Building with whole trees.

I had a hard time finding lumber for my fencing and decking projects. To the point that I developed analysis paralysis, and now I’m waiting until next year. But it never occurred to me that I could go around the whole processed lumber thing. Not by buying locally milled lumber, but by building with whole unprocessed pre-lumber-ified trees. That’s my kind of “tree house.” Get it?

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The world’s largest MITUSA treehouse.

Below you will find information, a photograph and links to several more photographs of the world’s largest MITUSA-certified treehouse. What makes a MITUSA-certified treehouse, you might ask? All of the lumber–all of it–in the 100-foot-tall treehouse is reclaimed.

“When God told Horace Burgess to build a treehouse, he promised that Burgess would never run out of materials. So far he hasn’t.

Total success and utter failure all rolled into one.

Well hell.

I just called the only Home Depot in the area that sells FSC certified lumber, in order to speak with Bob at the Pro Desk who I was told could order my FSC lumber. 

And he can.

What about bamboo?

It may not be American-grown, but it certainly is renewable–as anyone who’s ever made the mistake of planting bamboo in the back yard of a previous residence knows all too well. (Actually, it might be American-grown too. I just haven’t verified it yet.)

Bamboo is a super-plant. Because it’s so abundant, fast growing and durable, it’s a popular choice for “greener” flooring and other applications where

Got wood? No, actually. In fact I do not.

The worst thing about my recent realization that it’s impractical for a regular guy to buy wood that doesn’t represent the utter destruction of the planet, is that there’s no better building material for fences and decks and framing and all sorts of other practical uses than good, old fashioned, wood.

Sure, you can surface your deck with composite material that looks like plastic, or high-quality composite material that doesn’t look like plastic but costs

This fence thing is getting to be ridiculous.

This post was almost called “_uck Home Depot” after a particularly difficult experience getting FSC certified information from the only Home Depot in the area that (I’ve been told) sells FSC certified lumber. Here’s how it went.

I called the only Home Depot in the area rumored to sell FSC certified lumber. I pressed 3 when prompted to go to the lumber department. They answered immediately.

How to Make an American Fence.

If you write a blog about trying to buy American-made stuff, you’re bound to write about specific corporate entities. For good or bad. The interesting thing I’ve found is that these corporate entities are aware of it. Even at a small scale. They have people. Most of the posts I’ve written about any named retail entity have resulted in comment from said entity. Or at least a visit and a “hi, howyadoin”

Nope. Lowe’s doesn’t _uck. Not totally, anyway.

I got my answer regarding FSC certification and lumber origins today from the Lowe’s “specialist” in my local store. While it wasn’t what I was hoping for, I have to say that not only did the process of getting feedback via the Lowe’s web site work, I’d say that this chap went above and beyond in providing me useful information. Here’s what he said:

Lowe’s might _uck too.

Lowe’s responded today to my query with essentially the same message as Home Depot, with two major differences:

1. Lowe’s didn’t tell me where the nearest store was. They pointed me to a service on their web site that would accomplish the same thing.

Home Depot _ucks.

While I’m generally hesitant to get my facts from any web site with the word “sucks” in the URL, this web site has some interesting “information” about Home Depot and wood. More than anything, it seems to have some interesting info about lumber and logging as a whole. Things like:

Home Depot Responds

Less than 12 hours after I sent my customer service inquiry re: lumber sourcing and FSC certification via the Home Depot and Lowe’s web sites, I have received a response. It is from Home Depot.

The note is a simple one:

Lowe’s is to Home Depot what Target is to Wal Mart.

I tore out the chain link fence that’s on the other side of the crappy wooden fence that separates my yard from the yard of the empty house immediately to the east of me. It was actually quite enjoyable. And it means that I’m officially underway with the fence replacement project. I still have to tear out the wooden fence before it can be replaced, and I need to figure out what materials to use when I do that. But I started, so that’s good.

Could responsible lumber involve exotic Brazilian hardwoods?

It has just occurred to me that maybe the best lumber option for my forthcoming fence and eventual deck will be the least American option.

There’s this newly popular Brazilian hardwood called Ipe (pronounced ee-pay) that is great for decks and fences because it’s very impervious to weather and insects. It’s super-dense and really exceptionally long lasting. It’s also really beautiful, and really expensive.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck was an ecologically friendly purchaser of timber products?

I have spared you the painful details about lumber long enough. Here’s the thing, you have two issues (if you’re me) regarding buying lumber. One, is it MITUSA. Two, is it the conscientious choice.

I inquired at Home Depot’s service desk about the origin of its lumber. The guy called another guy and they chatted and hemmed and hawed and,