Construction crews can have a love-hate relationship with old lumber. During demo work on an old building, a project can generate a lot of scrap that is destined for some landfill. But what if you could pull out the wood that was good — if the structure is old enough, possibly of a higher quality than you can readily find today — and reclaim it for the current project or another one?

This is not a deed for the faint of heart. Someone has to examine the entire surface (hopefully using magnets or some type of imaging) for staples and nails and then remove them all because you don't want a saw or chisel plowing into some chunk of metal that will dull or dent a cutting edge and send you to find the nearest sharpening stone.

It is time-consuming and particular work that too often is best recognized by its absence. Maybe some kids working on a backyard fort will snag some to keep tight control of their budget — and then spend all that time carefully examining each piece and prying out what they can, cutting off as they must, and stacking the remains.