# barn wood



## hmmvbreaker (Feb 9, 2016)

I honestly have no idea where to post this so mods please move it if you feel it belongs somewhere else. I have the opportunity to take down several barns. All white oak throughout. I have heard barnwood can be of some value but have never actually sold any. If anyone has advice or experience to share it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Feb 9, 2016)

I moved it here....looks like it should fit in good.


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## bamafatboy (Feb 9, 2016)

Here in Alabama, folks sell it as reclaimed lumber, and sell it as is. I personall think that it makes great picture frames and there are some folks that use it in buildings to give them that rustic looks. I have made several pens from barnwood because the customers give them as gifts to to keep the family heritage alive. There is always a great hitory behind most of those old barns.

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## barry richardson (Feb 9, 2016)

There are a couple of businesses here in Phoenix that sell barnwood, that's their whole business. They don't sell it cheap either. I think you could either sell it, or make furniture from it, but the big cities are where the hipster market is, where it is currently all the rage... I always scout craigslist for lumber, and now a days about 3 out of 4 are people selling rustic/barn wood...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## hmmvbreaker (Feb 9, 2016)

@ripjack13 thank you for moving this. 
I guess I am wanting to know just how lucrative this market is. I know its a pretty in thing right now but it will take more than a little work to dismantle this thing. I figure around 600bd/ft just in 6x6 beams alone. A couple thousand bdft of 1x6 in the loft flooring. Trying to get a feel for if it would be worth the effort.


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## HomeBody (Feb 10, 2016)

The owner of a small antique mall bought a load of barn lumber to do the walls. They cut and fit the boards to the walls and it looked great. Then, all the boards dried out and shrank. Then there was a 1/2" gap between all the boards. Oops! Gary


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## Mr. Peet (Feb 10, 2016)

John,

That shrinkage like Gary mentioned is common place if the wood is not dried. Most professional installers have it kiln dried for that purpose but more importantly for possible bugs. This kiln process is often preceded and / or post-ceded with a fumigation. Additionally, the walls it is to cover are painted an off grey to match the weathered boards. Some installers paint the walls black. I have also seen black landscape fabric used as a wall cover preceding the barn board.

Gary, as for that job you saw shrink, they just need to add the furring strips, as done on new wood barns. Finding weathered ones is hard. Often easier to cut, bleach and age your own. Additional note, only nail the furring strip (batten) to one barn board so the other has free movement allowing each to flux if needed. Lath and plaster strips are commonly used in the northeast. Length is a limiting factor.


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## justallan (Feb 10, 2016)

I feel it's a deal where if you have a place to keep it and wait for a buyer you could do alright. Where I live there are folks doing different hobby crafts with it and in bigger cities it seems to be the going trend lately. If it is circle sawn you may have better chances of finding buyers.
You might get an idea on prices by going on CL or yard sales sites in the bigger cities around you and make a few calls.


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## hmmvbreaker (Feb 10, 2016)

Thanks, guys. I do have a place to keep it and it is circle sawn. Taking it down though will require the rental of a bucket trucl or sky trak as the roof is not trustworty enough for me to get on. That could run into some upfront costs. I dont want to get stuck with a rent and fuel bill worth more than the lumber is. Ive rowed that boat enough already. Tired now boss. Dog tired.


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## barry richardson (Feb 10, 2016)

Here is a link to a lumberyard that deals in barnwood exclusively, with price list...


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## hmmvbreaker (Feb 10, 2016)

@barry richardson the link still has its active camo engaged......


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## barry richardson (Feb 10, 2016)

hmmvbreaker said:


> @barry richardson the link still has its active camo engaged......


Ha ha, here ya go, http://porterbarnwood.com/ I forgot to deactivate it's cloaking device...


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## Jim Beam (Feb 10, 2016)

I know of some luthiers that use barn wood for guitar bodies...

http://www.dismalax.com/blog/


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Feb 10, 2016)

barry richardson said:


> Ha ha, here ya go, http://porterbarnwood.com/ I forgot to deactivate it's cloaking device...


Wow, to buy old wood to dull my blades quicker(since I'm sure it's not nice and flat to be able to work) or to buy nice new kiln dried wood at like 1/3 of the price, hmmmm. Only time I'd buy reclaimed wood that high would be if someone is footing the bill for a project, or if it's certified reclaimed wood from Noah's ark.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Schroedc (Feb 10, 2016)

There is a market for it, up here there have been barns selling for 25-60K for the rights to dismantle them and they have been selling. If you have storage space, the time, and can get by without investing a ton of money in it it could be a decent deal. Depending on the size of the barn and the area around it, In our neck of the woods a lot of folks remove the stuff they can reach with ladders and whatnot and then pull them over with a tractor to finish salvaging them, although you do lose some of it that way and risk snapping the beams. Another thought is whether or not the frame (If it is a timber frame) would be a good donor to build another frame for a smaller building.....


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## Jeff Ford (Feb 10, 2016)

My daughter in law's brother dismantles barns. Sells most of the wood to people making furniture as well as urban remodel jobs. Said there is also a huge market with the hardware in the barn such as hinges and especially cut nails


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Feb 10, 2016)

What sucks is back before i got into woodworking and I'd say before barnwood was really popular, a barn blew down on my grandparents farm. They couldn't give it away let alone sell it for a boat load of money haha, piled it up and burned it.


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## barry richardson (Feb 10, 2016)

Gixxerjoe04 said:


> What sucks is back before i got into woodworking and I'd say before barnwood was really popular, a barn blew down on my grandparents farm. They couldn't give it away let alone sell it for a boat load of money haha, piled it up and burned it.


Yup, my dad did the same thing, been quite a few years ago now, knocked it down and burned it...


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## Mr. Peet (Feb 10, 2016)

Yep, thanks to folks like that, the barn wood market was created and profitable today. We (fire association) burned at least a dozen from the early 80's until maybe the mid 90's when clean air stipulations kicked in. Now you need a 65 page permit to do it, or just violate state and federal restrictions and hope no one asks any questions...

My grandfather was the local ice man. When electric came through in the 30's and then refrigerators in the 50's he started charging to get rid of the old ice boxes. I found a slip listing 65 collected and burned on the flat by the creek. The brass and steel was sorted and sold to the scrap man. I bet some of those were real beauties worth a few bucks today.

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Feb 10, 2016)

Get in contact with these guys. They might need old barnwood.
http://www.antiquecabinsandbarns.com/Inventory.aspx

Contact info at the bottom of their page...


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## hmmvbreaker (Feb 11, 2016)

Thanks for all of the input guys. I have feelers out so we will see where that goes. Hopefully somewhere good. Its really a bittersweer deal. There is potentially a couple semi truck loads of wood, but the barn measures 100'x80' with a full loft. Not a little fella. Or a little job.


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## ChrisStef (Feb 11, 2016)

I do commercial demo for a living. I'm on the estimating side of things so if you need hand in predicting the cost id be more than happy to help out. In my experience, here in New England, its hard to sell the stuff. I don't know if the market is saturated with it or if people have too lofty of expectations in their pricing. At $1bf I would think it would move but once you get into the $3bf range you're probably going to sit on it for a while. Just my two pennies jingling together.

If I had access to the interior of the barn id utilize a scissor lift, forklift or lull to pop the boards from underneath. At the exterior I would cut holes every so often, say 4' to 6' apart, chain up that section to a truck, tractor, or other machine and pull. Id aim for the easy stuff to salvage like flooring and siding. For the balance, an excavator with thumb will make short work of the structure and roofing.

If I had to price it as a complete demo it would run an easy $15-20k depending on your local market.


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