Jul 2019
Ethical Wood Use
06/07/19 08:37
I love wood.
Wood is an amazing substance with nearly magical qualities, and it literally grows on trees. Wood is meat - something living has to die for us to have some. Trees can be farmed, and also found wild. In America the right to harvest trees is a thing that can be owned separately from the land they grow in. You can buy land and not necessarily have the right to harvest the trees on it. Because trees are valuable. Because wood is valuable. Because you can make so many different things from wood with only a few tools, and so many more with a full complement.
I love wood, but it isn’t perfect. Trees are living things with experiences in their lifetime that shape their physical shape. They branch just so and grew just so and were dried after harvesting just so... there are just so many different things that can affect the final condition of any piece of wood I have in my hands. The wood in the tree supports its weight so that the leaves can be held in the air, ideally above other trees, because the tree needs sunlight on its leaves. The wood serves the tree the same way it serves us: to create a solid, durable structure. But the leaves are at the end of branches, which start at the trunk and divide as needed to hold as many leaves as the tree can produce. The branches that reach the tree trunk affect the lumber I see in the store.
Redwood lumber is rated by how many knots appear in it, and whether it contains only heartwood or whether it also contains some sapwood. The heartwood is pink or red and contains a lot of different forms of the chemical “tannin”. Tannins taste bad to bacteria and bugs, or is mildly toxic, or both. In any case, they don’t like to eat it. But, bacteria and fungus certainly can. I know that based on the number of rotted fence posts I see. Keep the dirt away from the fence post bases if you’d like to avoid rotted fence posts.
Knots look different from wood, and they are. They are harder, more fragile and they can fall out leaving a hole. Aside from aesthetics, knots make wood weaker; however, fence pickets are already vastly stronger than they need to be to do their job, So, fence pickets can contain knots without harm.
Wood splits much, much, much more easily than it breaks like a pencil. That is because most of its fibers go in the direction of the trunk. They reinforce each other. It is harder to break for the same reason a handful of spaghetti would resist being broken, whereas any one noodle breaks pretty easily by itself. Wood does have fibers going out radially from the core. They are called rays and there are far, far fewer of them. So, wood is vulnerable to splitting, if you can get a split started you can keep it going. Splitting off wood is the primary way that all woodworking tools operate. They are all examples of the simple machine known as the inclined plane. Drill and router bits, chisels, saw blades of all kinds, jointer and planer blades, bandsaw blades, even biscuit jointers all exploit the same simple machine. Inclined planes work in wood both because they allow force to be multiplied (or resistance reduced) and because they can get under the grain and exploit the fact that wood splits. When you use a chisel to make a mortice you need both.
Given the propensity for wood to split, and for splits to continue, I usually cannot use a piece of wood that is split unless it is split at an end that will be cut off. The split needs to end well before the spot where I will be cutting it because it can grow when I move it. Every force on the piece of wood can make the split grow longer.
Wood also has surface defects. This can range from stains caused by contact with iron or concrete, to pen strokes (some of which can be removed with goo-gone), and marring or scratching of the surface. I know my clients don’t want to look at these surface defects, so they can’t appear on any visible part. But sometimes there are parts that aren’t visible. A section of fence may be built along someone’s shed, or next to a wall. One side may not be visible to anyone, ever. Some pieces of wood have one face against another piece of wood for strength, or to attach a fence to an existing fence. That face is never visible. Any face that isn’t visible doesn’t need to be perfect. Hidden faces (and edges!) can be imperfect and this is where it is important to think about how an imperfect piece of wood can be used in the project.
I love wood and I work with it every day. That means I buy a lot of wood for my clients. That means I’m in a position to choose which wood to use for each project.
It means I can take specific pieces of wood that other people might not use, because I know its defects lie in areas that either won’t be seen by anyone, or will be cut off before the rest of the piece is used. I know whether a defect will show merely by looking at it and thinking about where in the project I could use this piece to avoid its defects. I have to remember that some pieces are defective and need to be used in certain spots in the project. I usually set those aside with their flaws easily visible, so I don’t use them by mistake. It is a little more complicated, but the alternative is to only use “perfect” wood, which wastes wood that could otherwise serve.
Once something is built of wood it will last a long time, but, not forever. Eventually wood fails. It rots. It oxidizes. It can be physically damaged. It can be attached and digested by plants such as ivy. Fences fail, eventually. But, all of the wood doesn’t fail at the same time. In most cases the posts have rotted at the ground level because the post was in contact with dirt for years. The dirt accumulates if leaves fall and decompose next to the fence. The post rots first above the concrete post base. But, once its surface is compromised it allows moisture laden with bacteria and fungal spores into the post base, where gravity pulls it into every available microscopic nook and cranny in the wood.
The post no longer supports the fence. But, the fence is probably otherwise OK and has many more years of useful life. Replacing it when it doesn’t need to be replaced uses a lot of wood that didn’t need to be used yet. That is a waste of wood. The ethical choice is to offer post replacement instead of fence replacement if that is practical. In any case, fence replacement would probably begin with post replacement anyway. Replacing a fence means demolishing it first, and that makes post replacement easier.
Usually, by the time someone asks me to fix their fence the wooden post in the post base has decomposed more or less thoroughly. I dig it out with hand tools and my hand, leaving a hole in the concrete post base. Then I plane a new 4x4 to fit the hole, treat the lower portion that will be underground with Olympic Water Seal, and drive the new post into the old post base. Then I usually will cut the post to whatever height is appropriate. Then I will either reattach the fence to the new post, or build a new fence on the posts if the whole fence is being replaced.
In any case the rotted posts can’t be used again. If the old fence was demolished its wood also can’t be used again. All of that wood needs to be disposed of somehow. I take all the debris from my projects to the Berkeley Transfer Station. This is part of the end of the lifecycle for the wood. If the wood is painted it goes to a landfill. If it is pressure treated it gets thrown into a special dumpster just for pressure treated wood. It doesn’t go to a normal landfill. Unpainted wood with no nails or screws can be placed in the green bin or in the yard waste area of the transfer station. It gets ground up and composted. But most of the wood from fences has nails and other debris attached to it and isn’t suitable for composting. But that isn’t awful. Burying wood in a landfill sequesters carbon.
Using wood and then eventually burying it in a landfill has some positive effect of taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Of course there is a significant carbon footprint in bringing that wood to your project from the forest; however, all alternative building materials also have a significant carbon footprint, but none of the others that I can think of sequester carbon at the end of the lifecycle of their use the way wood can.
Working on fences gives me time to think about things. I also teach classes in the use of many stationary woodworking tools, and in some woodworking techniques. I think about wood a lot. I use so much wood that how I use wood matters to me. I only buy wood that is sustainably harvested. It means it is all new growth redwood, which is notably inferior to old-growth redwood. But, using old-growth redwood is not an ethical choice. So, I don’t. Instead, I try not to take down old growth redwood fences that were made from old-growth redwood. I just replace their posts to re-support them.
Because a tree not harvested grows larger and captures more carbon, and makes more wood. Delaying fence replacement reduces the demand for wood which helps drive down its cost. And, delaying fence replacement means my clients don’t have to spend as much money now, which matters.
It isn’t more expensive to use wood ethically. My fences cost less than a fence company would charge, and I believe they are at least as good. But, even if it were, I would still do it, because I love wood.
Wood is an amazing substance with nearly magical qualities, and it literally grows on trees. Wood is meat - something living has to die for us to have some. Trees can be farmed, and also found wild. In America the right to harvest trees is a thing that can be owned separately from the land they grow in. You can buy land and not necessarily have the right to harvest the trees on it. Because trees are valuable. Because wood is valuable. Because you can make so many different things from wood with only a few tools, and so many more with a full complement.
I love wood, but it isn’t perfect. Trees are living things with experiences in their lifetime that shape their physical shape. They branch just so and grew just so and were dried after harvesting just so... there are just so many different things that can affect the final condition of any piece of wood I have in my hands. The wood in the tree supports its weight so that the leaves can be held in the air, ideally above other trees, because the tree needs sunlight on its leaves. The wood serves the tree the same way it serves us: to create a solid, durable structure. But the leaves are at the end of branches, which start at the trunk and divide as needed to hold as many leaves as the tree can produce. The branches that reach the tree trunk affect the lumber I see in the store.
Redwood lumber is rated by how many knots appear in it, and whether it contains only heartwood or whether it also contains some sapwood. The heartwood is pink or red and contains a lot of different forms of the chemical “tannin”. Tannins taste bad to bacteria and bugs, or is mildly toxic, or both. In any case, they don’t like to eat it. But, bacteria and fungus certainly can. I know that based on the number of rotted fence posts I see. Keep the dirt away from the fence post bases if you’d like to avoid rotted fence posts.
Knots look different from wood, and they are. They are harder, more fragile and they can fall out leaving a hole. Aside from aesthetics, knots make wood weaker; however, fence pickets are already vastly stronger than they need to be to do their job, So, fence pickets can contain knots without harm.
Wood splits much, much, much more easily than it breaks like a pencil. That is because most of its fibers go in the direction of the trunk. They reinforce each other. It is harder to break for the same reason a handful of spaghetti would resist being broken, whereas any one noodle breaks pretty easily by itself. Wood does have fibers going out radially from the core. They are called rays and there are far, far fewer of them. So, wood is vulnerable to splitting, if you can get a split started you can keep it going. Splitting off wood is the primary way that all woodworking tools operate. They are all examples of the simple machine known as the inclined plane. Drill and router bits, chisels, saw blades of all kinds, jointer and planer blades, bandsaw blades, even biscuit jointers all exploit the same simple machine. Inclined planes work in wood both because they allow force to be multiplied (or resistance reduced) and because they can get under the grain and exploit the fact that wood splits. When you use a chisel to make a mortice you need both.
Given the propensity for wood to split, and for splits to continue, I usually cannot use a piece of wood that is split unless it is split at an end that will be cut off. The split needs to end well before the spot where I will be cutting it because it can grow when I move it. Every force on the piece of wood can make the split grow longer.
Wood also has surface defects. This can range from stains caused by contact with iron or concrete, to pen strokes (some of which can be removed with goo-gone), and marring or scratching of the surface. I know my clients don’t want to look at these surface defects, so they can’t appear on any visible part. But sometimes there are parts that aren’t visible. A section of fence may be built along someone’s shed, or next to a wall. One side may not be visible to anyone, ever. Some pieces of wood have one face against another piece of wood for strength, or to attach a fence to an existing fence. That face is never visible. Any face that isn’t visible doesn’t need to be perfect. Hidden faces (and edges!) can be imperfect and this is where it is important to think about how an imperfect piece of wood can be used in the project.
Of course it is “easier” to use only “perfect” wood. This is why ethics matter. There is some level of effort that is morally justified that exceeds minimizing costs by using only “perfect” wood (assuming you can buy it and afford it).
I love wood and I work with it every day. That means I buy a lot of wood for my clients. That means I’m in a position to choose which wood to use for each project.
It means I can take specific pieces of wood that other people might not use, because I know its defects lie in areas that either won’t be seen by anyone, or will be cut off before the rest of the piece is used. I know whether a defect will show merely by looking at it and thinking about where in the project I could use this piece to avoid its defects. I have to remember that some pieces are defective and need to be used in certain spots in the project. I usually set those aside with their flaws easily visible, so I don’t use them by mistake. It is a little more complicated, but the alternative is to only use “perfect” wood, which wastes wood that could otherwise serve.
Once something is built of wood it will last a long time, but, not forever. Eventually wood fails. It rots. It oxidizes. It can be physically damaged. It can be attached and digested by plants such as ivy. Fences fail, eventually. But, all of the wood doesn’t fail at the same time. In most cases the posts have rotted at the ground level because the post was in contact with dirt for years. The dirt accumulates if leaves fall and decompose next to the fence. The post rots first above the concrete post base. But, once its surface is compromised it allows moisture laden with bacteria and fungal spores into the post base, where gravity pulls it into every available microscopic nook and cranny in the wood.
The post no longer supports the fence. But, the fence is probably otherwise OK and has many more years of useful life. Replacing it when it doesn’t need to be replaced uses a lot of wood that didn’t need to be used yet. That is a waste of wood. The ethical choice is to offer post replacement instead of fence replacement if that is practical. In any case, fence replacement would probably begin with post replacement anyway. Replacing a fence means demolishing it first, and that makes post replacement easier.
Usually, by the time someone asks me to fix their fence the wooden post in the post base has decomposed more or less thoroughly. I dig it out with hand tools and my hand, leaving a hole in the concrete post base. Then I plane a new 4x4 to fit the hole, treat the lower portion that will be underground with Olympic Water Seal, and drive the new post into the old post base. Then I usually will cut the post to whatever height is appropriate. Then I will either reattach the fence to the new post, or build a new fence on the posts if the whole fence is being replaced.
In any case the rotted posts can’t be used again. If the old fence was demolished its wood also can’t be used again. All of that wood needs to be disposed of somehow. I take all the debris from my projects to the Berkeley Transfer Station. This is part of the end of the lifecycle for the wood. If the wood is painted it goes to a landfill. If it is pressure treated it gets thrown into a special dumpster just for pressure treated wood. It doesn’t go to a normal landfill. Unpainted wood with no nails or screws can be placed in the green bin or in the yard waste area of the transfer station. It gets ground up and composted. But most of the wood from fences has nails and other debris attached to it and isn’t suitable for composting. But that isn’t awful. Burying wood in a landfill sequesters carbon.
Using wood and then eventually burying it in a landfill has some positive effect of taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Of course there is a significant carbon footprint in bringing that wood to your project from the forest; however, all alternative building materials also have a significant carbon footprint, but none of the others that I can think of sequester carbon at the end of the lifecycle of their use the way wood can.
But, if you burn the wood the carbon goes back into the atmosphere, undoing the benefit of sequestering carbon.
Working on fences gives me time to think about things. I also teach classes in the use of many stationary woodworking tools, and in some woodworking techniques. I think about wood a lot. I use so much wood that how I use wood matters to me. I only buy wood that is sustainably harvested. It means it is all new growth redwood, which is notably inferior to old-growth redwood. But, using old-growth redwood is not an ethical choice. So, I don’t. Instead, I try not to take down old growth redwood fences that were made from old-growth redwood. I just replace their posts to re-support them.
Because a tree not harvested grows larger and captures more carbon, and makes more wood. Delaying fence replacement reduces the demand for wood which helps drive down its cost. And, delaying fence replacement means my clients don’t have to spend as much money now, which matters.
It isn’t more expensive to use wood ethically. My fences cost less than a fence company would charge, and I believe they are at least as good. But, even if it were, I would still do it, because I love wood.
