Anyone use reclaimed wood?

[Rich Riddle]

I am looking at building a workbench after the new year and picking a design. The thought of reclaimed wood is appealing but it seems as though most these folks on the Internet selling it have it priced to the point where it's simply much easier and cheaper to use new wood. Any of you folks have luck finding reclaimed wood at a decent price?

[William Nimmo]

I find that wood that escapes the dumpster is priced at double what new wood costs.
Go figure

[Rich Engelhardt]

Keep scanning the free stuff on craig's list.

[Mel Fulks]

Yep. But doesn't hurt to look for deals at tear down sites. Our local RESTORE has deals on common donated 2 bys. As an example of how things can change ,about 1960 a guy I used to work for got a lot of old heart pine timbers from a school that was being torn down just by asking for it. Now the HP dealers put in bids for tearing down buildings ,carefully figuring salvage value of a number or materials.

[Paul Incognito]

If you have a friend in the construction industry, let them know what you're looking for. They usually dumpster old floor joists and beams when doing a rehab. Most folks would rather have you haul it away than pay for disposal. Just be aware that there will be nails and other goodies hidden in the wood that will ruin planer blades. Get a good metal detector.
PI

[Rich Riddle]

Keep scanning the free stuff on craig's list.

Funny you should say that. There is two advertisements. One has a guy who wants you to spend two weeks cleaning out his storage unit and organizing it for a few boards that look like good candidates to make bows. The other is someone who wants you to completely disassemble his metal shed but he won't charge you for your time to take it apart.

[scott spencer]

A high percentage of my projects over the last 10 years have used reclaimed wood in some form or another. I've been given some, won some, bought some, and have repurposed a lot of curbside pieces. You don't need to specifically buy reclaimed lumber from a seller.

[Keith Westfall]

Sometimes you get lucky with wood from pallets... - not always

[Tai Fu]

So why are reclaimed wood double the cost of new wood? Isn't the idea to reuse old wood to save the trees? I can see risks being nails and stuff inside but the price they're charging for reclaimed wood is just ridiculous. I can actually buy exotic wood cheaper than reclaimed pine.

[Mike Cutler]

So why are reclaimed wood double the cost of new wood? Isn't the idea to reuse old wood to save the trees? I can see risks being nails and stuff inside but the price they're charging for reclaimed wood is just ridiculous. I can actually buy exotic wood cheaper than reclaimed pine.

For some reason, people classify it with some type of an "antique" status.
Some of the "older" woods are worth looking at and possibly paying for, but it's kind of selective.
Old Hemlock beams, White oak barn board, Qsawn heart pine and there are others.Sometimes the wood is salvageable and has value only for period authentic restorations. Most though, should just go through the wood stove.

My house was built with rough cut lumber circa 1920, and believe me, there's a lot to be said for a "modern" 2x4, or 2x6.

[Rich Riddle]

So why are reclaimed wood double the cost of new wood? Isn't the idea to reuse old wood to save the trees? I can see risks being nails and stuff inside but the price they're charging for reclaimed wood is just ridiculous. I can actually buy exotic wood cheaper than reclaimed pine.

You are correct. I have already decided to simply purchase new wood. It would cost too much time to try to find the reclaimed wood and then there is the time to mill it, etc. I told the three dealers my decision and they seemed surprised. I told them it was a simple cost/benefit decision. The cost of using reclaimed wood outweighed the benefit of using it.

[Mike Carino]

Right now we`re building a house out of it. It`s a bunch of junk....twisted, split all to hell, cupped you name the defect it has it. It`s expensive as hell but people that have more money than sense love it. The house is going for several million.

[Dave Quignon]

I got really blessed by a guy who gave me about 1300 feet of 1" oak flooring. He pulled in out of a TJ Friday's, took it home, pulled 95% of the nails, stored it for 2 years and then gave it to me. It takes a lot of milling, but it is beautiful red oak. So there are opportunities out there, it is about being in the right place and the right time.

[Tai Fu]

I don't care how old it is, pine is pine and they aren't worth 10% of what people are asking. If it's reclaimed Brazilian rosewood, then I'll bite.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I salvaged two 46' Douglas fir sailboat masts from a wrecked sailboat. We towed them behind our kayaks from an offshore cay. I sawed them into 20' sections to get them home. Each section weighed about 250 pounds. It was quite a task to get good lumber from it. I made a racing SUP out of it to let the wood remain at sea where it belonged. I still have 3/4 of the wood left and it will go to parts for a 6m Whaler sailboat and a skin on frame kayak.


image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg