Reclaimed Hardwood

For us, reclaimed timber embodies wood previously utilised for a specific purpose, now repurposed for a fresh application. Did you know that each week, approximately 300 buildings are demolished in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria combined? A typical post-war hardwood house yields enough recyclable hardwood to fill a truck. Additionally, 65% of Australia’s bridges and around 6,000,000 timber power poles are currently in service. Given a power pole’s average lifespan of 30 years, there are 200,000 poles available for recycling annually.

It’s noteworthy that a staggering 62% of New Zealand’s landfill originates from construction waste. Recognising the imperative to improve, any collective effort to reduce this statistic is undeniably beneficial. Through the reclamation and repurposing of this timber, we salvage a precious resource from potential waste, granting it a renewed purpose for years to come.

Engaging in the reclamation and repurposing of timber involves substantial effort. Whether it’s the deconstruction of a building, dismantling an old wharf, or extracting a power pole from a desert highway, a significant amount of work is dedicated to acquiring and transporting the timber back to a yard before the milling process even begins. Once at the yard, the timber undergoes a meticulous check for metal using a metal detector, with any detected metal promptly removed.

Following this, the timber is sawn into various feedstock sizes, such as 150mm x 25mm, which serves as the primary material for our cladding, decking, and flooring profiles. The timber is seasoned naturally to achieve a moisture content close to 16% before entering a kiln, where it is dried to between 9% and 14% moisture (this applies to any feedstock less than 50mm thick). For beams and posts larger than 50mm, they are custom-cut when required from power poles, bridge beams, etc., with lengths extending up to 11.8m and dimensions of 400mm x 400mm.

Kennedys Timbers stands as the leading supplier of reclaimed hardwoods in Australia, featuring an extensive 14-acre collection encompassing everything from power poles and bridge beams to warehousing timbers. Renowned for their impressive track record in signature projects, Kennedys Timbers experiences high demand within both the commercial and residential building sectors. Serving as a natural alternative to traditional building materials, Kennedys offers architects, designers, shop fitters, and builders a comprehensive range of timber design possibilities.

In New Zealand, LMA Timber holds exclusive distribution rights for Kennedys Timbers, importing over 24 tonnes of products weekly from Brisbane, Australia. Leveraging the size and capabilities of Kennedys, LMA Timber has successfully expanded, securing its position as the largest supplier of Australian Hardwood in New Zealand by a significant margin.