According to the US Green Building Council (USGBC), in the United States, buildings contribute to 136 million tons of construction and demolition waste annually and account for 30% of global raw materials use. The use of recycled and reclaimed materials allows us to both limit raw material use and reduce waste from demolished buildings. Mountain Lumber is stepping into this market by creating beautiful reclaimed wood products such as flooring, beams, and mantles. Like the Vintage Wine Barrel Flooring by Fontenay Woods, the reclaimed antique floors of Mountain Lumber have a rich character that new wood flooring is missing.

Reclaimed mantle. Designed and manufactured by Mountain Lumber.

Reclaimed Wood

Where does reclaimed wood come from, you might ask? “Deconstruction,” the heart of the reclaimed wood industry, seeks out materials that have outlived their original use and would otherwise be demolished, discarded or left to decay. Old buildings that are on the chopping block are painstakingly taken apart by skilled workers and the useful parts are transformed into a new products such as reclaimed wood flooring.

Reclaimed beams. Designed and manufactured by Mountain Lumber.

Reclaimed flooring. Designed and manufactured by Mountain Lumber.

The benefit of reclaimed wood is not only environmental, it is also structural and aesthetic. Ancient reclaimed timbers have dimensional stability and hardness that newly cut trees do not. The actual timbers are also much larger than is typically seen on the market today, offering flooring with widths that is otherwise difficult to find.

Mountain Lumber has been reclaiming wood for 30 years. They believe that the history of the wood is important to our culture as well as our environment. In addition to a “green” raw material, the Mountain Lumber plant attempts to run in harmony with nature, but heating the kilns with sawdust and using wood chips to fire the generators in the mills. My favorite pieces are the reclaimed mantles, which are rugged and elegant.