Many times I have heard people ask “Why is reclaimed wood more expensive than new wood”? It’s a fair question...and there are some relatively simple answers.
First, let’s consider how new wood makes its way from the forest to our local lumber retailer. Obviously, like all wood, it starts off as a tree. Back in the day, when trees were really big, a guy with a chainsaw felled the tree. Today, most to the trees are cut down by huge mechanical harvesting machines. These machines, knows as a “feller buncher”, can harvest dozens of trees an hour, strip the branches and stack the logs. Next, the logs are loaded onto trucks with another very large machine and then hauled to a sawmill. The logs are then stacked at the mill in huge “decks” awaiting the milling process.
The logs are moved from the decks to the primary mill using large tractors that can move huge bundles of logs at a time. The logs enter the mill on a mechanized assembly line. A laser optimizer that tells the computer-operated system how to cut the log for best yield scans each log and a huge saw then cuts the log up into boards with a minimum of waste. The rough-sawn boards then travel down the assembly line to be surface planed, or they may possibly detour through the dry kiln first.
In any case, the modern sawmill equipment builds units of lumber, bands it up and the units are moved to a warehouse or shipping facility by forklift.
The product is then loaded onto trucks and shipped to your local lumberyard ready for purchase. It is safe to say that the person who purchases new wood for their own use will be the first human being to touch that wood with their hands.
Now lets look at the same process for reclaimed wood. Since all reclaimed wood has been used previously, the first step is to recover it from an existing structure of some sort. Since traditional demolition, using a wrecking ball and excavator, damages the wood to the point where it isn’t good for anything except fuel, the building must be carefully deconstructed. This typically involves dismantling, or “deconstructing”, the building or structure in pretty much the reverse order in which it was build. It takes time, a good crew, the right equipment and care.
Once the wood is out of the structure, it needs to be stacked and banded (by hand) into shippable units and shipped to re-processing facility (usually a reclaimed wood company or mill). check out the video
One the wood is received at the mill; the next step before it can be re-milled or further processed is metal removal. Virtually all reclaimed wood has some form of metal fasteners in it from its prior use. Each piece must be scanned with a metal detector to locate any hidden pieces of broken fasteners.
Removing the metal is a bit of an art. At its crudest, it is long hours with a cats paw and hammer. At best, there are hydraulic tools for pulling nails and screws. There have been numerous tools and techniques developed by the reclaimed wood industry to improve on this process, but at the end of the day, its all hand work
Except for the fact the both processes use saws, milling reclaimed wood could not be more different from milling new wood. Each piece is carefully inspected by a sawyer and selected from inventory to yield the best product for whatever is being produced. Often, the product being produced is a custom order so not everything that is cut will work for the order so the waste factors can be daunting. check out the video
There are virtually zero reclaimed wood companies that are able to utilize modern, highly mechanized sawmill technology. That technology was developed to convert logs to boards and it doesn’t do well with the level discernment and consideration required when milling reclaimed. check out the video
To summarize, reclaimed wood is a product that is touched by human hands, and carefully inspected and examined by human eyes at every step of the process in order to best utilize the raw materials and deliver the best product. New wood just doesn’t require that level of attention and care and is a mass produced produc
At the end of the day- we make a statement with our buying power. Buying new wood makes the statement that we support the ongoing desecration of the remaining forests on the planet. Buying Reclaimed makes the statement that we support re-use and conservation. What is a healthy planet worth to you?