Ever wondered what happens between a building coming down and reclaimed lumber appearing on our sales floor? The process involves multiple steps, each critical to ensuring the quality and safety of the final product.
Step 1: Field Assessment. Before we accept any wood, our team visits the demolition or deconstruction site. We evaluate species, condition, quantity, and the presence of paint, treatment chemicals, or contamination. About 30% of the wood we assess doesn't meet our standards.
Step 2: Transport. Accepted wood is loaded onto flatbed trucks and transported to our facility on Palmetto Street. We schedule deliveries to minimize empty truck runs — often coordinating with demolition contractors' existing transport schedules.
Step 3: Initial Sort. Upon arrival, lumber is sorted into categories: structural timbers (beams, joists), dimensional lumber (2x material), boards and planks, and specialty items. Each piece is tagged with its source location and date of arrival.
Step 4: Denailing. Every piece passes through our denailing station. We use both manual methods and a mechanical denailing machine. After denailing, each piece gets a pass with an industrial metal detector to verify all fasteners have been removed.
Step 5: Drying. If moisture content exceeds target levels, wood is stacked on stickers in our covered drying area. Air drying typically takes 4-8 weeks depending on species and thickness. For rush orders or specific applications, we use our solar-assisted kiln.
Step 6: Grading and Milling. Dried lumber is graded according to our four-tier system. Some wood is sold as-is in rough-sawn form. Other pieces go through our planer and resawing equipment to create finished dimensional lumber, siding, flooring, or custom-milled products.
Step 7: Inventory. Finished products are stacked by species, grade, and dimension in our organized yard. Each stack is labeled and entered into our inventory system so our sales team can quickly locate specific products for customers.