Crossroads Recycled Lumber is featured from 3:25-5:33.

“Our clients are pretty conscientious about where their material comes from.  They like the idea of recycled stuff.  We as carpenters like to use [reclaimed wood] because you can’t find this tight grain, old growth stuff anymore.  It’s already dry, and it’s a lot more fun to work with, a lot more stable.”

-Pete Crandall, Crossroads Recycled Lumber customer

Many more resources about this project are available on the StopWaste.org website at http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=775

Click here to see photos of the split decking from Building 802 on display in Whole Foods, Blossom Hill in San Jose.

The California Redwoods: Earth's Tallest Trees

Quality Wood
Named for its uniquely rich hue, Reclaimed Redwood is sought after for internal paneling projects to show off the deep varying shades of earthy red. Striking as it is inside, Redwood is also valued for external siding not only for it’s appearance, but also because it is rot-resistant.

Most of our Redwood stock was cut from old growth Redwood trees; you can see it in the tightness of the wood’s grain. Logging of old growth Redwoods has been tremendously reduced, and this recycled material simply cannot be matched by new wood.

Our Inventory
Crossroads’ salvage Redwood stock is very diverse, from tank wood that is clear and makes perfect lumber (with the exception of some occasional iron oxide staining), to our Redwood “Pitwood” that is very rough. We also have Redwood timbers salvaged from the demolition of Pacific Lumber Company’s Mill B in Fort Bragg, California that are a bit rough but can be sawn into very nice stock with some big bolt holes with black stain.

Redwood has historically been used in food storage because of its resistance to decomposition. What we call our Tank Stock was deconstructed from large water, wine, and pickle tanks. We have clear tank Redwood in our inventory from the Calaveras County Water Department, as well as various wineries around California. These tanks range from 60-90 years old, and this high quality Redwood makes beautiful siding and paneling!

Tongue & Groove Redwood Paneling in the CRL Office

Our tank wood comes in the following dimensions in lengths from 10 to 20 feet: 3X6 (net 2.5X5.5), 3X10 (net 2.5X9), and 3X12 (net 2.5X11).

Timbers taken out of the Pacific Lumber Company’s Mill B in Fort Bragg come in the following dimensions in lengths from 6 to 21 feet: 4X12, 8X8, 8X10, 10X10, 10X12, and 12X12.

As a marker of an age bygone, old-growth Redwood barn siding is also very popular. Call to inquire about our different styles of reclaimed barn Redwood. Inventory comes and goes around here, and is always subject to change.

Earth’s Largest Organisms
Redwood trees themselves are wondrous organism and have been a celebrated part of Californian culture, history, and heritage. The vast majority of our Redwood stock is from Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), also called California Redwood, which is the state tree of California. The world’s tallest tree, Hyperion in Redwood National Park, is a Coastal Redwood reaching 379.1 feet tall and is the tallest living organism known to humankind.

In recent years scientists have discovered that the canopy of the Redwood forest even supports it’s own small ecosystems, consisting of other trees and plants, and even small animals such as salamanders and voles that spend their entire lifecycle in the Redwood canopy, high above the forest floor.

Reclaimed Redwood Beam Re-Sawn on our Wood-Mizer

Mankind & The Redwoods
This incredible species left European pioneers in the Americas awestruck, and much of the Redwood forests were logged. After 200 years of logging, only 5% of the original estimated two million acres of Redwood Forest remain.
Redwood logging was the subject of heavy controversy and public protest throughout the 1990s, and several organizations exist today to preserve the California Redwoods. The Mendocino Redwood Company is one organization that practices sustainable Redwood logging along with forest stewardship.

Redwood logging and conservation are topics as big as the trees themselves, and Crossroads recommends National Geographic’s 2009 article “The Super Trees” by Joel Bourne, as one source for more information. Using reclaimed Redwood is a way to allow for the pleasing aesthetic of Redwood in your home or commercial project without contributing to deforestation of Redwood forests.

Crossroads Sign Made of Iron Chain from North Fork Mill

The word “Crossroads” has various associations for different people. We’ve gotten a few misled calls over the years because of this, and it is part of the reason why we chose a whole new name for our new yard, Pacific Northwest Timbers. But the name Crossroads has deeper meaning, and I would like to share how it came to be.

I mentioned in a previous post that my Dad has been salvaging wood since before I was born. For years he did business under the name Cedar Lumber, but that was along with other side projects. When I was 7 my folks decided to try something new, and we spent 18 months living in beautiful Bellingham, Washington. My mom found an old farmhouse on the corner of Bakerview and Hannegan; roads that lead from the county into Bellingham proper. The visible location was a great boon for business. My Dad bought a Wood-Mizer and invested in some salvage lumber, and he and a good friend (Brien Thomas of Mad Marmot Mills in Everson, WA) worked their butts off. The company was at a Crossroads, literally and figuratively.

My dad’s passion for Delta Blues music was also part of what made him amenable to the name “Crossroads” when my mom suggested it. In both African and European folk mythology, the Crossroads symbolize a place where the physical world and the spirit world overlap, and is a common theme in Blues music. The King of the Delta Blues Singers, Robert Johnson’s song “Crossroad Blues” is the most famous example. There’s some debate as to whether the song is about Johnson trying to hitch hike home at night, or selling his soul to become a guitar master, but it’s beautiful, soulful music.

The most profound meaning for me behind the name “Crossroads” has to do with the nature of our inventory. The reclaimed wood in our yard has come from dozens of sources: movie studios, military bases, railroad cars, even the ocean floor. And instead of being burned or left to deteriorate in a landfill, recycling has given the lumber new life.  From our yard this material may live on for decades as posts and beams, flooring and paneling, or even set sail on the open sea as part of a boat.  The lumber in our yard is at a Crossroads.

The Canadian Exporter Breaks in Half 1921 Copyright Columbia River Maritime Museum

Origins

Some of the most intriguing lumber we have in stock was never used in construction, and yet still considered salvage timbers.  These beams are believed to have been loaded onto a Canadian ship in 1921 that wrecked off the Pacific Coast.

In early 2010 as a beach near the wreck eroded, the shipwreck became exposed and the cargo began washing ashore. The Canadian Exporter was carrying 3 million board feet of lumber plus 200 tons of other cargo, heading from Vancouver, British Columbia to Portland, Oregon and then on to Asia, according to a story in the Seattle Times.   Some of the timbers that Crossroads and our sister company, Pacific Northwest Timbers now have in inventory were found by locals and hauled ashore with a tow truck, a few others were discovered just beneath the waters’ surface by a local oyster fisherman.

Timber Cargo of the Canadian Exporter Now at Crossroads Lumber and PNT

Quality of Timber

These uniquely reclaimed timbers are Douglas Fir, and they are heavy!  Each 15”X15”X30’ beam weighs about 4000 lbs!  After being preserved in salt water for 90 years they are in incredible condition, as straight as the day they were sawn, with minor checking but free of signs of prior construction use.

We have 13 of these timbers in the following dimensions:

8 – 15X15X30    1 – 18x18x33     1 – 18x18x24

1 – 20x20x24     1 – 20x20x26     1 – 22x22x26

Similar Dimension Old Patina Timbers Mission Oaks Plaza, Visalia, CA

Use for Large Dimension Timbers

These beams make impressive show pieces in residential or commercial projects.  Check out samples of previous timber projects we have supplied.  The aged ship timbers have a beautiful old patina, which has been preferred by the majority of customers who have purchased them, but we are able to provide the following finishes to timbers:

• Old Patina
• Wire Brushed
• Sanded
• Resawn
• Surfaced Four Sides (S4S)
• Sandblasted

Reclaimed Wood and Boats

Reclaiming shipwrecked cargo is not our only connection to the maritime community.  Crossroads has supplied lumber to several boat builders for modern use and historic restorations.  Boat builders cannot use new, kiln-dried lumber because the cellular structure of the wood changes during the drying process and cannot withstand constant use in water.  With air-dried old growth recycled lumber, the high grain density, stability, and consistency of the reclaimed wood is ideal for boat restorations and construction.  Learn more about Crossroads and Pacific Northwest Timbers’ contributions to the Maritime tradition.

Jumper Naps in my Inbox

An excerpt from the story:

“Forests fell and, sometimes, men died, in producing that lumber,” [Marc Mandel] says. “Workers invested their lives and skills manufacturing it. It seems wrong to waste the labor and energy of the past when we can, today, reuse the wood to provide continued benefit to our community.”

Click here to read about our humble beginnings in reclaimed wood, and our commitment to salvage historic lumber in the WoodMizer Way article “Reclaiming the Past”.

Wood-Mizer Way Magazine

Actual net dimension 11″ x 23″ x 32’ originally S4S

Wholesale pricing for first few loads will be $2.67/BF ($1800 each) by the tractor trailer load (28 sticks), or substantially more by the individual piece.

Nice brown color.  Multiple photos on request.  Price will go up as inventory goes down.

We have over 200 of these beautiful beams at present.