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Reclaimed Wood from the Pit

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Greetings!

10"X10"X18' Douglas Fir "Pit Wood"

10″X10″X18′ Douglas Fir “Pit Wood”

Our company keeps growing and improving! Last month Pacific Northwest Timbers, our new yard in Port Townsend, Washington, was officially certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Crossroads has always provided reclaimed lumber as an eco-friendly building material and plans to soon be FSC certified.  For Pacific Northwest Timbers, FSC Chain of Custody Certification is a verification that our post-consumer and post-industrial products help to protect the world’s forests.  We are proud to be a part of this organization that encourages responsible forest management.  You can learn more about the Forest Stewardship Council at www.fsc.org.

This month we’re featuring wood from a unique source. We have been affectionately calling the material “Pit Wood,” because it is being excavated from a mud pit 80 feet wide and 1,400 feet long! This Redwood and Douglas Fir was a wooden platform at a cattle feed plant built in the 1930’s.

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Posted in Green Building Materials, Historic Lumber, Reclaimed Redwood, Reclaimed Wood | Comments Off on Reclaimed Wood from the Pit

Antique Genuine and Recreated Barn Siding

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Genuine Old Barn Siding on a Wyoming Guest Ranch

Genuine Old Barn Siding on a Wyoming Guest Ranch

We have great news to share with you! We’ve opened a yard in Washington state! Pacific Northwest Timbers, LLC, the newborn sister company to Crossroads Recycled Lumber, LLC, is up and running at 130 Seton Road in Port Townsend, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. Click Here for Seattle Area Reclaimed Wood.

 

The new yard has a sawmill and edger in place as well as moulding capability. You can reach Pacific Northwest Timbers at (360) 379-2792 for an appointment, or contact the Crossroads yard in Central California at the information at the bottom of this e-mail. Before visiting either yard please call for an appointment to be sure that we’ll be able to accommodate you. We look forward to meeting your reclaimed lumber needs in the Northwest!

 

Now that the news is out about our new yard, we’d love to tell you about one of our reclaimed specialties: Barn Siding. Old Barn Siding is one of the most popular reclaimed products for folks trying to foster a rustic character in their building. Barn Siding can vary greatly in species, color, and quality.

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Posted in Announcements, Features, Green Building Materials, Reclaimed Redwood, Reclaimed Wood | Comments Off on Antique Genuine and Recreated Barn Siding

Reclaimed Lumber vs. FSC Certified

Monday, September 14th, 2009

A California architect wrote to us asking how “the cost of recycled lumber compares to [Forest Stewardship Council] certified lumber.” Below is Marc’s answer.

Generally reclaimed costs more than conventional and FSC lumber primarily because of the labor involved in the recycling process. This includes:

  1. Saving the lumber from demolition/construction projects
  2. Cleaning the lumber (it can be full of nails and other objects like hangers, electrical conduit, tar paper etc, all of which needs to be cleaned and sorted)
  3. Remilling the boards and any finishing required

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Posted in Green Building Materials, Reclaimed Wood, Sustainability, Sustainable Architecture & Green Building | Comments Off on Reclaimed Lumber vs. FSC Certified

Growing Up with Reclaimed Lumber

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Sophie in 2008

Sophie in 2008

Here I am back home in the Valley (well, the foothills) after 5 exciting years in Santa Cruz and Chile. At 23 I’m living with my mom and working for my dad, but I dig it.

My job right now is doing outreach for my dad’s business, Crossroads Recycled Lumber in North Fork, California.  I’m supposed to get our name out there and let architects and institutions that are building green know primarily about reclaimed lumber, and secondarily about Crossroads. I really enjoy doing this. I spend mornings pulling nails or milling boards with the guys in the yard, and afternoons here in the office doing outreach and making connections.

My dad’s been doing the Recycled Lumber thing for years now, since before I was born. When I was a kid he worked different jobs throughout the year, logging in the summer, construction or demolition in the winter. When he worked demolition he would salvage lumber, doors, windows, whatever was salvageable from wrecking jobs. The house I grew up in, that he built with help from friends and neighbors, was nearly 100% reclaimed. Even my first pets were salvaged when Dad was on a demolition job and the two cats (Ishi and Mr. Brown) that had belonged to the abandoned building were left homeless. Crossroads took off when I was about 7, after Dad finally bought a sawmill and could do custom milling instead of just selling pieces “as is.”

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Posted in Green Building Materials, Opinions, Reclaimed Wood, Sustainability | Comments Off on Growing Up with Reclaimed Lumber

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