This post has been updated with 2 additional resources and address updates, as of October 23rd, 2019

My dining room table is made from reclaimed wood flooring from a 100 year old factory that was located just outside Tilsonburg, ON — until the factory was torn down, that is. Fortunately, there are salvagers all who recognize the beauty and value of these types of architectural building materials. They will strip down an old building, buying anything they think they can resell. Our table has to be the most beautiful piece of furniture in our house. There are plenty of nicks, and gouges in the table top, and the top of it is bumpy and uneven and full of character. Best of all though, is that if my kids bang it up, the marks will just blend in with all the other nicks, gouges and scratches.

Reclaimed wood is used both for furniture and flooring. Fortunately, there are plenty of reclaimed wood flooring companies in Ontario (if you’re interested in reclaimed wood furniture companies, check out this post). One of the reasons is the availability of old wood — not just from old factories, but also from barns that need to be torn down (old barns present not only a fire hazard, but also a safety hazard), and in some cases, underwater logs.  Reclaimed wood makes beautiful new wood floors and pieces of furniture. Old wood sourced locally supports local industry, crafsmanship and gives the wood a second life instead of it ending up in landfill or as firewood. There are several reclaimed wood companies in Ontario, here is a list of a few:

AquaTimber: Harvests wood from Georgian Bay, the Great Lakes, and lakes and rivers across North America. These logs are then turned into hard and soft wood flooring. The company also has timber and beams for sale as well. Salvaged wood from the depths of cold lakes helps preserve it. Further, these logs are likely from trees that were between 500 and 1000 years old when they were harvested. AquaTimber verifies the age of its logs through the use of dendochronology (tree ring dating). In the old growth forests, trees grew more slowly because of the thick canopy, creating a denser tree.

Floor planks are available in random 3-8″ widths, and is available in engineered or solid flooring.

AquaTimber

8520 Highway 93
Midland, Ontario
Canada L4R 4K4

The Barnboard Store: Located in Toronto in the Danforth area, this store sources reclaimed boards from Ontario barns that need to come down. The website has great photos and idea for barnboard including shelving, benches, headboards and accent walls. Custom headboards are also available. Lengths vary from 2-14 feet, widths: 6-12 inches, thickness 3/4-1″.

Contact information:

Phone: 416-471-9452

email: sales@barnboardstore.com

Canadian Salvaged Timber: Founded in 1997, this Toronto company sources its wood from local suppliers. It custom-makes furniture so no piece is the same. There is a wide selection of planks in hardwoods and softwoods. Please visit the store to see the current inventory.

Contact information:

442 Dufferin Street, Unit J, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 2A3

email: info@cstimber.ca

Century Wood: Founded in 1997 near Fergus, ON, Century Wood began by supplying reclaimed wood to the Netherlands. It has since expanded and now supplies wood for projects close to home. Century Wood makes both hard and soft wood floors, as well as architectural details such as panels, timber and beams and unfinished barnboard.

Century Wood Products Inc.
191279 13th Line
East Garafraxa, Ontario
L9W 7B4

Phone: 519-855-9559

Countrywood: Uses new, salvaged, and reclaimed wood to manufacture wood plank flooring, doors and trim. Wood has been sourced from many different locations. Plank widths come in random sizes from 3-8″ and are milled as either solid or engineered flooring. Countrywood now also carries reclaimed wood from old factories, barns, and other facilities that are being torn down.

Salvaged wood comes from the depths of  waters near Huntsville, ON where it has lain undisturbed for many years (no oxygen so it does not decay). A few years ago, many logs were discovered at the Queen Warf in Toronto when a development company was excavating for a new condo project. These logs have been buried since the early 1800s and have been preserved due to a lack of oxygen and light.

Showroom:
935689 Airport Road
SE Corner of Airport Road & Hwy 89
(North of Orangeville)

705.435.4411

Logs End: A company based just outside of Ottawa, LogsEnd harvests logs from waterways that were used for shipping felled logs to the mills for processing before the railway was developed. Some of those logs sunk to the bottom of the river before they made it to the mills. They’ve been sitting on the riverbed floor for over 100 years, protected from light and oxygen by the cold, deep waters. They’re well-preserved, very dense and make excellent wood for flooring. Like the wood out of Georgian Bay area, these logs will be old growth (first generation), and can be up to 500 years old or more.

LogsEnd notes on its website that all wood is harvested from the riverbed in the most ecologically responsible manner possible.  Studies have been done and show no ill effects to the river ecosystem after harvesting.

A variety of widths are available ranging from 3 to 9 inches in lengths from 2 to 8 feet (custom orders are also available). Planks are available in engineered and solid versions, in woods ranging from pine, birch, oak, Douglas Fir and Walnut.

Location: 1520 Triole Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1B 3S9

Nadurra has a wide selection of reclaimed wood from local Ontario barns and factories. While reclaimed wood offers the “greenest” choice of wood floors, not to mention wide plank sizes because the wood was originally from first growth forests, it is more expensive, and obviously, one day this wood will also be used up. Varieties of wood are Elm, Hemlock, Noble Oak, Pine, Loyalist Maple and Birch. Available in solid or engineered. Price: $6.50-11/square foot. (For other Nadurra products, see this post.)

Nadurra Wood Corp.
157 Bentworth Avenue Unit A
Toronto, Ontario
M6A 1P6

T: 647.345.8414  F 647.342.0818
info@nadurrawood.com

Nostalgic Wood: Located in Mt Forest, ON, this company remills wood collected from barnboard around the province. Varieties include hemlock, oak, pine, elm, etc. Available as solid “antique” wood in 3/4″ thickness, or “engineered antique wood flooring (3/8″ wood on 3/8” birch plywood).

565 Perth Street North, Mount Forest, Ontario  N0G 2L0

Phone: 519-323-0175

Timbercraft: Based in southwestern Ontario, Timbercraft demolishes old Ontario barns and turns them into flooring, furniture, works of art and wall decor. Wood varieties include hemlock, ash, oak, maple, douglas fir. It also makes furniture and will ship anywhere in North America.

For the GTA and Kitchener-Waterloo: 519-998-5004

For Windsor: 519-819-1936

Contact page: https://www.timbercraftco.com/

Timeless Materials: A store that has a large supply of reclaimed wood flooring, including maple, douglas fir, yellow pine, barnboard and more. All wood is from reclaimed sources such as old factories, barns, and other buildings slated for demolition. It also contains other architectural salvage pieces from beautiful antique windows, to mouldings, trim, antique bathtubs, sinks, lamps, etc. All items comes from buildings about to be renovated or torn down. (For other treasures Timeless Materials has to offer, see this post).

305 Northfield Dr. E.
Waterloo, Ontario
N2V 2N4

email:  info@timelessmaterials.com

Phone: 519-883-8683
Toll Free: 1-800-609-9633
Fax: 519-883-4016

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