Why Recovered?

Recovered Wood is beauty, quality, strength, and our history

When looking for the wood to use on your beautiful project, virgin Cypress and Longleaf Pine must be seriously considered. These are two of the major woods that built America. Whether we’re recovering them from an old river or an old building, they are truly “Wood, the way it used to be”.

If you’re an architect, fine homebuilder, cabinetmaker or rare woods purist, our virgin Cypress and Longleaf Pine will give your next project exceptional beauty, strength and a captivating story that dates back to the days of Columbus’s discovery of America. The allure that our recovered cypress and longleaf pine provide is beyond compare.

Dense growth rings

Dense growth rings in a sinker cypress log

Krantz Recovered Woods’ products are all environmentally sound, created by recycling a resource lost underwater or used in a building years ago and is now ready to live again in your project. This recovered virgin growth wood is “antique quality” that has not been available in any significant amount for almost a century. The virgin growth lumber we offer displays a fineness of grain, pattern and density that woodworkers will instantly recognizable as “antique” quality. Your designs will take on a whole new look with these rare lumber items. Our woods have the same fine grain and texture as the antiques of 100 years ago because they’re from the same forests. Your designs will take on a whole new look with these rare lumber items. Whether we’re recovering them from an old river or an old building, they are truly “Wood, the way it used to be.”

Interest in sustainable, green building practices is greater than ever. Whether concerned about allergies, energy costs, old-growth forests, or durability and long-term value, homeowners and builders are looking for ways to ensure that their homes are healthy, safe, beautiful, and efficient.

The sinker cypress and longleaf pine story

Grown in a thick forest canopy while competing for limited nutrients and sunlight, these virgin trees matured very slowly, accumulating up to 15 to 50 rings per inch in cypress and 6 to 20 rings in longleaf pine. These environmental factors resulted in the development of finely grained woods of exceptional quality and beauty. By contrast, today’s second growth trees average only 3 to 5 rings per inch.

Late 1800's Cypress logging camp

Late 1800’s Cypress logging camp

Throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, logging companies used America’s waterways to transport their lumber to the mills downstream. These logs were tied into rafts and floated to the lumber mills for processing, where most were used to build the great cities of the Industrial Revolution. The photo at the top of this webpage was taken around 1900 on a south Louisiana river; the raft is half a mile of cypress and pine logs on their way to the sawmills. A few of these logs broke loose from the raft or became waterlogged in the sawmill holding ponds. Eventually they settled to the bottom where they are preserved in the silted waters and forgotten for over 100 years. These sunken logs have remained at the bottom of lakes and rivers untouched and perfectly preserved. These old logs are known as “sinkers”.

With America’s old-growth forests nearly depleted, it wasn’t until recently that Krantz Recovered Woods discovered these lost sinkers and devised methods for the recovery and drying of this irreplaceable 300 - 1200 year old virgin old-growth timber. Using specially trained log recovery experts, America’s waterways are again yielding the quality timber of yesteryear. We make these lost treasures available to people who want a touch of history, distinction, and environmental responsibility in their next project. Every tree which is brought up from the depths effectively saves living trees from being cut down.
Krantz Recovered Woods sinker Cypress specs
Krantz Recovered Woods sinker Longleaf Pine specs

The reclaimed longleaf pine story

Early 20th century warehouse interior beams

Early 20th century warehouse interior beams

These are the virgin longleaf pine trees that did make it to the sawmill and were then sawn into lumber and beams. When America’s beautiful old (pre-1925) buildings and structures are dismantled, we take great care to lovingly reclaim the beams and lumber so they can be used again. With nail holes and bolt holes and other marks of a century or more of use, this wood is part of our national history. Whether it’s a New Orleans cotton trading exchange building from 1880 or a barn from Arkansas or massive beams from a wharf or bridge, these are the actual woods our ancestors used. They have renewed America’s love affair with “Wood, the way it used to be”.
Krantz Recovered Woods reclaimed Longleaf Pine specs

Additional Information

The USDA Forest Research Service has very thorough pamphlets on both cypress (PDF) and longleaf pine (PDF).

To keep your wood looking new (or to stain it), you might check out the USDA Forest Products Laboratory website, it has some great wood finishing articles (PDF format):

Cypress technical information

Specific Gravity (>12% moisture content): .46
Density (lbs./ft.3): 31.4

Static Bending (Dry Lumber)

  • modulus of rupture (lbs./in.2): 10,600
  • modulus of elasticity (million psi): 1.44
  • work to maximum load (in.-lbs./ft.3): 8.2

Impact Bending (Dry Lumber)

  • height of drop causing complete failure (in.): 24

Compression Parallel to Grain (Dry Lumber)

  • maximum crushing strength (lbs./in.2): 6,360

Compression Perpendicular to Grain (Dry Lumber)

  • fiber stress at proportional limit (lbs./in.2): 730

Tension Perpendicular to Grain (Dry Lumber)

  • maximum tensile strength (lbs./in.2): 270

Shear Parallel to Grain (Dry Lumber)

  • maximum shearing strength (lbs./in.2): 1000

Side Hardness

  • load required to embed a .444 ball to 1/2 diameter (lbs.): 510

Flame Spread Rating: 145-150

Source: Wood Handbook, USDA Agriculture Handbook 72