People often ask us, “Where does all your wood come from?”
Our response: “If you have two minutes we can tell you right now.”
First, a little unknown fact. When European settlers first arrived in North America the entire country was full of original growth trees like what you only find today in places like the redwood forests of Northern California.
It is said that a squirrel could have climbed a tree in northeastern Maine and jumped from one tree to the next until it arrived in Texas, never once touching the ground. The country was full of ginormous trees. However, nearly all of these original growth trees were cut down for timber during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Many of these logs were sent to Europe and other places around the world. But still many of these boards were used for construction right here in the USA. From tobacco barns and horse farms to automobile factories, skyscrapers and bridges to dozens and dozens of other construction applications, the majority of America’s infrastructure was built using American hardwood and softwood timbers.
So today, centuries and decades later, many of these structures are becoming dilapidated and about to be ruined by rot, rain or insects.
In the not so distant past these collapsing structures were either burned or thrown into landfills, but today it is very common for us to get a call from someone seeking to preserve the antique wood. So we work with barn crews and other sources from several different states who bring us this old wood for us to make into new products from flooring, to wallboard paneling, floating shelves and more.
For example, these 70-year-old boards come from an antique structure in Lexington, KY. Originally this solid douglas fir was made into flooring for a tobacco warehouse built back during WWII. Today we are making this antique douglas fir into brand new solid flooring to last for generations to come.
We have hundreds of thousands of board feet of this same material so whether you have a home or commercial project, we can deliver the same high quality flooring from this historical wood over and over again.
This flooring in particular is available in three different cuts, all from the same 70-year-old boards:
Vertical Grain
Clear Vertical Grain
Original Patina
When someone buys Tallest Tree reclaimed wood products, they can be sure that not only does each plank get inspected for quality, but also each piece carries with it a unique history and story to tell.