By KC Eisenberg
Sustainable Northwest Wood announced the launch of its partnership with Epilogue LLC, an urban lumber company that saves big, beautiful urban trees from the wood chipper and turns them into a unique collection of live-edge slabs, beams, and other specialty wood items.
When urban trees become hazardous, they must be taken down before they cause harm to people or property. Carefully extracted from backyards, parking strips, and other tight spaces in Portland and surrounding communities, these much-loved trees include elderly walnut, elm, sycamore,birch, cedar, and fir trees.
Instead of watching as these massive logs are burned for firewood or shredded into mulch, David Barmon and his crew are stepping in to mill logs into useful, beautiful slabs and offering them for sale through the showroom at Sustainable Northwest Wood.
This collection of slabs includes hard-to-find woods like spalted myrtlewood and curly maple, as well as giant slabs of cedar, redwood, and Douglas fir. Smaller pieces are also available for homeowners and crafters.
“The sheer amount of tree removals across the Portland metro area is significant,” said Barmon. “We aren’t making a dent in supply of urban logs. “Every time we run a slab through the planer, it blows us away how beautiful urban lumber can be,” he said.
Sustainable Northwest Wood is at 2701 SE 14th Ave., 503.239.9663. Email: kc@snwwood.com
