Kiln Drying: The Essential Step for Reclaimed Wood

Kiln drying is a vital step in processing reclaimed wood. This treatment changes salvaged barn wood, which often remains exposed to the weather for over a century, into a stable and reliable material ready for your interior projects.

Kiln drying involves placing wood inside a large, specialized oven, known as a kiln, where temperature, air circulation, and humidity are carefully controlled.

Why Kiln Drying is Crucial for Reclaimed Wood

Despite its age and initial look, reclaimed wood needs this final treatment for three main reasons:

1. Ensuring Dimensional Stability (Moisture Content):

• Wood expands and contracts with moisture changes. Wood used outdoors has a high equilibrium moisture content (EMC).
• A kiln reduces the wood’s moisture content to between 6% and 8%. This range is necessary for wood used indoors in controlled climates, such as in furniture, flooring, and wall paneling.
• This process prevents the wood from warping, checking (cracks), or shrinking after it is installed in your home.

2. Pest and Pathogen Eradication:

• Barns are natural habitats for pests. Kiln drying uses high heat to sterilize the wood, killing any lingering insects, larvae, eggs, mold, or fungus that may be deep within the old timber.
• This ensures the wood is clean and safe for residential or commercial use.

Preparation for Milling:

• Achieving uniform, low moisture content makes the wood easier to work with. It prevents splintering or twisting during the final milling, ripping, and planing processes. This ensures we can deliver straight, true pieces ready for installation.

The Kiln Drying Process

Our kiln drying is carried out by experienced operators using industrial equipment:

• Stacking: The reclaimed timbers are carefully stacked with uniform spaces (stickers) between layers to allow proper air circulation.
• Heating Cycle: The kiln is gradually heated and humidity is adjusted. This slow process avoids drying the wood too quickly, which could cause cracking or case hardening (where the surface is dry but the core remains wet).
• Monitoring: The moisture content is continuously checked using specialized meters. The process is considered complete only when the target moisture content of 6-8% is reached throughout the entire thickness of the board or beam.

The result is wood that keeps its original character and patina while also having the structural integrity and durability of new, high-quality timber.