DIY Builds
DIY Builds
Photo: Suzy Hazelwood
Antique Wood simply means old wood. Antique wood is generally reclaimed, because most wood decomposes in its natural environment but can be preserved in buildings. Some sneaky marketers call fresh-cut lumber from old trees (or wood that sat outside for a long time) antique wood.
In fact, it is possible that with the proper care, pole barns could last upwards of 100 years. Many builders and experts cite 40-60 years to be on...
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Famously, birds of prey feed on mice and rats. Raptors, including hawks, owls, eagles and falcons, are common predators. Red tail hawks, found...
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Reclaimed wood comes in many shapes and sizes, and the nomenclature used to describe it can be downright confusing for first-time buyers. Often, lumber companies selling reclaimed wood use varied terms to describe their reclaimed or salvaged lumber as marketing strategies, to disguise low-quality product, as e-advertising tactics, or simply to be as accurate as possible. This blog post makes sense of many of these terms, helping you navigate the reclaimed wood market and buy what you actually want.
Kitchen. Turning a garage into a kitchen costs at least $6,000, but kitchen remodels can cost more than $65,000 depending on the design, finishes,...
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A 10”x12” or 8”x12” shed is all you need for de-cluttering the push mower, flower pots, tools, and lawn supplies easily and effectively. Indulge in...
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These are! They guide you every step of the way to complete your dream shed.
Learn More »River Reclaimed, Lake Salvaged, or River Salvaged lumber is an interesting category. This wood is pulled from lakes or rivers, where it has often been lost during log driving operations. Because of the lack of oxygen in the aquatic environment, the wood is generally well preserved, although it takes a very long time to dry and become stable. Longleaf Lumber sells live oak lumber salvaged from Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, where it had been stored in holding ponds for naval use. Although this lumber was already hewn to shape, it was never used in a building or ship, so we are reluctant to call it reclaimed. Although river reclaimed logs do play a role in the aquatic ecosystem, buying wood sawn from them is a much more environmentally-friendly source of lumber than fresh-felled trees. Distressed Wood is a sometimes misleading term. Ask if your distressed wood is reclaimed or recycled. Some distressed wood is freshly-cut and -sawn lumber that has been run through ‘distressing’ machinery, left outside to weather, or simply beaten with chains and hammers. If you’re looking for a recycled product, you want wood that is actually reclaimed. Ask if your distressed wood is from a reclaimed source or if it is sawn from trees fresh-felled in the forest. Barn Wood or Barn Board are terms that are meant to refer to wood that has been reclaimed specifically from agricultural structures. Oftentimes companies will market wood reclaimed from industrial applications - or even non-reclaimed wood - as ‘barn wood’. If you’re looking for wood that actually comes from a barn, be sure to ask if the lumber was salvaged from an agricultural building. Barn Siding is a word that describes wood reclaimed from the outside of barns. This wood has generally stood up to decades of weather, giving it a very unique patina. Some companies fresh-cut wood and expose it to the weather on the ground or nailed to poles, thereby imitating the natural weathering process on an agricultural building. Although this faux-reclaimed lumber is somewhat rare on the market, it does exist and it is NOT reclaimed. Weathered Wood simply describes wood that has been exposed to the weather, producing a distinct surface texture and color. This wood is NOT necessarily reclaimed, as fresh-cut lumber that is left outside for a year or two will develop a subtle weathered surface. If you’re purchasing a product called ‘weathered wood’, ask if it is reclaimed. Wide Plank is another word that is often tossed in amongst reclaimed wood monikers. Wide plank has no specific meaning (there is no threshold for what constitutes a “wide plank”) and is generally used to describe solid plank wood flooring that is wider than five or six inches. Wide plank is not an indicator of the quality of wood you are purchasing.
While the answer is yes, you can walk on a metal roof, our team never recommends it. There are a lot of factors that come into play that deal with...
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Ordinary exterior-grade plywood is made with weather-resistant glue, but the wood itself is not particularly rot resistant. This is why pressure-...
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Recovered Wood is an extremely ambiguous term. This could be lumber that was recovered from the forest after it was cut down. It could be recovered from a 19th-century mill. There’s just no way of knowing without probing further. If someone is selling you ‘recovered wood’, just cut straight to the chase and ask them where it came from. All in all, it is important to understand where your wood is coming from and be sure that you feel comfortable with its sourcing. Trees are a valuable and renewable resource but it is partially the consumer's responsibility to hold companies accountable for how they manage our shared supply of timber. Trees produce oxygen, filter the air we breath and water we drink, store carbon to reduce the rate of climate change, and provide important habitats that support our planet's rapidly-diminishing biodiversity. Reducing the demand for fresh-cut lumber is an important way we can better steward this resource, and purchasing reclaimed lumber is one way to reduce this demand.
Metal sheds make a great room in the garden but can be freezing cold in the winter and too hot during the summer. Insulation can bring the...
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The only time you wouldn't need some sort of foundation is if you have a very small 6×6 or 8×8 shed that is made out of rubber or plastic. And even...
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This approach represents an improvement step for the durability design of reinforced concrete structures, it is suitable for the design of ordinary...
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But, are they affordable? You might imagine a pop-up house of the future would come with a hefty price tag, right? Surprisingly, we learned that...
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