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If the walls could talk at Mike Wilson’s Restoration Timber, they would tell tales of old barns, mills and factory buildings in the Midwest whose wood is being reclaimed and used in home remodels and custom building all over the country.  Mike’s company (www.restorationtimber.com) was one of the exhibitors at last week’s Pacific Coast Builders Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco.  Like many of the exhibitors, Restoration Timber has a trade side and a consumer side to its business.

When Mike starts talking about the kinds of wood that is saved from landfills and reclaimed, it is like hearing a foodie rattling off favorite dishes:  hickory, elm, ash.  Hemlock and spruce.  Sycamore, chestnut and white pine.  And he hasn’t even gotten to dessert yet.  These old woods, mostly from barns, have a completely different grain and density than new lumber—and even has a different color when finished.  Even oak, that hardy standby in every California kitchen from the 1980s, has a different look and character.

Because the wood is sold unfinished, environmentally-friendly practices can be put to work, using low VOC (volatile organic compounds) to seal the floors, cabinets or ceiling beams made from these products.