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Going Green is Fueling the use of Reclaimed Wood

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Reclaimed wood comes from many places

One of the ways to earn certification points within a green building program is to use reclaimed wood. Reclaimed wood is wood that has been removed from it's prior use such as: old buildings, barns, bridges, barrels, boxes and much more. Reclaimed wood products are very hot in the rustic look new homes and the projects being certified green. Reclaimed wood helps the environmentally conscious green building by not using new harvested wood. The coolest thing about using reclaimed wood is the story that is behind the product. A person may use a reclaimed wood flooring in their home and every time a friend visits they get to explain where this floor came from. (Friend) Wow I love your floor. (You) Isn't it cool, it came from a old cotton mill that was built over a 100 years ago and recently was torn down. They took the old timbers from the building and made flooring out of it and I am also helping the environment by using this.

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Real Goods Solar, Inc.

A quick introduction

Reclaimed wood product are showing up more and more in very prominent new green projects. Reclaimed wood is a form of recycling but with amazing beauty. Old aged wood products take on a very different look than new wood products. Many of the reclaimed products came from old growth forests that you just doing see today. Depending on what the wood was used for prior gives the wood some unique character. Take an old pickling tank that has had vinegar in it for the last 50 to 100 years. You will not find wood with this character anywhere but from a company that has reclaimed pickling vats. Wow what a story, Hey my siding on my house came from an old wood pickling vat. Now how many people can say that about their siding!


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Reclaimed Wood in the news

Buildings that once where a community hot spot may be to old to keep up. But the products in this building can be reclaimed and used again in a new project. These are great stories that can be told over and over. People love to talk about the past and rekindle past memories. "Hey remember the old warehouse on 33rd we use to play in as kids? They have torn that building down and now the wood is being used as the flooring in the new city library". These stories are being told across the country. Bill Gates mansion build many years ago used thousands of board feet of reclaimed wood. Many new city and government building being built as a LEED certified project are using reclaimed wood is some aspect of the process.
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Where reclaimed Wood Comes From

Reclaimed wood comes from places you may not think of

Reclaimed wood comes from some very common place along with some unthought of places. The most common place reclaimed wood is found is old buildings and barn. Some companies will disassemble an old timber frame barn piece by piece, labeling every joint. You can then purchase the old barn to be reconstructed or you may only want to purchase parts of the barn. Reclaimed wood from old building seems to be the common products.
But the uncommon products come from old railroad box car bottoms, pickling vats, whiskey vats, wine vats, mushroom boxes, railroad ties, bridges, trestles, snow fences or even old log cabins. The picture here is a snow fence from the plains of Wyoming. These snow fences are used to keep the snow from blowing across the roads. As these fences age the old portions are removed and reclaimed into siding.

A great blog about this topic

This is one of my blogs where I have feature one company that has an incredible story about one of the largest reclaimed projects in the world. This reclaimed project has some amazing history of the railroad being linked across the country.
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Some YouTube vids

The wood in Bill Gates home came from an old Weyerhauser mill.

Smarthome, Inc.
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Mushroom Wood Siding

One of those places you did not think of

Mushroom Wood siding is a very unique product and creates an old weathered look like no other product can.
Mushrooms are grown in wood boxes filled with a very high fertilizer composted. I won't explain this compost, you may not eat mushrooms again. These boxes are begin to rot from the compost and moisture. These boxes have to be replaced regularly. The wood boxes are reclaimed, steam cleaned to remove the compost. A beautiful aged siding emerges from a product that would normally go to a landfill or burned.

Green-Reclaimed Wood Furniture

Reclaimed wood is used in furniture.
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Pickle Wood

Wooden Pickling barrels are reclaimed

Many old pickle plants have discontinued using the old wooden barrel and gone to newer fiberglass or other type of barrel. This has put a large amount of reclaimed wood on the market. The old vats have to be disassembled and then set out for up to two years to get the vinegar smell out of the wood. The wood is then cut and planned into flooring, siding, molding, furniture or doors. The vinegar again creates a unique character like no other.

Gaiam.com, Inc

What do you think of this lens

  • CentennialWoods Jan 19, 2010 @ 12:27 pm | delete
    Greetings!
    I am Ric Mathews, a Customer Care representative at Centennial Woods down in Laramie, WY. We manufacture re-claimed Wyoming snow fence products such as siding, soffit and trim as well as T&G products for floors, walls and ceilings. I'm wondering if you all have any upcoming projects for which you will specify just such a reclaimed item. If so, GREAT.....if not, but I've aroused your curiosity, our web-site is located at www.centennialwoods.com. Once there, you can learn more about both our company and our sustainable, re-claimed products. You can also click "Request a Sample", and a box of sample-sized Centennial Woods offerings will be on its way to your door. In the mean-time, if you happen to generate some questions, you may either e-mail me or contact me "toll free" at 866-778-8762.
    Thanks for your time.
    Best Regards,
  • twelfthhouse May 15, 2009 @ 3:47 pm | delete
    5* and I lensrolled this on my Shipping Container Houses lens.
  • Mortira Mar 14, 2009 @ 3:30 pm | delete
    It's great when being green can be fashionable, too. Reclaimed building materials look great. Welcome to the Green Crusaders group!
  • Belindance Feb 14, 2009 @ 9:58 pm | delete
    I think this is a great idea, old wood is beautiful. Plus, why throw it away? Wood from barns, I have seen used on this PBS's This Old house. Plus other wood products such as old paneling from houses or building that are going to be torn down. Why haven't we done this before...I just don't know?
  • AndyPo Feb 4, 2009 @ 6:41 am | delete
    Excellent lens. Reclaimed wood often has a lot of character.
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I needed help controlling my diabetes so I resorted to nutrients. In the process I found a product called Synergy that gave me great results. See... more »

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