Wall and ceiling panels
Random-width or uniform layups in 4×8 ft panelised sections. The application this material is best at.
Studio · 9 June 2026
Reclaimed wood in commercial interiors: what actually survives
In short
Reclaimed pallet wood makes excellent commercial panelling and fixtures, but only after processing that most makers skip. It must be hand de-nailed, passed through a metal detector, kiln dried to furniture moisture content, and milled. Skipping the drying step is why so much pallet-wood panelling cups, splits and opens at the joints within a single heating season.
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Why installations fail
Pallet wood in service sits somewhere between 12 and 20 percent moisture content. A heated commercial interior in an Ohio winter sits at 6 to 8 percent. Install undried boards and they will lose that difference in your building over the first heating season — cupping, splitting, and opening gaps at every joint.
This is entirely avoidable and it is the single most common failure we are asked to look at. The fix is a kiln cycle before milling, and it is not optional.
The processing that has to happen
- Selection
Boards chosen for grain, colour and age. Older oak and maple stringers carry the patina; newer softwood does not and we do not use it in the studio line.
- Hand de-nailing
Every fastener out by hand. Machine dismantling is faster and leaves broken shanks in the wood.
- Metal detection
Every board through a detector after de-nailing. One missed shank ruins a planer knife, and it ruins a client's table saw just as effectively.
- Kiln drying
To 6–8% moisture content. This is the step that decides whether the installation survives.
- Milling
Planed, jointed and dimensioned. The face is skimmed just enough to true it while leaving saw marks, colour and character intact.
- Layup and finish
Panelised into sections where possible, finished with a low-VOC hardwax oil or left raw where weathering is wanted.
What to specify as a designer
- Moisture content at delivery — write 6–8% into the specification
- Metal-detected, and ask whether the detection happens before or after de-nailing (it should be after)
- Provenance: heat-treated or untreated wood only. Never methyl-bromide-stamped, never chemically stained
- Panelised sections rather than loose boards for anything above a small area — installation time drops dramatically and the result is more consistent
- Fire rating requirements for the application. Wall and ceiling finishes in commercial premises frequently need a rated coating, and this needs deciding before finishing, not after
- An allowance for movement. Even correctly dried reclaimed wood moves seasonally — detail for it rather than hoping
What it genuinely suits
Bar and counter fronts
Slatted or solid-board layups over a plywood carcass, hardwax oil finish. Robust and repairable.
Retail fixtures
Crates, risers, tiered stands and market tables sized to a planogram, consistent enough to roll out across locations.
Tabletops
Laminated, planed flat, edge-glued. Needs correct drying more than anything else on this list.
Planters and exterior
Untreated hardwood, no chemical preservatives, lined where soil contact requires it. Weathering is the point here.
Signage blanks
Prepared panels for sign painters and set builders, sold by the square foot.
Appendix: the data behind this
Every piece on this site closes with the slice of our operating record that bears on what it argues. The full record is published at /resources/operating-record.
Species composition — what the studio selects from
The studio line uses oak and maple from older cores. Poplar is too soft for most commercial surfaces and softwood carries no patina.
- Red and white oak · 45 lb/ft³38.4%
The recycled pool leans oak because oak survives long enough to be collected.
- Yellow poplar · 29 lb/ft³19.1%
Light for a hardwood. Our preferred deck-board harvest stock.
- Southern yellow pine · 36 lb/ft³14.7%
Mostly from export and one-way inbound freight.
- Hard and soft maple · 44 lb/ft³11.2%
Excellent stringer material; highest repair yield of anything we take in.
- Ash · 41 lb/ft³6.8%
Rising share as post-borer salvage lumber works through the system.
- Mixed softwood (spruce, fir) · 27 lb/ft³5.3%
Short service life. Rarely reaches us in repairable condition.
- Gum, beech, other hardwood · 40 lb/ft³4.5%
Regional mill offcuts; behaves like oak for our purposes.