Salvaging Wood

I love wood and I hate to see waste. To that end whenever I see an old house being demolished. I attempt to speak to the workers and ask if they allow salvaging. It is criminal to see what is being destroyed and sent to landfill for the sake of expediency and cost effectiveness. A few operators allow after hours salvage with the usual disclaimer that they accept no liability for any harm that may befall you. With hardhat, safety glasses, steelcaps and gloves, I come well prepared, and the 10lb sledge hammer and 3 foot crowbar assist me well. There are still many opportunities to salvage beautiful timber, and I do this whenever the opportunity arises.

I came across a demolition recently where a huge Lemon scented gum had been dropped as part of the clearing process. From ground to first limb, the trunk was in excess of 7 metres (23 feet) long. It had been chainsawed about 1.5 m above ground, leaving nearly 6m of good timber. Upon asking, the demolition contractor said it was destined for chipping, but I could have it if I could remove it by the following afternoon.

Frantic phoning around found me a sawyer with a portable mill. First thing the following morning the mill was set up over the log and 4 hours later the timber was headed off to my property on the back of a flat bed tow truck. Quite an exciting feeling, being part of milling your own timber. There is also the satisfying knowledge that perfectly good timber has been saved from chipping.