24 February 2009
Aged Hardwood from Belleville's Old CPR Station for Sale
Tweed Ontario - Lewis Gaylord has some unique, historical
wood flooring waiting to find a home in the Quinte area.
The wood was salvaged from the storage area of the old Canadian Pacific Railway Station in Belleville when it was demolished.
Part of the original station still stands on St. Paul Street, serving as the Foster Ward Community Centre.
Levi Miller of the Stirling area, who had acquired large Douglas fir and western red cedar timbers from the station, contacted Gaylord
about the wood.
The owner of Gaylord Hardwood Flooring in Tweed said he couldn't pass it up. He said he has acquired a few old timbers here and there
in the past, but nothing like this.
He also thought the wood was unique enough to deserve to be seen rather than used in the construction of a barn as some reclaimed
timber is.
"It caught me and I thought it might get used for something where it might not get displayed," Gaylord said.
The timbers were cut, kiln dried, and milled. Two different types of flooring emerged and Gaylord said they're unlike any that can be
bought new.
"The wood was amazing with old growth rings that were very tight, meaning the trees grew slowly," he said. "It's hard,
hard, hard, and it has a really cool look."
He said he has about 2,000 square feet of the Douglas fir and about 3,000 square feet of the western red cedar.
Gaylord said there is a huge market, especially in the U.S., for reclaimed timber, and people pay "big money" for it.
"You're paying for the age, but you're also getting something really neat as well and something that you can't get new,"
Gaylord said.
He believes there could be someone local with a connection to the railway who would be interested in the wood. He's already had one
former CPR employee ask for a piece for around his fireplace.
Gaylord Hardwood Flooring has been in Tweed for 24 years and recently expanded to open a factory outlet near London,
Ontario.
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