Reclaimed Lumber - Reclaimed Beams - Reclaimed Wood

Reclaimed Trusses - Reclaimed Logs - Reclaimed Hardwood

Pure 'green' building!

Custom Woodcraft Builders maintains an extensive inventory of recycled lumber from authentic Midwest barns and cabins over 100 years old. Our inventory of a variety of wood species include poplar, beech, oak, hickory and chestnut from native and virgin Midwest forest. If your preferred wood type is not in stock, our long list of historic barns to be dismantled will surely include it.

Custom Woodcraft Builders is careful to preserve all historical aspects of any antique timber it dismantles. Our inventory is from a diverse collection of unique structures that all have a common historical connection. Lumber for these barns were likely harvested from the forest just a few feet away from where they were put to use. The size and shape of the timber usually conformed to the size of the trees in the nearby forest. The technique of hewing (shaping wood with a Adze or Broad axe) was a carpentry skill that was passed to father and son, a trait that distinguishes each one of these reclaimed timbers - but also gives them a common connection. Their new use would only be appreciated by the original craftsman. Our skill and effort to preserve these historic timbers and antique beams gives them new life insuring their survival into the next generation.

From magnificent barn support timbers spanning the length of the original structure, to hardwood siding and hand hewn beams with traditional mortise and tenon joinery, there is a wide selection to make your home or office one of a kind.

Antique reclaimed timbers are a part of our American Heritage and fortunately Custom Woodcraft Builders is offering the chance for that heritage to continue - in your home.

The time is now to start your project utilizing these historic hardwoods handcrafted by our pioneer ancestors. Contact Custom Woodcraft Builders today!

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Reclaimed Lumber

Reclaimed lumber is used wood that has been taken for re-use. Often this is wood from from long-standing idle buildings, and its sometimes refinished for new purposes. Most reclaimed lumber comes from timbers and decking rescued from old barns, factories and warehouses and some companies have been known to source wood from less traditional structures such as boxcars, coal mines, and wine barrels. Reclaimed or antique lumber is used primarily for decoration and home building and is often used for siding, architectural details, cabinetry, furniture and flooring.

Wood origins

 In the United States of America, wood once functioned as the primary building material because it was strong, relatively inexpensive and abundant. Today many of these woods that were once plentiful are only available in large qualities through reclamation. One common reclaimed wood, longleaf pine, was used in factories and warehouses built during the Industrial Revolution. Longleaf heart pine was once the most functional wood for construction in America. It was slow-growing (taking 200 to 400 years to mature), tall, straight, and had a natural ability to resist mold and insects. More importantly, it was abundant. Longleaf yellow pine grew in thick forests that spanned over 140,000 square miles (360,000 km2).

Another previously common wood for building was the American Chestnut. Beginning in 1904, a chestnut blight spread across the US killing billions of American Chestnuts. Before the wood was destroyed, it was used to build barns and other structures, which preserved the wood for later reuse when these structures were later dismantled.

Barns serve as one of the most common sources for reclaimed wood in the United States. Barns constructed up through the early part of the 19th century were typically built using whatever trees were right there on the property. They often contain a mixed blend of oak, chestnut and other woods including poplar, hickory and pine. Beam sizes were limited to what could be moved by man and horse. The wood was either hand hewn using an axe or squared with an adze. Early settlers also recognized the oak from its European sub-species. Soon red, white, black, scarlet, willow, post and pin oak varieties were being cut and transformed into barns too.

 Mill buildings throughout the southeast also provide an abundant source of reclaimed wood. Some of these buildings and complexes comprise more than a million square feet of floor space and can yield three to five times that amount of board feet of flooring. These buildings also often have no economic or reuse possibility and can be a fire hazard, as well as having varying degrees of environmental cleanup required. Reclaiming lumber and brick from retired mills puts these materials to a good use instead of a landfill.

Properties of reclaimed lumber

 Reclaimed lumber is popular for many reasons: the wood’s unique appearance, its contribution to green building, the history of the wood’s origins and the wood’s physical characteristics such as strength, stability and durability. Reclaimed beams can be sawn into wider planks than the harvested lumber and many companies purport that their products are more stable than newly cut wood because reclaimed wood has been exposed to changes in humidity for far longer and therefore more stable, allowing them to be used with radiant heating systems. In some cases, the timbers from which the boards were cut have been slightly expanding and contracting for over a century in their previous installation. Radiant heat, with its low temperatures and even distribution affects the wood flooring the same way, but the impact is much less dramatic with antique wood than newly sawn wood because antique wood has already been through this cycle for years.

Reclaimed lumber industry

The reclaimed lumber industry gained momentum in the early 1980’s on the West Coast when large-scale reuse of softwoods began. The industry grew due to a growing concern for environmental impact as well as declining quality in new lumber. On the East Coast, industry pioneers began selling reclaimed wood in the early 1970’s but the industry stayed mostly small until the 1990’s as waste disposal increased and deconstruction became the more economically savvy alternative to demolition.

LEED

 The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is the USGBC’s benchmark for designing, building and operating green buildings. To become certified, projects must first meet the prerequisites designated by the USGBC then earn a certain number of credits within the six categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation & design process. Using reclaimed wood can earn credits towards achieving LEED project certification. Because reclaimed wood is considered recycled content, it meets the Materials & Resources criteria for LEED certification and because some reclaimed lumber products are FSC certified, they can qualify for LEED credits under the “certified wood” category.

The time is now to start your project utilizing these historic hardwoods handcrafted by our pioneer ancestors. Contact Custom Woodcraft Builders today!

Trusses & Roof Systems Custom Woodcraft Builders also sell trusses direct to builders and architects. Now added - handcrafted log trusses and entry facades! EXAMPLES OF TRUSS STYLES  TIMBER FRAME ROOF SYSTEMS Above all, a timber frame roof.

Rooms tucked between timber rafters are fun to sleep in.

Timber frame roof systems and trusses create dramatic cathedral ceilings.

Supported by posts, a timber roof system      shelters a New Hampshire ski lodge by Heartwood Timber Frames.      TIMBER FRAME ROOF SYSTEMS ADD VALUE A timber frame roof system adds value and distinction to your home. ALLOW DESIGN FLEXIBILITY Roof systems are designed and engineered to meet the specifications of your building plan. ARE COST EFFECTIVE Even complex hip and valley joinery is fabricated with speed and efficiency in CWB local shop here in the MIdwest. Components are numbered and ready to install when they arrive at the building site or preassembled based on size and access Roofs for stair towers take many different shapes.

TIMBER FRAME TRUSSES

Timber Trusses can be installed on stress skin panel walls, reinforced stick frame walls or log walls. These trusses and connecting purling were assembled on the ground. They are being installed on 2x6 stick frame walls.

Port Oxford Cedar Trusses Douglas Fir Trusses Two houses demonstrate how timber trusses can help a room to feel cozy and how they can define the well-balanced proportions of a room with a vaulted ceiling.

Trusses and roof systems can be designed to withstand heavy snow loads and span long distances. CWB can pre-cut your roof system. TIMBER FRAME TRUSSES STRONG Trusses are engineered to meet local building codes. ACCURATE Roof components are precut to an exacting standard. EFFICIENT Trusses are easy for builders to assemble and install saving valuable construction time. BEAUTIFUL Timber rafters and timber trusses add natural beauty to any room. Trusses can generally be spaced 16' apart if they are connected by purling spaced 4' on center.

If purling do not fit the design of the house, additional trusses, placed closer together, provide the structure necessary to support the roof. Timber trusses create interest in the formal dining room of a conventionally framed home.

Many wood species to choose from. Pick up or delivery. Installation or drop-off. Structural or decorative. Traditional mortise and tenon joinery. We sell direct to builders and architects.