[Greenbuilding] recycled wood (was Glass ceiling)

[John Salmen]

Glass detail sounds nice.

I started my building life reclaiming old barns, timberframes and log homes
in Ontario. Hundreds of abandoned farms. The barnboard was virtually
petrified wood.

We had a funny job years ago where the client supplied incredibly beautiful
old growth cedar that came from old logging bridges. They made these bridges
by dropping huge logs and then covering them with dirt and gravel. No
preservatives or oil or anything just thousands of logging trucks driving
over them for decades. As the bridges were replaced with concrete ones the
wood was available as salvaged old growth. We ran it through the kiln and
then started processing. This wood was like a schnitzel. Totally pulverized.
When you ran it through the planer, long threads of fibre would just
separate. We were making doors and windows and literally had to glue the
fibre down prior to sanding and finishing. Beautiful end product but very
odd.

-----Original Message-----
From: Greenbuilding [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org]
On Behalf Of Chris Koehn
Sent: November-18-12 4:50 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] recycled wood (was Glass ceiling)

Chiming in on this, as I've worked with thousands of board feet of recycled
timber.

In my experience it is imperative to know where your wood comes from, for
lots of reasons, including possible contamination. While most factory timber
has at most surface contamination (often lead paint) it can also have hidden
damage from other sources, including forced air heating, which tends make
old growth fir and yellow pine timber brittle, especially on the ends.  
I got a chance to work on the Kinsol Trestle a few years ago: a very large
wooden railway bridge here, that was recently refurbished for use as a
pedestrian  bridge. Making the main span across the Koksilah River is a
series of Howe trusses, original to the trestle and dating from the early
1900's. They have been soaked repeatedly with all sorts of nasty
preservatives, which worked splendidly, but completely contaminated the
timber- so much so we had to take great precautions working with it. This
wood will never be useful in any other capacity, it is contaminated to the
core. 
Salvaged barn timber, of which there was seemingly endless supply in the
upper mid-west, is very difficult to grade for re-use as structural members.

A case can be made (and has been made) that the best and highest use for
high grade salvaged timber is as re-sawn non-structural boards or veneers,
celebrating it's beauty rather than it's strength.
Having said that, the Long Bell Mill in Washington supplied the entire
timber framing industry with old growth, high grade reclaimed fir for half a
decade in the '90's. The buildings that were constructed from this wood, if
cared for properly, will last for centuries.

re: shingle style glass: we have built a 1/2" space between layers, with a
2" overlap, facilitating cleaning. Since this is a covered entry, we don't
mind if the occasional wind-driven rain makes it's way through the gap.

Chris Koehn
TimberGuides
Vancouver Island


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