At KIT&Co, we work with a number of reclaimed lumber and live edge providers. What sets them apart is their commitment to delivering the highest quality product, sourced and processed in ways aligned with their values around sustainability. Here are a few in the Northeast we are directly partnered with and/or can personally recommend. As always, you can take advantage of our reclaimed lumber locator as well.
Take a look below.
Sawkill Lumber salvages and re-manufactures wood from buildings found in and around New York and beyond. This includes everything from barns, warehouses, and old houses, to wooden storage tanks, and boardwalks. What sets Sawkill apart “is the not only the quality and history of its wood, some of which has been around for 1000 years, but also the intensity, focus, and care that goes into its rehabilitation and transformation.”
We got a chance to ask Alan what his advice would be to those interested in getting involved with reclaimed lumber for the first time. Here is what he had to say:
“If you are considering reclaimed woods for a project, don’t be afraid to ask questions. A good mill will educate and inform you, engaging your interest and trust. As no industry grading standards for reclaimed wood exist, your instincts as a buyer are key.”
Sawkill is located in Brooklyn, NY, serving architects, designers, millwork shops and the public with custom milled flooring, paneling and exterior lumber. Sawkill can be found on Instagram and Facebook.
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RE-CO BKLYN is a sawmill and custom furniture shop that rescues New York City trees from the chipper and landfill to be made into beautiful live edge furniture. RE-CO gets its logs directly from local tree services, arborists and parks departments and trucks them to a sawmill in Ulster County, N.Y., where they are cut and air dried for one to three years and then put into a kiln they built themselves out of a decommissioned 40' reclaimed shipping container. What distinguishes them “is a commitment to the materials we use and the craftsmanship that goes into the finished product. It starts with the origin of our unique lumber and ends with something one-of-a-kind.” RE-CO set out to source lumber that was minimally traveled and had no worker exploitation. After never finding that supplier, it decided to produce ultra-sustainable lumber on its own.
RE-CO is located in Flushing, Queens and you can find them on Pinterest or Instagram, and customers can visit RE-CO BKLYN and pick out a slab for a table.
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Longleaf Lumber, Cambridge, MA
Longleaf Lumber is an antique and reclaimed lumber company, milling fine reclaimed wood salvaged from historic industrial and agricultural buildings. It then uses this lumber to produce reclaimed wood flooring, paneling, desk and countertops, stair treads, mouldings, and mantels. It also salvages barn board and hand-hewn beams and mill surfaced beams and rough sawn lumber. In addition to these fine reclaimed wood products Longleaf retails other green building products such as cork flooring.
What distinguishes Longleaf is its specialty crafting of reclaimed Heart Pine flooring which is meticulously milled in six outstanding grades. That passion for sawing old growth timber is further applied to reclaimed red and white oak, American chestnut, Pumpkin Pine, maple, hickory, walnut, ash.
Its showroom and retail warehouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts is open to all for reclaimed wood purchasing and exploring for commercial and residential antique wood projects including contractors, homeowners, designers, architects, millworkers, craftspeople, restaurateurs, and artists as regular customers. You can find them on Instagram and Facebook.
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Newport Nautical Timbers, Bristol, RI
Newport Nautical Timbers provides the highest quality air-dried lumber. To be mindful of the environment, they work closely with landowners across the country to selectively harvest timber from trees that have reached the end of their life cycle. These trees are treated to the highest of standards, from felling to sawing to delivering, to produce veneer grade rough sawn lumber at a competitive price.
NNT is unique in its process:
“Our format has always been to Flitch Saw our logs and restack them in boules, meaning we cut a log completely and keep it in its sequential order. This method helps builders keep color matching in mind as well as being able to bookmatch most pieces. Several years ago we expanded our materials list to include several Veneer Grade imported species and while keeping up with our tradition we only carried boules. NNT felt that the material was of the quality that clients have come to expect.”
NNT clients have ranged from world renowned furniture makers to the most historical restoration of wooden boats. “Each of our clients have their reasons for requiring excellence, and we work with them to provide the best choices at the most competitive price.”
They are located in Bristol, RI and can be found on Facebook and Instagram.
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Real Antique Wood, Irvington, NJ
Real Antique Wood is a family-owned and operated reclaimed wood mill that rescues wood from barns and buildings, brings the antique wood back to its mill, and turns it into sustainable reclaimed hardwood flooring, salvaged barn siding, custom farmhouse furniture, and more. What distinguishes Real Antique Wood is their process for dismantling 100+ year old barns, procuring the structural beams, planks, tin roofing, door hardware, farm equipment, barn doors, and other oddities it comes across to be salvaged. This material is transported directly back to its mill to be processed and stored where it’s de-nailed, cleaned, kiln dried, and milled to give the antique wood a second lease on life. All their wood is 100% recycled American timbers aged by time and the elements.
Real Antique Wood’s showroom is located in Irvington NJ and features reclaimed flooring, antique barn wood, slabs, mantels and more. All are welcome including interior designers, contractors, and DIYers. Real Antique Wood can be found on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.
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Armster Reclaimed Lumber Company, Broad Brook, CT
Armster Reclaimed Lumber company supplies and mills reclaimed wood from old structures and older virgin forests, offering a wide and unmatched selection of distinct materials for anyone creating unique projects. A family owned company, Armster started milling White Cedar siding for architects back in 1971. Today, they supply, mill and finish reclaimed lumber for wood flooring, paneling, siding, decking, trim, dimensional and countertops.
Its stock is deep and diverse, from Old Growth to 20th Century, and hand hewn to custom milled. Notable sources include Coney Island Boardwalk, Kyoto Cargo and Cape Fear Sinker, Plus Select New Woods. The reclaimed wood it sells is unique in every way possible; “marked by time, weather, rivers and work.”
Armster was at the helm of the biggest US restoration project too. In Manhattan, New York City, NY, they milled 30,000 bf of period Heart Pine to replace the original 1879 floor of the Park Avenue Armory.
Armster Reclaimed Lumber Company is located in Broad Brook CT and can be found on Facebook and Instagram.