A roadmap on where to buy Black Locust Lumber
What is Black Locust Lumber good for?
We have a wild guess you are considering a sustainable alternative for tropical wood. Are you still unsure if Black Locust might be the right choice? “What sizes does it come in? How do I maintain Black Locust Lumber? Does it require any chemicals to keep up its good quality? And where do I buy Black Locust Lumber?” The questions you might be having are completely understandable. Black Locust is an amazing hardwood which has been overlooked with the passage of time. Few specialists know the nature and beneficial qualities within the traditional lumber yards.
Black Locust has a natural longevity of 50+ years. It has water-resistant, rot-resistant, and anti-fungal properties without the help of any chemicals or oil treatments. This makes Black Locust a perfect wood choice for sustainable architectural projects. In our blog post, we would like to provide you with a roadmap on where to buy Black Locust Lumber.
Which lumber yards sell Black Locust Lumber?
Unlike other commercial wood types such as plywood, hardwood and softwood materials, Black Locust Lumber is not found in commercial lumber yards. Black Locust Lumber has had an increased consumer demand because of its sustainable qualities. Your typical Big Box Retail Stores, or your more traditional family owned lumber yards will most likely not know about Black Locust. Nor will they be readily selling this specialized hardwood.
The original use of Black Locust Lumber was to build fence posts due to its natural longevity. Picture from Boulder Civic Park Boulder, Colorado, 2017-2018
Originally, Black Locust Lumber was widely used by the Colonists hundreds of years ago for fencing and agricultural needs within their everyday life. Black Locust was the early settlers' wood choice. They knew that this hardwood could endure the test of time. This traditional long-standing knowledge of Black Locust disappeared when the use of toxic wood chemical treatments took over and became common practice in the late 1800s. Nowadays, only specialists know the material well and it is them you should be going to with your questions about Black Locust Lumber.
Perfect type of wood for sustainable architectural projects
As recently as 20 years ago, Black Locust came onto the architectural stage in New York City for some of the most premiere green building projects. With so many generations past, the design community had little to no knowledge of what Black Locust was. More importantly, they weren’t even aware of its existence within the emerging green building community. The founder of Black Locust Lumber, D. Stubby Warmbold, was instrumental in spearheading the reintroduction of Robinia Pseudo acacia, known in the North American market as Black Locust.
Queens Botanical Garden, Queens, NY Public Project
The Queens Botanical Garden was the first LEED PLATINUM, NYC owned project, with a prestigious list of amazing design awards. This had never been done in NYC previous to this great project. Black Locust Lumber went on for years spending time developing green architectural products as the center heartbeat for distinguished and most notable projects to date.
Specialist supplier in Black Locust Lumber
With decades of experience in the Black Locust industry, we have a design portfolio which includes: Decking and Boardwalks Site Furnishings RainScreens Brise Soleil and ProFlow Permeable Pavers. We are proud to have worked on incredible architectural design projects for Facebook Headquarters, Menlo Park, California or the Dorchester Square Park in Montréal, Québec to name a couple.
Dorchester Square Park in Montréal, Québec pedestrian Rialto Bridges constructed from sustainable Black Locust Lumber.
Whether you are working on a residential project, an architectural project locally or across the globe and are contemplating where to buy Black Locust Lumber, we suggest you spare a trip to your local lumber yard or commercial store. Your best bet is to go with a specialist Black Locust Lumber supplier. A supplier that has roots in the wood industry and will have the knowledge of how to achieve that flawless finish you are looking for.
With a global supply network and a passionate team, we are here to answer your questions and help you elevate your design.