About

Why Us?

Our reclaimed wood products create environmentally responsible interior and exterior spaces, and inspire with their warmth, beauty, history, and character. We are located in Massachusetts, minutes from the Connecticut border, and serve all of New England!

It’s about a STORY.

The Jarmak Corporation offers a level of service to the highest standard, with competitive pricing, and an inventory that is continuously updated and stocked. Vintage reclaimed wood is what we know and love, and we can’t wait to share it’s story with you! It was more than twenty years ago when our founder, Arnold Jarmak, while working with the Amish in Pennsylvania, noticed how they saved EVERYTHING when tearing down their buildings. The concept of material re-use was particularly foreign to the building industry at that time (outside of the Amish), but to Arnie, it made all the sense in the world. Saving building materials meant saving time, resources, and money. Since then, The Jarmak Corporation has been at the forefront of the reclamation industry.

A wealth of HISTORY.

The majority of the reclaimed wood we save is in the form of large and often historic timbers, joists, decking and flooring from industrial buildings across the country. We have saved tens of millions of board feet of vintage, and often historic lumber to share with our customers, ensuring that the legacy of this beautiful old wood will continue for generations to come. We are passionate about our work and our products, because we’re not just selling old wood- we’re sharing a piece of history.

And a sense of PRIDE.

We are an experienced business with a great sense of personal service and understand that our success is built through the relationships we have with our clients. It is our goal to understand what types of reclaimed wood our clients buy so we can directly offer this material. We make sure we stay in contact with news and industry updates, because at the Jarmak Corporation, we pride ourselves on offering you the highest quality reclaimed wood you can find today. There’s nothing phony or affected about us. Just real, hard working people supplying our customers with real, beautiful reclaimed antique lumber.

REAL wood for REAL people.

We are passionate about what we do, because we believe in the inherent good that comes from using salvaged building materials and reclaimed antique wood. Our premium reclaimed wood products are easy to maintain, healthy for people, and environmentally, socially, and economically responsible. That’s sustainability for you.

Our Core Team At Woodson

MEET OUR PROFESSIONAL TEAM OF RECLAIMED LUMBER SPECIALISTS

We are an experienced business with a great sense of personal service and understand that our success is built through the relationships we have with our clients. It is our goal to understand what types of reclaimed wood our clients buy so we can directly offer this material. We make sure we stay up-to-date with news and industry trends, because at The Jarmak Corporation, we pride ourselves on offering the highest quality reclaimed wood you can find today. There’s nothing phony or affected about us. Just real, hard working people supplying real, beautiful, premium reclaimed wood.

Arnie Jarmak
President, CEO

“It was over twenty years ago when I had a vision. I was working with the Amish in Pennsylvania, and I noticed how they saved EVERYTHING when tearing down their buildings. This concept was foreign to the building industry at the time, but to me it made all the sense in the world. So I brought this idea back to the Boston building scene with me in the early 90’s. Since then, we have saved tens of millions of board feet of vintage, historic reclaimed lumber. We’ve ensured the legacy of this beautiful old wood continues on for generations to come. Reclaiming wood is not just our job, it’s our way of life.”

J Heasley
Shop Manager/Project Consultant

“As a lifelong New Englander, I was always surrounded by a rich colonial history. This came in a large part from my parents. My mother was an interior designer who embraced the Colonial design of New England. My Dad was obsessed with the history of the region. In addition, he instilled the importance of conservation. When I wanted to completely change my career direction, I asked myself what could I do to fulfill my love for the region, furniture and recycling. I’m very lucky to be doing what I love. Most people don’t have that chance.”

Jessica Heasley
Administrator

Jessie handles the administration and web portion of our business, but is passionate about the reclamation of this amazing lumber, and loves to help people find a way to give it a second life.

1

RECOVERY + PREP

Our precious wood is recovered from the demolition/deconstruction site by our team, sorted, and then bundled and prepped for shipment. We work diligently to preserve as much of the quality and original character of the wood as possible by utilizing small teams of men and machines, versus large-scale wrecking techniques like cranes and bulldozers.
2

TRANSPORT

The material is then transported by truck to the Jarmakwood Lumberyard in Oxford, Massachusetts or to one of our many clients who buy our reclaimed wood by the truckload directly from the source.
3

DE-NAIL

We use hand-held metal detectors to locate old fasteners (nails, bolts, screws, staples, etc.) in all the reclaimed materials and then it is removed from the wood by hand or specialized tools.
4

RE-SAW

Many customers desire our reclaimed wood to be re-sawn into specified dimensions. This part of the process has several variables, including size, weight and species of the reclaimed material, which influences which saws and tools will be used. For beams that are too heavy to be manipulated by hand, we use a conveyor style Baker re-saw to cut beams into flooring blanks, beam wraps, or posts and beams at specified dimensions.
5

GRADING

Grading allows us to organize reclaimed and re-sawn wood into categories or ‘grades.’ After re-sawing, wood is graded into categories such as New Face/Original Face, Plain-Sawn/Rift vs. Quarter-Sawn, and Prime Grade/Select Grade/Character Grade.
6

KILN DRYING

We then kiln dry our reclaimed wood to under 10% moisture content in our wood-fired kiln. This process can take from a few days to a few weeks depending on the size, the wood’s species and it’s moisture content.
7

RE-GRADING

Kiln drying alters the cellular structure of the wood, and occasionally unwanted cupping, crowning, checking and cracking can occur. Therefore, after the kiln process, all our reclaimed wood is re-graded to ensure quality and precision.
8

SURFACING

We use our 20” spiral planer to both flatten the wood and plane it to a consistent thickness.
9

STRAIGHT LINE RIPPING + JOINTING

After the wood is planed to a consistent thickness, we rip the boards to create a straightedge and a consistent width. In the case of S4S surfacing we’ll then square the edges on the jointer, ensuring a 90 degree edge for glue-ups.
10

FINAL DEFECTING

Once the wood has taken its final shape, we can start the final defecting process. This involves cutting out any portions of the wood that do not meet the required specification (i.e. excessive checking/splits, broken ends, obtrusive holes, and any visually undesirable material). All final defecting is processed by hand with a watchful eye by our seasoned reclaimed lumber professionals.