What Are The Benefits of Reclaimed Wood?

What Are The Benefits of Reclaimed Wood?

22nd Mar 2018

We’ll start by talking about the positive environmental impact, which is one of the main reasons why people choose to buy reclaimed wood. As a green building material, the wood is recycled and as a result plays a role in preserving our natural resources whilst lessening the burden on our landfills. As you’re probably already aware, over-forestation means there are fewer trees out there in our woods, forests and jungles, and this is a small way of helping to preserve what’s left. What many people don’t know is that when mixed with other waste, wood doesn’t always decompose completely. The Global Trees Campaign surprised many people and found less than 10 per cent of wood waste is reclaimed or recycled. In the UK it results in approximately 3000 tonnes of usable timber being burned or sent to landfill.

As discussed, it’s not just the environmental factors we need to take into account. Another big reason for investing in reclaimed wood is the quality and character of the wood. Just by the fact that it has been allowed to grow for such a longer time, it means it’s been able to develop more personality. The rings will be wider whilst there’s a good chance you’ll find more knots, splits and other interesting markings that will look splendid inside your home or in your garden. In our eyes, these physical attributes can not be matched by contemporary products on the market, and when a tree has had had hundreds of years to grow, you can be sure a wonderful character has been developing. Another interesting fact is that the wood in old buildings has expanded and contracted continuously over the years and has fully dried out, making it more durable and less prone to warping and splitting.

There are so many reasons why it can make sense to invest in reclaimed wood, and it is a sad but true story that today we live in a world of diminishing natural resources, over-forestation and environmental concerns. By choosing to buy reclaimed wood, such as our Reclaimed Oak Sleepers, you’ll be playing a role in lessening the impact. It’s important to understand that reclaimed timber is a limited resource and there are only so many old structures that exist to source wood from and eventually these will become unavailable. That said, for now reclaimed wood provides a valuable source of characterful material for producing furniture, flooring and architectural features in homes and gardens.

Here at UK Oak, we supply high quality reclaimed sleepers in various grades, but all of which are brimming with personality. You can learn more on our various product pages, whilst we’re always on hand to answer any questions you may have. For further information, please call a member of our team today on 01536 267107 or email us at info@uk-oak.co.uk.