Using Repurposed Wood to Create Art Masterpieces

Before artists are able to create their masterpieces —whether they are chiseling it out of marble, molding it from clay or painting it onto a canvas—they must be able to see what others cannot. Before a statue emerges, a sculptor can already see it within the block of marble sitting before him. A potter sits before a shapeless lump of clay and envisions the vase it will become. A painter can look upon the blank canvas and see the portrait that will soon appear.

San Diego native Dan Herbst is an artist in his own right, but with a very unique twist. Instead of working with marble or clay or paint, he works with materials discarded by others and turns them into one–of–a–kind pieces for his clients.

​Herbst first opened Chula Vista–based San Diego Urban Timber in 2009, combining a love of working with wood and a unique idea that embodies the adage "one man’s trash is another man’s treasure." The wood Herbst uses for his custom–made furniture is 100 percent repurposed wood, gathered entirely from discarded materials that other companies have deemed unusable for their purposes.

"All of the wood we get is basically considered trash," says Herbst. "Sometimes we’ll be pulling old wood boards from a discard pile at the fence company […] and it’s kind of ironic: the wood that comes out of the old fences is so much better than the new wood that they’re going to put up in the new fences. It’s awesome stuff; it’s stuff you can’t find anymore."

Herbst first began working with repurposed wood while helping his uncle, a demolition contractor, remodel his house using reclaimed fir from some of his job sites. After that, he says, "I was just driving down the road and seeing trees get cut down, wondering what was gonna happen to them." After some research, he discovered the majority of the trees that get cut down in San Diego are used for mulch or firewood. After acquiring some of this wood and borrowing a chainsaw from an artist friend of his, his fate was set. He says, "As soon as I cut the first piece open, I was like, ‘Oh man, I gotta do this more.’

San Diego Urban Timber is now entering its sixth year of business and has expanded from its small beginnings to a nearly 2,200 square–foot fully– equipped shop with solar and dehumidification kilns, as well as all the necessary tools and equipment to do their own welding and metalwork. Herbst and his two–person team deal solely in San Diego wood; while they initially went out and sought their materials, Herbst says, lately the wood has started coming to them. "We’ve been talking to Balboa Park," he says, "and also with Chula Vista to get more access to the trees that are coming out when new developments go in."

Urban Timber’s projects vary from custom orders for residential homes, to bulk orders for restaurants and breweries, to playgrounds for schools. No matter the project, Herbst is determined to bring out the wood’s hidden beauty and display it for his client. "One of the things we strive to do is to be able to use wood for what we think it should be used for," he says. "Instead of cutting out defects, we try to celebrate them and feature them."

"What began as a simple thought while driving down a road one day evolved into a thriving business, a "real labor of love," for Herbst." His enthusiasm and passion for his work is evident not only in his finished products, but the way he talks about it with people.

"There’s a lot of fun stuff and there’s a lot of nitty-gritty details," he says. "But it’s all pretty much fun to me."

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