We will do custom mantels to order with a free quote! Reclaimed wood mantels & hand hewn mantels are two favorites!
We will do custom mantels to order with a free quote! Reclaimed wood mantels & hand hewn mantels are two favorites!
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We offer custom made mantels to order as well as already made ones!
We offer two lines of mantels historical reclaimed timber ones and new wood ones!
Custom hand hewing is available!
We offer services for:
Custom Made Mantels
Hand Hewing
Coffee Tables
End Tables
Cutting Boards
Cody grew up in the small town of Saxon, Wi in a logging family. That is where his interest first started with the aspects of wood.He started chainsaw carving at 12. As he grew older he took wood shop as a freshman in highschool where he met Tom who introduced him to fireplace mantels through Northwoods Manufacturing. He made many for him throughout his high school career. Then after he graduated in 2016 he worked in the woods at Ratkowski Logging LLC up till the late fall of 2022 when Tom presented him the idea of buying him out as he was wanting to retire. So as the start of 2023 he is starting the new Journey of making Custom made fireplace mantels and home furnishing!
Our sales pitch begins with a few scathing word about the evils of deforestation.
It ends with – “So … wanna buy some timbers?”
We are a group of tree lovers who founded a company that sells mantels, timbers and fine wood furnishings. On the surface, it may reek of hypocrisy. But allow us to defend our good name. We’re Old Growth Woods and Mendota Mantels. The mission of our company is quite simple. To reclaim old growth lumbers from structures that are beyond repair and make it available to home owners, builders, designers, artisans, and architects. In addition, we also use it to build our own line of Mendota Mantels and furnishings.
Why reclaim antique timber? The environmental benefits are obvious. Our nation’s remaining old growth forests must be preserved. Only about 6% now remain. Recycling timber is a step in the right direction. It’s also a great way to support sustainability in your community. As a raw material, more and more people are discovering the beauty of working with this rare, aged old growth. Simply put, wood like this doesn’t grow on trees anymore. Each board is extremely dense and contains less moisture than new wood. Years of open- air aging have given it a quality green lumber simply can’t match. Often harvested over 100 years ago, the surfaces of our wood bear rich hues, nail holes, and have been distressed by decades in the elements. But don’t get us wrong, it cleans up beautifully.
Tables made from boards reclaimed from a small Iowa Church built in 1890 become living room tables. A little bit of the church lives on in each piece. And that’s the key to our vision. A beam from a flour mill becomes a fireplace mantel. Timbers from an old barn are used to build the interior of a pub. And the fact that all of it has the story of pre-industrial America woven into its grain, makes it just a little more special.
Cody Ratkowski grew up in the small town of Saxon, Wi in a logging family. That is where his interest first started with the aspects of wood.He started chainsaw carving at 12. As he grew older he took wood shop as a freshman in highschool where he met Tom who introduced him to fireplace mantels through Northwoods Manufacturing. He made many for him throughout his high school career. Then after he graduated in 2016 he worked in the woods at Ratkowski Logging LLC up till the late fall of 2022 when Tom presented him the idea of buying him out as he was wanting to retire. So as the start of 2023 he is starting the new Journey of making Custom made fireplace mantels and home furnishing!
Tom Schoeller After practicing social work for 32 years, Tom decided to expand his love of trees, art, history, environmental advocacy, and housing into one new love – a business hand making fireplace mantels out of reclaimed antique and aged timbers. He’s been at it now since 1999 and says “it’s the perfect business for me to combine the things I’m most passionate about into one fun job”. ” I never grow tired working with my hands making beautiful fireplace mantels from what I call ‘sacred wood’. He has now retired and been bought out b
What's the difference between reclaimed timber mantels and new wood mantels?
The short answer to this is reclaimed timber mantels come from reclaimed timbers that are from buildings from pre 1900s and in a lot of cases the late 1800's. We then mill them into usable slabs that are then turned into your fireplace mantels! New wood is wood that has been recently harvested and then kilned dried.
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