Reclaimed Wood From Old Romanian Houses Is Given a New Life

Decades after the fall of communism in Romania, a vast majority of the historic houses have been destroyed. In haste to transform a traditional society into an urban, industrial society, valuable cultural goods had been left behind, or burnt to destruction. To this day, entire villages are completely abandoned.  But things are about to change since more and more people are standing up for the salvation of these valuable pieces of history. Running a construction business, and an online collection of wooden objects beautifully crafted from reclaimed wood, Mr. Ursachi Daniel from Vicovu de Sus had established a way of connecting to his values and doing what he loves.

“Since I was little I had a thing for wood. I liked sawing wood, its essence, the smell of it. I like its texture, and many things can be done with unique patterns and texture”, he recalls with delight.

But woodworking was just a side of Mr Ursachi’s calling. Working together with Iosif Cîrstean from The Bukovinian Homes Ambulance, Mr. Ursachi has come to relish bringing old wood back to life. The wood comes from the old traditional houses that were relocated and restored, a process I wrote about in my last article, Making and Installing Wood Shingles in Romanian Crafts Village

“Many old houses in our area have been destroyed, and only a few of them have been reclaimed. We save the houses and the wood that remains is turned into beautiful souvenirs.”

Some rickety parts of the roof that are obsolete are brought back to life through a series of restoration processes.

The best-looking part of it is saved and then brushed with a wire brush to clean and rip out soft fibers and clean out dirt. It is then buffed with a buffing brush, waxed and polished. In the end, the old and weathered piece of wood has a completely new look.

Inside, his workshop is full of cool reclaimed goodies, from trays and platters to dough troughs and mirrors with a rustic and rugged look altogether. What makes reclaimed wood so great is if there are any cracks, that adds to the look of the wood, each object having a unique essence and texture.

Of great importance is a piece of wood pertaining to his grandfather that he restored and kept as a memento. “This is a piece of my grandfather’s bench, which he had from his grandfather, It is about 180 years of age. I brushed and cleaned it”, he says while softly touching and feeling the coarse woodgrain. What motivates and keeps him going is knowing, preserving, and sharing his origins and culture, as the message on the back of his t-shirts reads: “Don’t forget your roots”. On his Facebook page, Ursachi Art Lemn often shares his projects and old traditions of his community that had been lost for a while but were revived again.

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