Questions To Ask Your Reclaimed Wood Supplier
- Do you have an inventory of the material which I can come and see?
Many reclaimed lumber companies operate simply as brokers. They will take your deposit and begin a search for material to fill your order. You may or may not end up with suitable material and occasionally you may end up with no material. Additionally, you may not have material readily available to complete the project should changes and additions occur. We maintain 3 acres with over a million board feet of inventory from which to select your reclaimed wood products.
- Can you help in designing my project and suggest products which would work best?
With a combined 50 years building high end custom homes and another combined 40 years supplying vintage reclaimed wood products, we are available to provide an educated approach to solving design/construction issues. There is not much we haven’t seen. Combine this with a genuine enthusiasm for working with you to achieve the right appearance and you can be confident in an elegant result.
- Do you have a milling facility?
Many if not most projects require something be done to enhance the appearance of the product or to reconfigure the original raw material. We maintain a complete milling/carpentry operation on site. This not only assures you of quality control but gives you confidence that the order will be complete on time. Vintage can also help arrange installation.
- Do you fumigate the material to insure against insect infestation?
There is always a possibility that reclaimed wood will harbor live insects. As a precaution, it is our policy to fumigate all material which originates from barns on the East Coast and Midwest as well as any material originating here on the West Coast which after visual inspection, we feel may harbor pests.
- Are you FSC certified?
Yes, we are accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council which requires an annual audit of our entire operation to insure we adhere with their strict requirements for certification in both recycled wood products and sustainably harvested forest products. This will streamline the process of applying for LEEDS points and give you confidence that our products are indeed reclaimed.
- How long have you been in business and can you give me references?
This is an easy one for us. We began using reclaimed wood in the homes we were building in the late 1970’s. Vintage Timberworks opened its doors in 1992 primarily as a function of the demand created by the (what was then) novelty of using recycled lumber in building high end homes. We are happy to refer you to any of the clients we have built for and/or supplied reclaimed wood for the past 35 years. We are proud and fortunate to have been involved with this aspect of environmentally friendly design since its very early days.
|