Reclaimed wood has many uses. It can help create a unique look in a variety of ways, from small projects such as a simple serving tray to large ones, like using reclaimed lap cedar siding to bring new life to an existing porch ceiling, like you’ll see in the blog post below. Reclaimed wood can give you a look that can’t be matched giving you a personalized and great looking accent wherever it’s used.
There are many places on the web to find DIY’s and tutorials to help give you some ideas for your reclaimed wood project. Once you find something that peaks your interest you can source your wood, if you haven’t already, and start making some incredible Home-Edits of your own!
Paul And Susan Jordan’s Project
When we first saw what Paul and Susan did for their reclaimed wood project, we knew it was something we wanted to share. Their house was built in the 1950’s and they wanted to upgrade some exterior insulation as well as the outside of their home. The house had vinyl siding that needed to be removed, they were surprised to find lap cedar siding hiding under the vinyl for who knows how many years. This is what sparked the idea for their project so they saved what they could with the idea of using it on another project. Below we’ll go over the steps they used to bring their reclaimed wood ceiling idea to life.
Removing the lap cedar siding
The first thing they had to do was remove the lap cedar siding from their homes exterior. When removing it, they were careful not to damage too many pieces so they could repurpose them for this next project. As they removed each board they would be sure to remove any nails and other fasteners that they found.
Prepping The Saved Boards
Once the nails were removed, they were able to run each board through a table saw to cut off the areas that had holes from the previous nails. When that was done, they carefully took each board and ran the thicker side through a router table to cut a groove that would allow the boards to overlap. This was necessary as much of the existing overlap feature was cut off when trimming down the edges to remove the old nail holes.
The saved boards still had years of paint built up on one side that they had to scrape off of the edges so that the boards would fit snug together, along with the underside having some imperfections. They would only keep the board that had no damage or any bad spots.
After the boards were trimmed, run through the router and scraped, they used a wire brush on the under side, or unpainted side to remove any left over dirt or debris and to give the boards a more rustic look. Now they were ready for install!
Installing The Reclaimed Boards
Now that the prep on the boards was complete, they were able to begin installation. They carefully took their measurements to ensure they started with the correct width and length boards (this was to prevent having a small sliver left at the ends). Then they began to nail them to the ceiling, butting the seams together and making sure they fit tightly while using the notch to drive their nails into. This made it possible to hide the nails using the overlap feature of the boards.
The Finished Product
As you can see in the photos here, the finished ceiling turned out great, giving this area a unique look and feel! Paul and Susan were lucky enough to have one project help lead them into the next by reclaiming the lap cedar siding that was originally put on their home. They also had an abundance of reclaimed wood to work with allowing them to be picky when choosing the boards they wanted to use to create a great looking space that they will continue to enjoy for a long time!
This was just a glimpse of what went into making this project a success, they were able to source the wood from their own house, prep and clean it up, fashion it with a saw and router table to fit back together and create a great looking space.
There are plenty of projects you can do using reclaimed wood, just be sure to keep a few things in mind before starting. Have a design, product, or piece you are passionate about creating, make sure you have plenty of material before tackling your project, and be ready to work to achieve your end goal.
Hopefully this blog was the source of some inspiration to get you up and working on some Home-Edits of your own. If you have any questions or would like more information on this or other reclaimed wood projects that we may be able to help with, please feel free to reach out to us! Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading our blog! We hope you got some great information and your project goes well. Feel free to reach out if we can help with anything and we hope to see you again! Good luck with all your future Home-Edits!