Urban Logging

When a durable piece of furniture is built from a log that would otherwise be mulched, not only do we get to experience its unique beauty as a site for new memories, but also all the carbon that tree absorbed over an entire lifetime remains out of our atmosphere, helping fight climate disaster. We are also not paying a climate price for material imported (or worse, exported and then re-imported) as “fast furniture” destined soon for a landfill.

Western North Carolina is a uniquely privileged area for hardwoods, and of course the evolution of modern forestry (an evolution still very much in progress). We work with neighbors and home-owners, preservation and soil-minded arborists and a variety of sawyers and kilns in the greater Asheville area to salvage lumber from trees that are either storm-damaged or must come down. It is a unique pleasure to know something of the provenance of so many of our furniture pieces (many clients commission pieces from their own trees!) and to help share an appreciation of this potentially sustainable resource and more circular economy with others.

Responsible urban wood salvage involves safe felling done by certified arborists, hauling to a mill or milling in place, careful and patient air-drying, and then kiln-drying to remove insect larvae before the lumber can be milled flat once again and fashioned into furniture. Each stage of this process involves planning, expertise, physical and financial cost, and not every tree is worth all that investment, but we’re always happy to look!