Milling Hardwood Timber Process | Fallen and Felled London

We mill and season almost all the timber we sell - from trees which have fallen or been felled in and around London.

There is no established market for these trees. To find them we rely on our ever expanding network of 'tree champions' - tree surgeons, tree officers in borough councils, local people and more. Like us, they are eager to give fallen trees a second life.

Turning a huge tree trunk into high quality hardwood timber takes time, money, patience and a lot of heavy lifting - six steps in our book.

Step 1

Tree felling

Over 5,000 trees are felled in and around London every year. Many have reached the end of their lives and become unsafe; others need to be removed to make way for developments.

Tree felling is always carried out by tree surgeons who have the skills and equipment required to remove trees safely and with minimum disruption.

Felled horse Chestnut tree trunk being loaded onto lorry with crane

Step 2

transport

Once felled, we liaise with the tree surgeons to pick up the trunk and major stems and transport them to our yard for milling.

A large tree - like this one which fell in South Finchley - may need to be cut into sections if it is to fit onto the lorry.

Hardwood timber trunk being milled outdoors

step 3

milling

Each section of the tree is carefully milled into boards using a specialist Woodmizer timber mill, ready to be seasoned.

Urban trees can be a little wonky and contain nails and even bomb shrapnel making milling a challenge.

Step 4

air drying

Milled boards are carefully stacked between thin sticks and left in the open air to season for up to two years.

Air naturally circulates around the boards, gradually reducing the high moisture content of the freshly cut 'green' timber to a much lower level. This increases the strength, durability and elasticity of the timber.

Step 5

Kiln drying

After the timber has lost most of its moisture to the air, it is placed in one of our two kilns for around a week.

Operating at between 40-50 °C, the kilns reduce the timber's moisture content further to around 12% - 18%, making it suitable for furniture used indoors. In summer, when outdoor temperatures are high, kiln drying is often not required.

step 6

Racking

Finally, the fully seasoned timber is racked vertically in our dry storage facility in Essex and our shop in London, ready for sale to our customers.

Where it goes next is up to you...

Subheading

Gallery

message us

By email or from this website.

Contact us

Milling your timber