more) years old. If I can clean them up and get another 100 years out of them I think that's pretty cool.
-Wood quality. Some of the clearest, straightest grained white oak, fir and pine that I've seen has come from old buildings. It's had one hundred years (plus) to air dry and do whatever cracking or checking it wants to do. It can be finish dried in a small kiln relatively quickly and re-dimensioned to more usable dimension. Cutting a white oak log into 6x6 timbers today would take forever to fully dry. The salvaged timbers are almost there and lots of times they're surprisingly clear and well behaved.
-It's cheap or free. Sort of. If you figure in all the extra time and energy it's actually more expensive but if you're not afraid of a little demolition and elbow grease you can get a pretty good deal. Just be selective, ask questions and know that not all salvaged lumber is created equally.
-It's "green". Most demoed lumber ends up in a landfill. Some of it belongs there but I've seen and heard of ungodly amounts of really nice lumber being dumped. 12"x 3" fir beams, 20' long without a knot in sight. Trashed. Heart breaker. If it can be cleaned up and used it's a great way to recycle. Even if it's not fit for a table it might make a great garden shed or chicken coop or raised garden planter. Get creative.
-Options. This is something I'd like to see more developed. Not all salvaged wood has to be rustic, shabby chic, or crafted in a rudimentary manner. Once it's been cleaned up and the damage has been milled out or removed there's often little evidence that's it's salvaged wood at all. To me reclaimed doesn't have to scream "country", it can, but it doesn't have to. Another option that a lot of people overlook is urban sawing. While it's not old wood taken out of buildings it's a GREAT way to keep otherwise good material out of the landfill. Urban sawing/logging is taking trees that are storm damaged or being cleared for development and sawing them into dimensional lumber. It's a great way to utilize these trees and yield some high character material that a box store and even a lot of lumber yards won't carry.
So, haters gonna hate. Admittedly, there's lots of times I hate working with old wood (NAILS!) and there's lots of furniture out there that use the old wood as an excuse for shoddy work. (I've learned a lot of what I know about old wood through trial and painful error.) But, I don't think the reclaiming trend is going anywhere anytime soon. There's builders using reclaimed and salvage material yards in most cities. Google them! I'd rather see someone buy a table from a salvaged wood builder than a Swedish particle board store any day. Be selective and be creative.
