salvage old barn wood - who to call?

[ratter]

I'd like to take down my barn (circa 1880) - we're replacing it with a new detached garage/workshop. A lot of the original hand-hewn timbers and wide planks are still in good shape in there, along with the stone foundation. I'd like to find somebody who will take it down, who will hopefully accept some or all of the wood and stone as payment. Who knows, maybe the wood is worth even more than that - all the better. But I have no idea who to call about such a job? A lumber company?

Where to begin?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
-Mike

 

[BB_TX]

There is a lot of demand for old wood in good condition. I would run an ad in the paper "Old barn to be torn down, hand hewn timbers and wide planks, and stone foundation. Free to anyone who agrees to dismantle and haul off all material".

 

[psuedofarmer]

i've salvaged old homes and barns - i have a barn full of old flooring, barn boards, and a few frames for future projects on my farm.

i strongly suggest you contact ernie @ www.greatnorthernbarns.com

these guys are specialists at taking down old frames, and i know that he's traveled to your area in the past. i've seen them in action, and they really are professionals!

tell him josh from jaffrey sent you..

good luck.

pf

 

[HuskerInVA]

I have seen people selling there old barns on ebay. Usually they give the winning bidder a time frame to dismantle and remove from property.

Here's one

Barn Auction on E-bay

 

[Tom_H]

The current project on "This Old House" is renovating an old barn in MA into a multi-million dollar house. On one of the episodes, they followed a guy around who does nothing but find old barns (all over the nation), take them down, refinish them, & turn them into beautiful houses. Sounded like they pay top dollar and keep all the original joints, etc. the same (they don't just saw it all up and recycle it, they keep the frame structure the same, only replacing rotted sections), so it turns out looking the same as it originally did on the outside when it was new, but is a luxury home on the inside. Don't know, but this could be the same outfit pseudofarmer mentioned above; if not, it's a similar operation. Just think, instead of your old barn being sawed up, it will get a new life and last a long time as a fine home.

Go to thisoldhouse.com and click on "Contact Us", or just e-mail them at: contact@thisoldhouse.com Ask the same question and mention the episode I mentioned. Hopefully they will send you the name and address of this guy.

 

[8561]

You might try contacting these guys:
http://www.wideplankflooring.com/

 

[frank_f15]

i know there is a market for that type of wood, but i would not be able to tell you who to contact, but seems as tho some of the guys do. Just another reason why i love this site /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[JimR]

You can sell that barn and foundation. Whatever you choose to do with it. Make sure the person has liability insurance.

 

[dknarnd]

Not sure where your county is in PA but there is a large Amish population in PA and they will also come in and tear down your barn. They make all kinds of stuff with the wood and sell it to city slickers!

 

[ratter]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Good stuff there to think about, that's for sure. While I don't have any sentimental connection to the barn (I've only owned it a month), I do appreciate the "significance" of it, so to speak, so I want to choose wisely what we do with it, or its pieces.

First thing I'll do is pull out all of the old wood that isn't actually part of the structure. There are stacks and stacks of planks in there - lots of them 14, 16, 18 inches wide. Unfortunately, powder post beetles have gottne to a lot of the big timbers, but hopefully some of them are still OK.

I wish I knew how to build furniture!