Article by Jason Young
Despite the enthusiasm of members of TACF and of other Chestnuts, public knowledge of American Chestnut remains esoteric at best. Today it may be equally likely that one would be introduced to chestnut by seeing it in a building as opposed to coming across a tree or the remains of a tree in the forest. Numerous volumes praise the qualities of the wood of chestnut, and it is no wonder countless structures have been built of chestnut. Connecticut is filled with these houses and barns, for the carpenter of yesteryear, there was no shortage of Chestnut.
Settlers could not have found a more suitable building wood than chestnut. The wood splits readily straight down the grain with wedge, maul or froe, and is easily worked with any tool whether it be an adze, chisel, hatchet or plane. While chestnut is not quite as strong as oak, it is considerably lighter and will outlast most oak when exposed to the elements. Chestnut's rot resistance, perhaps its finest quality, is well known.
Quarter round ceiling joists from a c. 1780's cape style house on Neck Rd. in Madison. Joists were riven in half and then hewn to have two parallel edges. There condition is like the day they were built in, lichens still on the bark, dried out. Far left of picture shows the split edge, middle three show bark edge, second from right shows hewn edge. Far right of picture shows a nailer from the same house which shows that it had seen the weather for a number of years before it was built with. This nailer reveals Chestnut's rot resistance, it was perhaps a fence post for a quarter of a century before carpenter used it to support lathe and plaster. The first story of this house had a number of milled chestnut studs/nailers, some of which were nearly 2' wide, as well as closet shelves added much later which had been framed in true 2″x4″ chestnut, perhaps in the 1920's – Photo by Jason Young
Photo by Jason Young
While a dead chestnut tree may persist in the forest for over a century before it rots into the earth, chestnut framing of a well-kept house will persevere for many centuries, perhaps millenea. As long as the lumber is kept free of moisture, no boring insect will want anything to do it. And even if chestnut is exposed to moisture and becomes infested with powderpost beetles or death watch beetles, such as in the case of a sill of a house in contact with a dank stone foundation, the lumber will continue to perform for decades and outlast all other woods except perhaps white oak or black locust, and locust was generally unsuitable for large timbers due to its often twisted nature. Oak was certainly preferred as the sill of a house since strength is required to support the load of a building, but it is certainly not uncommon to find chestnut in its place. One is left to assume chestnut's great abundance in the forest warranted its use where ever needed. And so Chestnut lumber can be found in a wide variety of different forms, as framing, interior paneling, siding, and occasionally flooring.
Photo by Jason Young
Chestnut split-rail fences ran for miles. The iron horses chugged there way on rails atop a base of chestnut ties and traversed rivers and valleys over trestles framed of chestnut. And when Connecticut was eventually electrified, the extensive grid of wires was originally hung from chestnut poles. Today Chestnut wood is coveted and generally treasured by its owners. It is salvaged, reclaimed, collected, and given new life by the knowledgeable. Veteran timbers are de-nailed, brushed to clean of debris and old-time grime, re-sawn, milled and/or planed to be resold at a premium for the purposes of furniture, cabinetry, paneling, and flooring. With our continued efforts, not only will the squirrel bark, the raccoon chatter, and the turkey gobble their praises, but also the carpenter will be heard exclaiming thanks and appreciation.
