When Danny Hagge was working as a carpenter, he noticed that whenever land was being cleared out to make way for construction, any trees that were being removed often went to waste.
“Basically, every single question was answered with this stuff goes to the landfill or firewood or, ‘Hey, do you want it?’” he said, recalling what happened when he approached tree service companies.
That last question would be the seed for an idea that would eventually grow into Van Urban Timber, a company partially based in Squamish that recycles old timber into wood fit for anything from dining tables to countertops.
Not long afterwards, a light bulb went on in Hagge’s head.
Using some extra money his uncle loaned him, Hagge bought himself a chainsaw mill and went to work salvaging felled trees from work sites as a side project.
At that time, he was living with his longtime friend, Eric Savics, who would watch him fill up the driveway with lumber.
It didn’t take long for another light bulb to turn on – Savics suggested that there was a potential for a real full-time business.
“I totally agreed, and we basically came up with a new concept of, ‘Hey maybe there’s an opportunity here for a missing gap in the market,’” Hagge said.
To that end, the two friends went on a research trip down to the United States, where they took notes from several companies that were involved in the urban salvage business.
Coming back from the voyage with a renewed confidence in their business idea, the pair started striking up deals with tree service companies.
In doing so, they created a situation where they say everyone wins. Tree service companies uproot trees that are in the way of construction sites, while people from Van Urban Timber remove the lumber.
This saves service companies from paying removal and landfill costs, while Van Urban Timber, which is located near Industrial Way, gets free wood that can be recycled into something new.
Among these new things is a table made of elm at the Buro Bar in Gastown.
The pair also say they’ve provided the wood for many counter tops and dining tables.
Because they often salvage single solid pieces of wood, those types of furniture are often a great fit for those projects, they said.
This is a big difference between a place like Rona and Van Urban Timber, said Savics.
Places like Rona and Home Depot are often best for framing lumber, whereas Van Urban Timber often supplies wood that would be used as a focal point for a design.
