Is reclaimed wood worth it?

Reclaimed wood seems to be getting more and more popular, at least as a marketing term. In catalogs and advertisements, it suggests authenticity. If your wood used to be the floor of a 19th century fire-house and its surface it was worn smooth by decades of burly men rushing across it on their way to pull children from burning buildings, well, then that shit is real. And by owning a dining room table made from it, you are real as well.

There are also some practical advantages to reclaimed lumber. It’s usually dry. And I don’t just mean kiln-dried. I mean that its dry to the point where even the resin inside has crystallized. I recently sawed through a sap-pocket in a piece of old fir and that little deposit of sap was as hard as amber.  Wood like that tends to be stable and everybody likes that. 

Also, old, slow-growing trees generally produce harder, stiffer, more beautiful wood. And so, we cut all those trees down over the last several hundred years.  You can’t just go out and buy freshly-sawn, old-growth timber from the lumberyard anymore. But much of that old wood still exists. It’s still sitting in the buildings that it was made into. And when those buildings come down, even the studs and floor joists can be made from some pretty amazing timber.

I like reclaimed wood. Tell me a good story about where it came from, and I’m as much of a sucker as any millennial thumbing through an Ikea catalog. I have some redwood that came out of a vintner’s barn in California. You know where I bought the wood? California. You know where I live now? Ohio. What have I made from this wood?  Nothing. I’m just hoarding it. I don’t even know why. 

At the moment, I’m working on a custom front door. It’s a nice project. Interesting. Good pay. And I’m using reclaimed, old-growth Douglas fir. It used to be the floor joists in some grand, old Cleveland building. It straight and hard and the lumberyard offered me a deal, so I took it.

The stuff is pretty; no question about that. It’s got a light, brownish-pink color and wide growth rings. And it’s as hard and stable as you could ask form any softwood. This species is also known for its weather resistance and often used in exterior doors, so it’s a logical choice.

And it’s pretty tough to work with. Wood that’s been in a building and then been pulled out has often been knocked around a fair bit. It’s got gouges, cracks, checks, and nail holes that drink epoxy like a milkshake. And some of those nail holes to still have nails hiding inside. I own a Sawstop. You do the math on that.

This stuff has all the reclaimed character you can ask for, but it doesn’t really matter. I’ve had to plane it down to regular door dimensions, so all of that weathering and patina is sitting on my shop floor. I’ve filled some of the nail holes three or four times and they’re still not level. And the wood has had some unexpected cracks and splits that have had to be forced open and glued. It’s cost me time. And the customer didn’t even ask for reclaimed wood or a rustic look. I’m just a romantic.

In the future, I’m going to stick with the reclaimed stuff where you can see it: tabletops, counters, that sort of thing. I’ve done some nice work with reclaimed bowling lanes. That stuff’s a real pain in the ass, but it sure is cool when you’re done.

Reclaimed wood brings character. So use it where the character is visible. The rest of the time, buy some clean, clear new lumber. Your table saw will thank you.