At Beaches Timber, We strive to be:
Resourceful
Local
Authentic
Sustainable
Our Ethos
Leave the earth better than you found it
We aren’t in the business of trashing the environment to secure timber. Instead, we collect trees that are being felled in the surrounding area, and we create beautiful pieces of timber out of something that would have gone to green waste. As such, we look to steward the forests in a responsible and bountiful way.
Waste not, want not
Every part of the tree can be useful; it just takes a bit of extra thought and effort. While many bigger mills will throw aside good bits of timber in the name of efficiency, we stop and think a little bit harder. These ‘offcuts’ can make great beams, treads, or even firewood. Nothing goes to waste.
A love of timber
We take great pride and delight in a beautifully cut piece of timber. Every log is guided by hand through our mills, and the day we stop delighting in a beautiful slab of blackbutt or spotted gum is the day we hang up the tools for good.
Ultimately, we don’t want to be the biggest mill. We do want to be the best stewards of the world around us.
Sustainably Sourced Timber
All of our timber is from purposely felled trees, old wharf piers, telegraph poles and other decommissioned timber. There are many reasons a tree might need to be removed; it is dead, or too close to a house. Ordinarily, all of this wood would be chipped into mulch. We give it a second lease on life.
Expertly processed into Lumber
Each log is cut for maximum usage; we don’t leave anything to waste. With a bit of care and thought, even twisted and non structural logs can be used for live edge slabs, and the straight trees for structural timber. We like to give each piece of wood the dignity it deserves.
Benefitting the Environment and our Customers
Each piece is sustainably sourced, so our customers have peace of mind knowing that each log has been grown locally in a backyard, or public area. It has a story that will live on as it is processed into timber.
How we Started
In 2017, Josh Clark was a chippy who loved joinery, making doors, anything that involved working with timber. After buying a sawmill that year, he realised a few things. Firstly, there is an unparalleled joy in slabbing a beautiful piece of timber. Its potential at this point is limitless; it could be a door, picture frame, you name it. Secondly, with a bit of extra thought and effort, a tree can go a long way. He knew that the bigger mills would throw trickier pieces of wood into the scrap heap, but he wanted to get the most from the resource at hand. His value of sustainability means that he doesn’t let any part of the tree go to waste.
Tree loppers and residents alike don’t want to see these trees get chipped. Josh saw an opportunity: He could redeem the trees being felled on the Northern Beaches into quality timber. It is a new lease of life for a beautiful part of our landscape.
With this as his foundation, he began milling timber in the yard in Ingleside. From these humble beginnings, it has grown into a business for Josh and his growing team. His passion for excellence and sustainability has resonated with scores of people across the Northern Beaches and beyond. His clientele is varied and diverse; tradies and DIY enthusiasts alike. But they are all united by a few key values: sustainability, and uncompromising excellence.
Future Goals
There is one real goal:
Developing a healthy and prosperous timber supply that will stand the test of time.
Beaches Timber plans to purchase swathes of land so that trees can be selectively logged in a sustainable manner. It will involve cycling through different plantations to protect the ecology of the land, while still producing high quality timber. It is about nurturing and harvesting, never logged, but lovingly pruned to allow juvenile trees to grow in its place. The goal is to leave a better world for our children, and our children’s children. It is best put in the Ancient Greek proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
Every time you buy from Beaches Timber, or discuss it with your friends, that vision becomes more and more possible.