How to Sell Reclaimed Lumber
When you're working on a home renovation, the urge to purge all of your scraps can be hard to resist. Holding on to that cedar, pine or maple siding or flooring, however, can net you a tidy profit. Reclaimed lumber is fashionable, especially if you possess a wood that is no longer milled today, like chestnut. Timber mills specializing in reclaimed lumber or local contractors and artists may pay to cart away and reuse your old lumber. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Sort your reclaimed lumber, discarding broken, rotten or poor-quality wood.
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Locate contractors near you through the Green Contractor Guide or a similar directory (see Resources). Call contractors and inform them that you have reclaimed lumber. Tell them what kind of lumber it is and roughly how much you have. If you tore the wood siding off your house and you know the square footage of your house, you can tell them that the lumber covered a house with your given dimensions. Green contractors may have clients who want the lumber or they might be interested in purchasing it for use in a future project.
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Find timber mills that buy and sell reclaimed lumber products, such as Mountain Lumber or Vintage Lumber. Call these timber mills to let them know about your reclaimed wood. If the companies are interested, they will typically request that you provide them with photographs of the wood and a small sample so they can better determine wood quality. After that, the mills will let you know whether they wish to offer you a sales contract and what their current purchasing price is for your type of wood.
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Approach wood workers and artisans in your community that work at art schools, wood shops or community art organizations. Let these wood workers know that you have reclaimed lumber for use in sculpture, bookcases, tables and other wood projects.
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Tips & Warnings
Wood in poor condition can be used or sold for firewood.
