People are blown away by the quality of Dan McCauley’s work from blowdown wood.
A bench surrounding a planter was in rather sad shape in downtown Chemainus in the courtyard outside the Emhiser Research Inc. offices between the Willow Street Cafe and Re/Max Ocean Pointe Realty.
“There was an old decrepit bench,” noted McCauley. “It was time for a replacement.”
Emhiser president Lloyd Lautzenhiser and his wife Sylvia had some 40 trees that went down on their property on Herd Road outside Duncan during the great windstorm of December 2018. That provided the raw materials and McCauley put his expertise to work to create a new bench for the location.
“In Ontario, I was a finishing carpenter in cottage country,” McCauley noted.
He got to work utilizing some of the Douglas fir cut from the blown down trees.
“We were looking around and we saw we had all this nice lumber,” said McCauley. “I milled it up and finished up with marine grade finish.”
The wood used for the bench actually came from several of the trees since he had it in piles after milling.
“I brought it all here, essentially 2x4 lengths,” McCauley noted.
He made sure all the holes lined up and the result is a great place to take a break.
“Some people will actually sit there or park their bikes there,” noted wife Barbara.
The McCauleys and Lautzenhisers all moved here seven years ago this summer, relocating the business from Ontario.
Don Goodman, co-owner of the Willow Street Cafe next door, likes the way the project used recycled wood and is impressed with the final result.
“Looks like new, done the old way,” he pointed out.
