# Reclaimed Driftwood



## Bentapp2 (Sep 13, 2011)

Hey everyone. First post, and i'm a wood working amateur. After hurricane Irene here on the east coast there has been some great distressed wood washing up on the beaches. My wife has been after me to make a farmhouse style kitchen table for a while, so I gathered up the best of what I could find (there is a LOT of it) and am going to embark. 

My questions is this: Some of this wood was a bit water logged, and some are starting to get a bit of rot. What's the best way to preserve the pieces I want to use for the table top? Should i try and get the moisture out and seal? Thanks so much!


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## slicksqueegie (Feb 9, 2011)

In my experience, driftwood it strictly decorative. With the exception of possibly a few turning blanks. but I am anxiously waiting for the big guns to get their point of view.


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## Brink (Nov 22, 2010)

Welcome!

I was on the beach a couple days after Irene, catching some nice waves. Suddenly the life guards called everyone out of the water. A huge amount of drift wood was coming in, all tumbled up in the waves.

The LG's and swimmers started gathering up the wood and putting it in piles to be picked up. 

I grabbed a few decorative pieces, as Slick says, but there were some real interesting pieces. 

Not to go on and on, the wood was well coated in sand, and soaked through with salt water. Since salt retains moisture, I can see these pieces taking a long time to dry. 

I don't know how finish or glues will work on salty wood, and I don't want to run them through my machinery and start a rust problem. 

So, I'm happy with the few small ones I took.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I don't know about tables but drift wood has been used for thousands of years to make kayaks so it's not strictly decorative. That said, I'd probably use standard lumber for strength and decorate with the driftwood, just in case. 

Either way, getting rid of rot is going to be your hardest problem, I'd say. It's not easy to cut it out but you may be able to reinforce those areas with other materials. You might want to do a a bleach soak to help kill any nasty things in the wood but then you'll have to dry them again. Probably best to do it in some sort of solar kiln or just lay them out in direct sunlight on a good hot day. It's probably easier to cull the bad pieces and start your project with strictly "solid" pieces that are intact.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I know a fellow who is still building his house on a remote island in British Columbia mostly out of wood he gets out of the bay there. After a huge storm or big tide the wood will wash off the beaches and he processes it and uses it to build his house. Here is a link to his build.

http://www.diychatroom.com/f49/gulf-island-building-34958/


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## Bentapp2 (Sep 13, 2011)

Thanks for all the replies thus far. I was planning on using the wood purely for the tabletop, and using new wood for the subframe/legs etc. I guess what i want to know too is does any one have any suggestions on how to extract the moisture and what kind of seal would work best?


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## prisoner (Feb 16, 2012)

Not even an amatuer wood worker yet...
I have something of the same ilk... I came across a beam, 120" L x 12" W x 4" D, in a creek out in the woods where I take my dogs. I see this beam, it is still floating, so I drag it out of the creek. I figure since it just a single piece of wood I might have a decent find here. It has been in my garage, on blocks, drying out for two days now. It has some moss growing on it, along with the mud I got all over it dragging it back to my truck.
The questons is, what if anything can I do with it?


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