Two weeks ago we talked about one of our favorite rapidly renewable wood sources. Today, we’re continuing on the subject of wood, but from a different perspective. While we love renewable sources, one of the healthiest approaches to all wood products is to enjoy them while avoiding the felling of more live trees in the process. Thus, we are absolutely fascinated by salvaged wood. What is that exactly?

We define salvaged wood differently than reclaimed wood. For us, reclaimed wood can come from old barns, sheds, boats, bleachers, etc. It is wood that has already been used, and is being re-claimed for a further purpose. (We will delve further into this topic in the near future.) Salvaged wood, however, is material that has never been used before. It bears no traces of paints, stains, nails, added preservatives, etc. Anything made out of it is literally a brand new product.

Salvaged wood can be sourced from a variety of places. Most of what is available comes from water ways once used to transport logs from the thick of the forest to the mill. The general story with these so-called sinker logs is that as they were being transported, they were either trapped in currents or rocks or whatnot, and, instead of floating to their destination along with their fellow logs, they simply sank. Thus, rivers, lakes, even swamps hide sometimes centuries-old treasure troves of perfectly preserved logs. Not only have these logs been underwater for a very long time, they were also old-growth forest when they were cut down in the first place. That makes the wood they yield exceptionally old – sometimes ranging to over 400 years. And it is in fact perfect wood. Their underwater lairs kept them hidden from the conditions necessary for them to biodegrade, particularly heat and oxygen. There isn’t an enormous variety of species, but we’ve found suppliers for pine, cypress, beech, oak, maple, birch, and even larch.

Other sources of salvaged woods are the forest and the cities. The expansive logging operations of the past oftentimes left felled logs on the forest floor. If they haven’t yet decomposed, these can be a great source of old-growth wood. Additionally, trees that naturally die can also be recovered from forest floors. In the cities, safety concerns, and construction or demolition projects sometimes call for surrounding trees to be cut down. Salvaging the resulting logs leads to a locally available material source.

And, finally, there is bogwood. While a strange word, it refers to wood that, while recovered in the present, actually fell into peat bogs thousands and thousands of years ago. Bogwood is most commonly used for decorative purposes, and there is a long Irish tradition of using it for sculptures and other fine carvings. However, we came across one source, here in the United States, for one particular kind of bogwood: ancient Kauri. Kauri trees, like the Redwoods, are still alive and thriving, and they are also protected. Native to New Zealand, it is illegal to harvest any new Kauri wood. This ancient Kauri is indeed harvested from New Zealand peat bogs that currently lie beneath farmland. The wood is not petrified, but it does have an absolutely incredible shimmer that seeps to the very core. We have personally seen it, and it is stunning. The recovered Kauri trees are so enormous that the logs can yield huge slabs and timber for just about any application. The wood has even been crafted into luminous veneers. Strict carbon dating places all of the material to be between 35,000 and 50,000 years old. Now, even though it’s distributed in the United States, it does travel very far to get here. If you want something local, this would not be a good choice, but it is a good salvaged material to know about, and an ideal option if you want your project to include a product with a unique and distinct history. As for pricing, we were happily surprised to find out that it is priced similar to any exotic wood out there. So if exotic is what you’re thinking, this is in your price range, and it’s better than most exotic hardwoods, which are often unsustainably harvested (if not outright poached) from old-growth forests and which also travel a long distance to reach our shores.

While we don’t have one absolutely favorite salvaged wood product, we know of many different purveyors of this material. Here are just a few based on various regions of the country.

If you live in the northwest, check out:

• Columbia Riverwood (Washington)
• Vintage Reclaimed Flooring (Oregon)
• Pacific Hardwoods (Washington)

For those of us southwesterners, here are some options:

• Mendocino Superior Redwood (California)
• Wood Bank (California)
• Halm Lumber Company (Texas)
• Krantz Recovered Wood (Texas)

Midwesterners can look here:

• Ancientwood, LTD (Wisconsin)
• Timeless Timer (Wisconsin)
• Cypress Shakes Log Homes (Mississippi)

If you live in the northeast, visit:

• Auburn Enterprises, LLC (Maine)
• Underwater Wood Specialists (Maine)
• CitiLog (New Jersey)

Are you in the deep south? Go to:

• Treasure Logs (Louisiana)
• Delta Cypress Lumber (Louisiana)
• Hogan Hardwoods & Moulding (Florida)
• Recovered Hollow Log (Florida)
• Sinker Treasures (Georgia)

Enjoy! And, if you have a favorite salvaged wood supplier, let us know.

related posts:

• May 19, 2010 -- on tour: PDX sustainable materials (0)
• May 16, 2010 -- on tour: PDX (1)
• April 19, 2010 -- stories of sustainability: Interstyle Ceramic & Glass (0)
• April 11, 2010 -- review: the ZENERGY House opens (3)
• April 8, 2010 -- stories of sustainability: Deborah Guyer Greene (0)