Local carpentry goes green

Brice Madden, a Royal Oak carpenter, has found his place in the local market by offering his clients sustainable wood and natural stains, finishes and paints. Madden estimates that 50% of his company’s business is now based on green wood-working.

Madden’s C.Y. Woodworking has been in business for eight years, but a couple of years ago, Madden started thinking about the amount of wood his business was consuming, as well as the toxins he was inhaling while he finished the custom cabinetry and bookshelves he had designed and built. He says, “I went through a phase where I started felling bad about what I was doing.”

Madden began to research and found that nearly every wood product that he used in his work—including maple, oak and birch—was available as certified sustainable.

The Forest Stewardship Council  certifies wood from logger to distributor to lumber yard, ensuring that each company involved followed acceptable practices, including the adaptation of a forest management plans and the practice of fair labor policies.

Madden is also seeing a surge in demand for exotics like bamboo and eucalyptus that are generally considered more sustainable wood because of how quickly the trees can regrow.

He makes use of Safecoat stains and paints, which have low VOC ratings. His final coat of finish is a completely non-toxic linseed oil product, similar to one commonly used in the 1800’s. He laughs, “We’re going backwards to go forward!”

While healthy paints and stains cost only $5-10 more per gallon than their standard counterparts, sustainable wood products can cost significantly more—up to 25%—than non-certified wood. For this reason, Madden has not yet been able to do exclusively green work, although he is working towards that day.

C.Y. Woodworking can be reached at 313.657.8313 or c.y.restoration@gmail.com.

Source: Brice Madden, C.Y. Woodwroking
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Photo courtesy of C.Y. Woodworking

The bookshelf in the photo is built of FSC-certified maple. The stain is not low-VOC, but the final finish is completely non-toxic.