Whats the story on this stuff.

Apparently its reclaimed wood, on the bid I saw...mostly doug fir.

Reference was also made to salt or salt water content.

Anybody else ever heard of this or worked with it?

Is it spendy or just reclaimed lumber as in "used" with issues ; ].

They have a very nice brochure - practically a catalog, and will also send you samples on request. I have not used it, but I do keep the sample on a shelf in my office, for clients to look at. If I read it correctly, the "salty fir" is from reclaimed trestle timbers that were submerged in saltwater. My sample block is fascinating - almost purple and gold (mn vikings colors, eh Mike?). It did have a peculiar smell at first, though. Anyone out there actually used it for a frame? CB.

The Trestle wood "salty fir" is generally reclaimed from the salt lake area. The timbers are saturated with salt, hasnt been exposed to the air, and very heavy. My experience has been on several projects in Colorado using this wood. Several things to consider when using trestlewood........... You will eat up planer blades like there is no tomorrow. Same for router bits and such. Very hard on the tools. Also once the timber is planed, say you plane to 12" stock. Come back the next day the timber will be at 12 1/4" to 12 1/2" . I assume this is due to the air and salt contents.Also we oiled all the timbers prior to delivery, and yet every morning when the dew set on the timber, salt would seep out and run down the timbers. The smell is very distinct when working with these, sort of like cat piss. Some of our guys were even sick after working them. These are some of the drawbacks we experienced, but the final projects were amazing. Coloring was very unique from the extreme reds to black. Just an absolute gorgeous timber if you can get past the fabrication end of it.

So are there customers out there that perfer the "cat piss" smell? ; 0

That was a good one timberworks.

The smell was only apparant during fabrication. We used an oil finish, and other than the seeping of salt once they are dampened , there werent any other complaints.

Timberworks is correct in everything except the "very heavy" part. It's heavy compared to softwoods, but much lighter than oak, walnut and the other hardwoods we use. It smells like rotten clams, eats metal tools like mad, and is not suitable for a high humidity environment. It will leach salt for years if placed in a humid environment (coastal). It is a very interesting wood as far as coloration.

We are using 12x12 posts, 12 x 16 top plates , and they came in at 28% moisture content at 1/2" They were needless to say very heavy.