Is reclaimed pallet wood good for furniture?

Short answer: Yes, if it’s properly selected, prepared and used

Long answer: Tarditionally, lumber for furniture is selected to be as defect free as possible. This provides very stable material that is free of visual variations and the makers can focus on pumping out as much product without thinking much about the material. With reclaimed materials, it requires some more careful selection, it may require stabilizing it with modern materials, and is generally more labour intensive. This is why traditional furniture makers shun it and are not interested in working with it. If we value the character of it, the unique look of it and the environmental benefits of it then it becomes worth the effort to reclaim and use it.

Is reclaimed pallet wood safe?

Short answer: Yes, by the time we process it there is nothing to worry about.

Long answer: People often wory about the chemicals used in treating pallet lumber. In Canada, where we are sourcing our material, there is no chemically treated lumber allowed for use in pallets. They must be heat treated to be allowed for use. We are careful to make sure that no material sneaks into our process that is chemically treated, even if it may have passed the customs checks.

Some folks worry about potential chemical contamination from materials that were transported on the pallet. This is negated in our process because we clean the lumber by stripping its outer layers. If anything was spilled and absorbed into the lumber it is removed in this process and is not a concern for the finished piece. To be precise, we do not simply clean or brush the lumber, we shave the outer layers of lumber to remove them and expose fresh clean material underneath.

Can I bring you a design to build for me?

Short answer: Yes, we are happy to work with you on custom pieces based on your ideas.

Long answer: We are always excited to work on original designs and love it when our clients are involved in that process. We do have a couple of caveats on designs brought in from outside:

1. If you have created your own original design you must be prepared to submit it to the reality of constructing with real wood. Some design features cannot be built in wood and we must be ready to accept that reality

2. Your design must be original or you must own the rights to it. Please do not expect us to rip off someone’s design and build it for less. While designs are often inspired by other pieces we do not wish to recreate a design that someone else has done. This is not fair to them and it is not fair to expect us to recreate it at a lower price point.

How come the item I want is not in stock? How come it’s been out of stock for a while now?

We are not a large operation that stores high volumes of inventory nor do we create large volume production runs. Most of our pieces are one-of creations but we do occasionally recreate designs that are popular. If there is a particular item that you are interested in, please contact us and we will work with you to recreate it.

Additionally, we do occasionally offer small batch production runs of poular designs. We do our best to advertise upcoming runs. They are generally limited to a handfull of pieces though.

Do you do mill work or architectural pieces?

Short answer: Yes, within limits.

Long answer: Traditional mill houses are set up to create large volumes of cabinetry in order to keep costs as low as possible. Our shop is not set up in this way and we do not focus on cabinetry. However, we do ocasionally work with clients to create unique and custom built cabinets, built ins, architectural dividers, counter tops, shelves, fireplace mantles, and so on.

If you have a project that you would like to discuss, please contact us and we’d be happy to review it with you.