The wife was unhappy with the cheap-o stand that her shiny new plasma TV was sitting on. So I built her this unit from our salvaged sunken log material. All white pine, frame & panel construction, floating shiplap back. Finished with linseed oil and water-based urethane. Now you can’t see all the wires!

Here is our second armoire. Primarily red pine. recessed floating panels, all mortise-and-tenon joinery. Full floating shiplap back panels.

Built to order for a customer in Southern Ontario.

As always, this is wood from logs sunk here on Georgian Bay.

This is one of my favourites so far. Salvaged white pine , all solid with only hinges and knobs as metal parts. Full floating back, glass doors. My own design, too. We made this in December 2004.

The colours imparted to the wood from 100 years of immersion in the bay are patterned within the grain lines spanning between and sometimes past heartwood and sapwood. The variations are endless and intricate. The colours are unpredictable and almost prismatic.

The third image shows the horrible ‘treehouse bar’ that was in place when we bought this resort/restaurant.

When our first timber salvage cycle was complete, the immediate priority was to build something to showcase the wood from the bottom of the bay. We decided that a proper pub-style bar was a good project.

The bar is made from genuine old-growth softwood: primarily the carcass and facings are hemlock but some red & white pine were used to trim it up for the sake of contrast.

The raised panels are mostly 12” wide material. The bar tops are 8/4 12” wide stock.

We figure we used close to 1800 BF of material on this monster, and at least 3000 screws. It’s probably the strongest part of the building now.

There was a lot more to the overall project, including a complete rewiring of the room and all new light fixtures, etc. The whole shebang took from Christmas 2003 to late May 2004 to complete. We still have no idea how much we spent, because we get dizzy thinking about it. The budget for beer alone was astronomical.

In spring 2007 we expanded the restaurant into an area that was previously a storage room. We made T&G flooring and trim from this material. I’ll try to post some pics of that next.

Another enhancement to the face of our business was replacement of the steel door with frosted glass and sidelights. We felt that it made it very difficult for customers to see inside and presented a masked or veiled look to our Pub & Grill.

We built these doors with solid 8/4 white pine milled from salvaged logs. The glass sidelights are trimmed with salvaged ash. All of the trim is brass and brass plate. All of the glass is low-e thermal pane material.

We’re quite proud of the upgraded appearance and are now finishing the vestibule beyond the doors.

Our use of our salvaged timber has spanned a range including items as small as tea trays, as diverse as tables, cabinets, benches, and a bar, and even as big as a whole verandah.

Our lodge was built in 1937 on top of a rubble foundation dating to 1868. Originally serving as the village general store, it became a lodge/resort in the early 1980s.

Previous owners made no real changes to reflect the building’s new purpose; they were content to cover up problems with vinyl siding and a coat of paint. Our mission since 2000 has been to refurbish and restore this amazing place, and to make efforts to enhance its style and functionality. Though there is no evidence to suggest the place ever had a porch in front of the original store, we felt that one belonged there. The design was intended to fit the look of the building and to make it feel more welcoming and traditional.

In keeping with our efforts to maintain the inherent qualities of the architecture, we used wood that was consistent with the original materials from which the place was built and we used similar construction techniques.

The structure is post and beam with sistered rafters of 5/4 hemlock 8” wide. The support posts are undressed 4×4 pine with hemlock 5/4 cladding. The roof is shiplap 5/4 hemlock boards. The deck is plain butted 5/4 boards. The ceiling is shiplap pine 5/4 resawed to 5/8”. With the exception of painted highlights, the entire finish is simply linseed oil that we reapply every spring and fall.

As an entrance to our Pub & Grill, we think that the appearance complements the atmosphere of the place and provides a welcoming portal to our guests.

We salvage timber from the bottom of Georgian Bay; our fishing lodge/resort is located at the site of what was Canada’s second-largest sawmill. The mill closed in 1926 and there is a substantial inventory of sunken wood at our doorstep.

This armoire was one of the first pieces we built with salvaged material. It’s mostly white pine.

The only metal in this piece is the hinges and the handles. Everything else is m&t or biscuited. All of the raised panels (28 of ‘em) and the shiplap back are full-floating.

I will post some more projects and some more detail about the material when I have some time to spare.