Milling Hardwood Timber | Fallen and Felled London

We mill and season the wood we sell and use to make furniture - from trees that have fallen or been felled in and around London.

Without us, most of these urban trees would be chipped and burned. We find out about them from our 'tree champions' - councils officers, tree surgeons and local people who, like us, are eager to give fallen trees a second life.

Turning a huge tree trunk into hardwood timber to make furniture takes time, investment and a lot of heavy lifting. Find out what's involved below.

Tree salvage

Over 5,000 trees are felled in and around London every year. Most are removed because they have reached the end of their natural lives and become unsafe; others are removed to make way for developments.

Tree felling is always carried out by qualified tree surgeons - not us. They have the training and equipment required to remove them safely and with minimum disruption.

Felled horse Chestnut tree trunk being loaded onto lorry with crane

transport

Once felled, we work with the tree surgeons to transport the trunk and major stems back our yard for milling.

A large tree - like this one which fell in South Finchley - may need to be cut into sections if it is to fit onto the lorry. Sourcing trees locally means we keep transport carbon emissions low.

milling

Each section of the tree is carefully milled into boards in our yard using two specialist Wood-Mizer bandsaw mills.

Urban trees can be a little wonky and may contain nails and even bomb shrapnel which makes milling a challenge.

seasoning

Before it can be used to make furniture, timber must be seasoned to reduce its moisture content, and make it strong and stable.

The milled boards are first carefully stacked and left to air dry naturally in our 500m2 yard for up to two years.

Once the boards are air-dried, they are transferred to a kiln for a week or two. They are then ready to be used to make furniture which can live indoors.

Racking

Once kiln dried, the boards are racked and labelled in our 500m2 indoor timber store in Essex, and in our shop in London - ready to be sold to customers, or used by us to make furniture.

Furniture making

A year or two after a tree has died, and its wood is finally ready to be crafted back into something beautiful.

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