July 31, 2008

Salvaged wood commands premium prices

NEW YORK

It’s one of the rare occasions when it’s OK to gawk at the flaws of the very old. Designers and architects are plucking wood from old barns and other structures to give new projects a dose of character that can otherwise be hard to come by.

While mixing old with new isn’t new, the demand for the beauty of decades-old wood is helping some people who collect and sell the bones of old buildings prosper in a difficult economy. Interest in the wood known as reclaimed lumber appears to be growing in part because the boards can fit tongue and groove with the environmental goals of some projects.

Many construction-related businesses have had demand fizzle as the housing market has retreated, but David Sacia has seen orders for reclaimed wood grow. The owner of Reclaimed Lumber Co. in Baraboo, Wis., mainly sells to wealthy homeowners on the East and West coasts and the designers and architects they employ. He says business is still growing, just at a slower pace than in recent years.

“It’s up five per cent this year. Every year it’s usually up in the double digits,” he said. And given what’s gone on elsewhere in the market with stalled projects in both the residential and commercial construction markets, any growth is worth noting.

But this isn’t a business like a discount grocery chain or a pawn shop that benefits from tough times. Shoppers for reclaimed lumber generally pay more for their history-stained wood than for the new stuff.

“To buy the material is as much as new lumber and usually two, three or four times the cost,” Sacia said.

With the higher price tag and ever-shifting tastes, Sacia once worried that demand for the wood, which is mainly used in flooring or in decorative accents, would prove a fad. But he’s been comforted as notions about what can be recycled have spread beyond pop cans and newspapers.

“The word ‘green’ has come into play,” he said, predicting the environmental bona fides of old boards could help sustain demand.

Anita Lang, principal at design firm Interior Motives in Scottsdale, Ariz., said clients are increasingly drawn to the idea of outfitting a home or business with something than can be reused.

And then there is the wood’s resume: Its nicks and dents give it beauty, fans say. And the wood can be sanded and treated to preserve or minimize marks from a former life.

“It just continues to get more beautiful as you live with it,” Lang said. “The other thing with a reclaimed floor is it’s never dated.”

She encourages clients to pay for the reclaimed wood and skimp on the more superficial items when they’re building, renovating or redecorating.

“You can always come back and upgrade your sofa down the road,” she said. “There is so much character that if a family would live on that they would just be adding to that patina.”

Still, some clients have lately balked at paying more than $20 a square foot, when, for example, they can get a fabricated floor made to look old for about $17 per square foot. But the difference between reclaimed wood and wood made to look old can be stark, she contends.

“You cannot totally replicate what 100 years does to something with factory equipment.”

DCN News Services

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