What is reclaimed timber?
Reclaimed timber is wood that has had a previous use. This is often a previous life as a construction timber, or used in industry, furniture. We call it reclaimed timber because it was reclaimed for reuse by woodworkers and anyone else, rather than ending up at the tip.
People often use a range of terms interchangeably, including reclaimed timber, recycled timber, salvaged timber, and more. It’s always good to check what someone means when they use these terms, as they can mean quite different things based on who says them, including timber that was cut down and then stored for a while before being sold, which can directly support continued logging efforts.
Not only is reclaimed timber great for the planet and your wallet, but it has a range of beautiful and unique visual features too. Across the long life of this wood, it can be marked by this journey, including holes and marks from different fixings, stains from old nails, surface detail from weathering, human interaction, or wear and tear, and more. You also can then choose the timber surface you would like – keep it original and weathered with just a light steel brushing, machined so you can see the glorious colourful timber that lies underneath, or anywhere between the two.
However, we love reclaimed timber not just because of how it looks or works, but because each piece comes with a story. When you use a piece of reclaimed timber, you’re building on a physical piece of history, and contributing to an ongoing story that started with a tree and might just continue well beyond you.
