Re-claimed wood

[JCLP]

Good morning everyone. A good friend just purchased a home that was built in 1848 and we spent many hours removing all the lathe and plaster from the walls and ceilings and found very large planks of Fir on the walls and the ceiling. Sizes range from 3' long by 1' wide to  18 inches wide to 12 feet and longer. We estimate this wood to be from trees that were planted in late 1790's. I brought a plank home and started working on it to make a hallway table for the old home. I also will get about 20 4"x4"x10' fir post that were used to for the interior walls and approx. a dozen  3"x8"x12' fir joist that were used to hold up the second floor. Can't wait to use these for a new coffered ceiling. Here is a before and after photo. Took many hours of sanding and a couple coats of lacquer. I think a nice rod iron base to finish it off as a hallway table. Cheers.

 

[Wonderwino]

It's always great to hear of ancient timbers being saved from the landfill and turned into beautiful, useful creations.  You just can't find wood like that everyday.  Keep us posted!  [cool]

 

[dltflt]

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Dan Clermont]

That is beautiful.

We have allot of salvage operations locally and some are ran by used building stores. I would not be surprised to see the cities force demolition companies to recycle as much material as possible rather than just throw it in the dump>

Dan Clermont

 

[JCLP]

That is beautiful.

We have allot of salvage operations locally and some are ran by used building stores. I would not be surprised to see the cities force demolition companies to recycle as much material as possible rather than just throw it in the dump>

Dan Clermont

Thanks Dan. I too would like to see more recycling the only problem is that the average person sees this lumber as garbage or firewood. Most contractors don't have the will or time to recycle. Even old aluminum siding and troughs are tossed out to the landfill sites. I think if the local governments were to force the contractors to recycle more, the cost of houses would definitely go up.

 

[wow]

That looks beautiful! Nice job!

I am fascinated by reclaimed wood. There aren't too many 300 year-old structures around these parts (like NONE?!) but we do have some old barns with large timbers.

I've heard that those old Fir timbers have much smaller growth rings and are much harder than today's spf wood. Did you find that to be the case? Or did it seem pretty much the same as what you'd see today?

 

[#Tee]

nice but i would actually prefer and use the before pix myself [tongue]

 

[JCLP]

nice but i would actually prefer and use the before pix myself [tongue]

Hi Tee. This board was used as an experiment to see what the original wood looked like. I have close to 100 boards like this at my disposal and soon will be in storage after I remove them from the walls and ceilings of the old house. I plan to make a riddling rack for a client using the wood as is to give that old age look to the rack.

 

[Dan Clermont]

That looks beautiful! Nice job!

I am fascinated by reclaimed wood. There aren't too many 300 year-old structures around these parts (like NONE?!) but we do have some old barns with large timbers.

I've heard that those old Fir timbers have much smaller growth rings and are much harder than today's spf wood. Did you find that to be the case? Or did it seem pretty much the same as what you'd see today?

I am not sure what it is like in your neck of the woods but out here are waste sites are very picky and we need to seperate all the green wood (unpainted timber), garbage (painted wood), metal and drywall. Long gone are the days of just dumping it at the dump so their is a conscious effort to reduce and reuse although I do agree with you. When it gets to the general contractor having to do this the demo costs will increase significantly

Dan

 

[#Tee]

nice but i would actually prefer and use the before pix myself [tongue]

Hi Tee. This board was used as an experiment to see what the original wood looked like. I have close to 100 boards like this at my disposal and soon will be in storage after I remove them from the walls and ceilings of the old house. I plan to make a riddling rack for a client using the wood as is to give that old age look to the rack.

thats awesome! im all for the rustic look

 

[JCLP]

Just had the wood looked at by a resident expert and found out that it is Red Pine and not Fir. I posted the wood on facebook and received orders for a dining room table, 2 hall tables and a wine riddling rack ( using the rustic look and not the dressed look. Off to the house to grab some boards and then my favourite Festool dealer to pick up a RO125. Cheers.

 

[JCLP]

Here is my first project with some of the 200 year old red pine. Built with 100% festools. Jigsaw, sanders, kapex and my favourite tool the Domino. Everything is being held together with dominos. No screws or nails. Before I glue all of the joints should I move in the legs a little so they are not to close to the ends of the top. The top is 77 inches long and approach 16-18 inches wide. The height is 31 inches. Sorry for dark photo, I used my iPhone.

 

[JCLP]

The hall table is taking shape. Here is a better picture. 200 year old red pine re-claimed from friends house. Top slab is 77 inches by 17 inches with live edge on both sides.