“There’s probably more environmental damage done in the dismantling and transport of reclaimed wood than there is in just re-creating a ‘reclaimed’ aesthetic with new lumber,” says Michael Clasby, managing director of Forvest, an agro-forestry consulting company that advises international investment funds. “How many of the structures you’re taking wood from are covered in asbestos or lead paint? To dismantle a building, you have to deal with remediation, and then you have to actually treat the wood.”
If it’s not so great for the environment, why is reclaimed lumber so in vogue? “It’s marketing,” says Clasby. “You get someone who sees a spread in Architectural Digest and says, ‘I want that floor and I want those beams,’ and they don’t have a budget. So they get it.”