Deconstruction

The first step in the Turning House Millworks deconstruction process is to locate a building that is appropriate for deconstruction. We do not take wood from structures that are considered historically significant or able to be renovated. Instead, we are typically contacted by city managers, private property owners or builders who have already selected an old, abandoned building to be torn down. They turn to us because they know we will quickly and carefully deconstruct the building and reuse as much of the original materials as possible.

Once a building is identified, our team goes in and deconstructs—or un-builds—the structure in the reverse order of how it went up. Our crew is specially trained to work fast while preserving the wood and other materials for reuse. Many of the buildings we deconstruct were built in the 1800s during the Industrial Revolution, before steel became a primary building material. As a result, these structures yield a large amount of old growth wood from beams, posts and flooring—beautiful hardwoods that are centuries old and virtually unavailable today outside of reclaimed sources.

After the building has been taken down and the wood extracted, the timbers go through a multi-step milling process. First, they must be measured, counted and separated by species. Next, each piece of wood is checked for metal, and all nails, bolts, screws and other embedded metal are removed. The timber is then cut into conventional lumber dimensions, graded for quality and stacked according to their different categories.

The stacked lumber is then transferred to special buildings where they are dry kilned, a process that involves heating the boards to 150 degrees Fahrenheit for six days. Dry kilning rids the wood of any bugs, molds or mildew and ensures that all of the boards have a uniform moisture content. At Turning House Millworks, our lumber maintains an 8% moisture content, which is ideal in that it is dry enough to machine process yet still pliable enough to form into furniture. Because we can mill our reclaimed wood to exact specifications—in a streamlined, time- and cost-efficient process—Turning House Millworks is a particularly attractive resource for builders and architects.