Repurposed Lath Picture Frames

Frames are now available in our online store! Click here to check it out.

A variety of our skip planed lath picture frames with and without paint

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The plaster and lath before we the walls were deconstructed to salvage the wooden lath.

After a lengthy journey, these wooden frames have been transformed from unwanted waste to beautiful rustic wall decor. These frames started out as plaster and lath walls that were salvaged from an unwanted house we deconstructed in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

We've crafted a variety of barn wood frames and wall decor in the past, so when we saw the chance to salvage the wooden lath from the house it was the perfect opportunity. Lath works great for the frames because the width of the pieces and the naturally rough edges mean we can assemble the finished product efficiently with limited waste and no freshly cut edges showing.

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After the lath was separated from the plaster and removed from the walls, it was taken to our trusted craftsman in a local Amish community for the real work to begin.

Painted and natural wood skip planed lath picture frames

Our craftsman starts by running the lath through his molder, which puts a skip planed face on one side of the wood, and a smooth face on the other side. (The smooth surfaces will be put together and make for a good glue bond.) Once all of the lath has been run through the molder, he uses a table saw to cut half of the pieces into narrower strips. Eventually these narrower pieces will be used for the back sides of the frame allowing enough space for pictures and glass to fit flush with the wood.

Next, our craftsman cuts the strips to the correct lengths making angle cuts at the ends of the face pieces to create mitered corners. The back pieces are not mitered in order to make a more stable connection with the front face when nailing at the corners. The frames are finally assembled using glue and nails to make them tight and durable.

This all may sound like a lot of work, but we think the steps our craftsman takes to make these hand made frames are important. We think they look pretty darned neat, but we also want them to last, so our customers can enjoy them for a long time!

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Had we not taken the opportunity to create a new purpose for something as seemingly inconsequential as these lath pieces, they would have just been recycled into wood chips. Although that's still an environmentally friendly option, we eliminated the need for other materials by using something we had right in front of us. After all, creating something out of nothing is what we're all about around here!

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When we get the frames back from our craftsman we can paint them, apply a varnish, or leave them as they are for their natural beauty to be enjoyed. They are a newer creation for us so we're still experimenting with ways to tweak and finish them. Right now they are all size 8x10. They can be purchased as a wooden frame only, or with glass and backing which we install after everything else is complete.

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