Our Approach to Wood
Seeing the Forest for the Trees
The use of wood in our homes plays an elemental role in connecting us to the natural world. A tree turns the events of its life into exquisite variations of texture and color. Seasonal rings of growth become mesmerizing patterns with infinite variation. Limbs leave their elegant mark. The curve of a trunk, the record of cold winters and wet summers, the contrast of the light color of sapwood. All of this - when expertly integrated into a home - creates a feeling of beauty, subtlety, and strength in our daily lives.
Too often, the same attributes that attract us to wood are eliminated in a quest for ‘perfection’. Even though it is the beauty of imperfection and profundity in nature that was sought after in the first place. And, we all want to maximize responsible use of this precious resource critical to the life of the planet. The challenge is to use wood wisely while still pushing the standard of natural beauty to its peak.
Too often, the same attributes that attract us to wood are eliminated in a quest for ‘perfection’. Even though it is the beauty of imperfection and profundity in nature that was sought after in the first place. And, we all want to maximize responsible use of this precious resource critical to the life of the planet. The challenge is to use wood wisely while still pushing the standard of natural beauty to its peak.
Celebrating Wood’s Natural Attributes
Henrybuilt seeks the ideal level of natural variation in wood tones and grain. It's a challenging process - both science and art - that requires many steps and nuanced skills.
Color and shape variation in a single log is enormous. We develop our own cuts and combinations of specific grades of wood to create an overall look that leverages the variation in color and texture of the wood. The result is more natural and uniquely beautiful and is a better use of the high grade material from the tree.
Henrybuilt seeks the ideal level of natural variation in wood tones and grain. It's a challenging process - both science and art - that requires many steps and nuanced skills.
Color and shape variation in a single log is enormous. We develop our own cuts and combinations of specific grades of wood to create an overall look that leverages the variation in color and texture of the wood. The result is more natural and uniquely beautiful and is a better use of the high grade material from the tree.
We work with American Black Walnut and White Oak that are harvested from particular parts of the country in order to get specific color and grain patterns in the wood. All of our white oak comes from a narrow weather zone running through Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Temperature and rainfall patterns there create wood with a more golden tone (not too yellow, not too brown) and an open, but still defined grain.
Putting It All Together
Henrybuilt has developed a 'plank' style aesthetic for both solid and veneer woods. Each panel is laid out by hand. This process requires a skilled and aesthetically tuned eye at several levels – initial selection, layout of multiple leaves of veneer or solid wood to create a panel, then selection of those panels for each piece to be created.
It is fundamentally different – and produces a beautiful, unique and natural feel, unlike the engineered, man-made character of the machine-sequenced layups like ‘bookmatching’ most commonly used (even at the highest levels of work). Ours is a specialized approach not available on the wood commodity market.
Henrybuilt has developed a 'plank' style aesthetic for both solid and veneer woods. Each panel is laid out by hand. This process requires a skilled and aesthetically tuned eye at several levels – initial selection, layout of multiple leaves of veneer or solid wood to create a panel, then selection of those panels for each piece to be created.
It is fundamentally different – and produces a beautiful, unique and natural feel, unlike the engineered, man-made character of the machine-sequenced layups like ‘bookmatching’ most commonly used (even at the highest levels of work). Ours is a specialized approach not available on the wood commodity market.
It’s About the Overall Feel in Your Home
Bringing the life story of a tree into your home is difficult and complex. Selecting wood is typically done through the use of one sample of the tree that doesn’t account for the variation from one end to the other. It’s a pinhole, not landscape, view. That’s where the expertise comes in - from over twenty years and 5000 projects. It’s about creating something that feels natural, pleasing to the eye, without too much variation. It's a delicate balance. One that we work hard to achieve.
Bringing the life story of a tree into your home is difficult and complex. Selecting wood is typically done through the use of one sample of the tree that doesn’t account for the variation from one end to the other. It’s a pinhole, not landscape, view. That’s where the expertise comes in - from over twenty years and 5000 projects. It’s about creating something that feels natural, pleasing to the eye, without too much variation. It's a delicate balance. One that we work hard to achieve.
