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I don't know who buys it directly - but my neighbor does remodels. When he has to tear some out, he does not throw it away - he stashes it. Then when he needs to do a later
I think it can show more in the grain pattern. Lots of stuff around me was done with mature pine, it had a tighter grain than current commercially farmed pine. --- A decent amount of houses around me were once made with cypress siding. I suspect that has some decent resale value now. |
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Had a family down the road that had a hand hewn barn dating back to the early 1800's but it was in a state of disrepair. In an effort to preserve old structures the state made funds available and this barn was chosen for a grant. Well the barn was fixed up to its former glory. What did the family do shortly after this, they sold it for good money. The tax payers were the suckers in this one.
Old hand hewn barns and their parts are in demand and going for some crazy money in many cases. Makes me ill to see an old hand hewn beam cut down to make someone a fireplace mantel. |
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Had a old general store / post office on my property probably 100years old and falling in.
Had a guy who does it as a business pay me close to 3k for the lumber and didn’t even get all of it. That funded the rest of it get pushed in and done away with. |
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Quoted: I used a old butchering table board to make mine. Sorta cool because it was in the smokehouse of my dad's old home-place. Dad used half for his mantle and I used the other half. Sorta like this but longer and about a inch thicker. https://a.1stdibscdn.com/vintage-oak-butchers-table-farmtable-1930s-for-sale-picture-3/f_18463/f_191315721589877701323/20069_butchertable_3_master.jpg?width=768 It did not have legs, they just sat it on saw horses that had slots cut in them do the table would not move.. View Quote |
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Yes. I pulled 400sf of Dade County pine out of a cracker house. Never made it home. I was offered $2400 for at the gas station. Not bad for a few hours work. I still needed some for my project and didn't tell him I had two more rooms to pull.
BTW DCP is pretty much unobtanium. No more trees to be had. |
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Quoted: I’m actually in the process of starting up a side business doing this. Beats the hell out of flimsy “made in China” bullshit. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Yes. Hipster carpenters do. There is a local place that buys the shit out of reclaimed lumber to make furniture out of. You pay an assload of money for a table, and get a little card telling you about its history....... One of many examples. I’m actually in the process of starting up a side business doing this. Beats the hell out of flimsy “made in China” bullshit. @jollyg83 Can you make a thread either here or in team showing what you're doing and how? I'd love to have a little side hustle like that but have a million other projects that I have to do first on my house. It would be enjoyable to live vicariously through your growth as a business! |
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Quoted: It has to do with forest density. A long time ago in dense forests, there is less sunlight per tree, they grow less each year, so the rings (1 per year) are closer together. Now with trees planted for timber, they are spaced apart appropriately to maximize growth and ease of harvest, they will grow more per year so there is a larger gap between growth rings. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Thanks for all the input guys, it is interesting. I personally just don't see why the price outside of "tighter grain, dimensional, etc." I don't know many people who could afford to build at the reclaimed wood prices (anything more than small projects). It strikes me as "craft brewed" almost, like a fad of sorts. It has its place, and I too am all for recycling usable and quality products. How is it that old growth has tighter rings than the new stuff? Doesn't a "modern tree" grow just as slowly as a "old growth", the difference being that old growth was likely larger and had more available wood? I salvaged 15 2x12s that are 14' long from the dump last year. A guy took them in after dismantling his chicken coop (105 years old). Cost me an afternoon prying the old tongue and groove flooring off and I plan to use it for tables and other building projects. I missed the first load the guy brought, so I wanted to be sure I got everything the second trip. Cost me $5 at the dump for all you can haul lumber. I appreciate that people dismantle the barns, and I understand that the time and labor it takes isn't free. To me it is a shock because they're basically saying $32 for a regular 2x4x8 FIR. I could understand the high price if this was all hardwood, but this is just Douglas Fir or perhaps Hemlock. It has to do with forest density. A long time ago in dense forests, there is less sunlight per tree, they grow less each year, so the rings (1 per year) are closer together. Now with trees planted for timber, they are spaced apart appropriately to maximize growth and ease of harvest, they will grow more per year so there is a larger gap between growth rings. Thanks for that info, I hadn't taken into consideration trees are now planted for maximum density but growth still. Nature plants them wherever and only the strong survive. Humans plant them so that nearly all survive. |
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Quoted: Beams and wood used in older homes are something you can not get anymore. Lumber quality was higher. Some stuff you can't find AT ALL now. Saw a Dirty Jobs episode from years back where they salvaged wood from river and lake bottoms in WA/OR because that wood really doesn't exist now. They cut that into thin sheets for furniture. Lumber is going to go through the freaking roof here pretty quick too. Just as I got set to build my cabin. Murphy never even gives me a reach-around. View Quote Red Tool House on Youtube talked the dead falls on his property and other trees that he cut down for barns that made it worth the $8k or so he out into a new wood mill. PS he also did an episode about getting your farm wood certified for use in home construction...reasonable enough that it makes the whole process worth it if you are building your own home. |
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just do your self a google and see how much things made from reclaimed wood go for.... Than you will understand... I love working with wood that has a history... I have built every single piece of furniture in my home out of something that once was used for something else... Most of it is barn wood, from local barns that I used to pass by on my bike, or school bus as a child, and now I have a piece of that memory in my home that will last at least another life time... Christ, I just paid 5 bucks a board foot for some old growth hemlock, that was used in a barn that came from hemlock lake in NY, to build a door in my house.. Why? because I live 15 mins from Hemlock lake, and my great grandfather was a part of that lakes history... There is, to this day, a few trees on the southwest side of that lake the never got harvested, and are true old growth trees.. Those trees were here before we even stepped foot on this soil... Think about that for a minute... They have been growing in this soil even before Columbus made his way over here.... Not saying I would want to cut something like that down to make something out of it, however, finding reclaimed wood that was cut from the surrounding area that was standing prior to Columbus finding this fine piece of dirt is something Im proud to have in my home...
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Quoted: Yes. Hipster carpenters do. There is a local place that buys the shit out of reclaimed lumber to make furniture out of. You pay an assload of money for a table, and get a little card telling you about its history....... One of many examples. View Quote I swear, GD will bitch about anything. This actually sounds like an awesome table. I’d much rather buy that than some ikea shit. I guess it’s gotta be the next thread where people are bitching about cheap Chinese made shit. I can’t keep our problems straight. |
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Quoted: My Dad use to tear down old houses in San Diego to salvage the wood. He would use it in construction projects, or sell it depending on the type of wood, and what was left over was sold to a guy in Tijuana. One of the houses we tore down was solid redwood. Another time we found a wall full coins; it was behind the medication cabinet in the bathroom. There was a slot in it for disposal of old safety razors. Some was dropping coins down it. The wall made a huge thud when my brother hit it with a sludge hammer. View Quote A local (depression era kid) guy here did the same thing except with dollar bills. His son knew of the old mans habit and reclaimed the cash after his dad died, but before they sold the house. |
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Quoted: Beams and wood used in older homes are something you can not get anymore. Lumber quality was higher. Some stuff you can't find AT ALL now. Saw a Dirty Jobs episode from years back where they salvaged wood from river and lake bottoms in WA/OR because that wood really doesn't exist now. They cut that into thin sheets for furniture. Lumber is going to go through the freaking roof here pretty quick too. Just as I got set to build my cabin. Murphy never even gives me a reach-around. View Quote Old growth, versus new growth. The older stuff that was allowed to grow and mature naturally is dense and tough as nails. New growth is just garbage no matter the species of wood. |
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One of my employees makes epoxy tables with old reclaimed wood. I have never seen any of them sell for less than $1000.
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Old growth has a character of it's own, doubly so when it's been reclaimed and repurposed.
I'm redoing a hundred year-old house and pulled several (cubic) yards of heart pine in demoing the kitchen/porch/more porch, and even more porch. I've made some furniture with the wood, and more projects will follow. What I won't be doing is incorporating any of the reclaimed as accent walls or something like that. The house is old enough and doesn't need Pintrest crap to add "character". The house does have a basement, a walkout, unusual for the area, an it was framed in in 1960s style, complete with that first gen 1/4" faux wood veneer paneling. No, nothing special about that, but in ripping out the "nicely" framed walls, I'm getting access back to the brick piers and fireplace foundation, and will be finishing in between the existing brick with some salvage. Will also be removing the drop ceiling and exposing the rough-sawn 2x10 pine joists above. My goal is to have it look like the basement look like the bars and lofts downtown, while the upstairs has a a move conventional plaster/drywall finish. Going to have even more reclaimed stuff when I do more demo in the kitchen. I'll be opening up a 9'x9' opening into what's going to be the den, and the den to the dining room already has a 6'x9' opening with 9' tall pocket doors. So, this will be roughly a 45'x16'x12' quasi-open living/entertaining space. There was a thread a couple months back about a T-Rex coming up for auction. I told Arf that if the site bought the dinosaur, we could keep it in this place, open door policy. No takers, though. As far as finishing this wood for furniture, I've found that pulling grime/dust from the attic, and mixing it with mineral spirits and hand rubbing it into the wood makes for a great finish to even out areas where I've created fresh cuts. |
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A mate was helping to renovate a big building in Edinburgh.
He got a LOT of "scrap" wood - so much was being put in the skips that they started to beg the workers to take it, so he did.? Pitch pine, circa. mid-1700's era - mostly in the form of 12ft-15ft long heavy beams, 16"+ wide Worth a fortune once word got out about it....which it did. They all made serious money from specialist high end furniture firms buying it |
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FWIW, I have a 100 year old farmhouse. It is not livable. About 3 years ago some bastard stole some lumber off of it. I really don't know what the turned porch posts were made of - but pretty sure the outside of the house is cypress. Hell they tried to steel the front door - found it on the fence line where they dropped it when they were fleeing.
I am pretty sure the front door was worth a lot more than the posts - the front porch was remodeled (in the 50's maybe), but I bet the door was original. |
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Rich (dumb) people go for unique qitchie stuff. More monet than btains and style over substance.
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Reclaimed wood is not going to twist or shrink or grow any more than it already has (typically) that makes it very nice to work with. Specifically for jointing and furniture.
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Quoted: Red Tool House on Youtube talked the dead falls on his property and other trees that he cut down for barns that made it worth the $8k or so he out into a new wood mill. PS he also did an episode about getting your farm wood certified for use in home construction...reasonable enough that it makes the whole process worth it if you are building your own home. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Beams and wood used in older homes are something you can not get anymore. Lumber quality was higher. Some stuff you can't find AT ALL now. Saw a Dirty Jobs episode from years back where they salvaged wood from river and lake bottoms in WA/OR because that wood really doesn't exist now. They cut that into thin sheets for furniture. Lumber is going to go through the freaking roof here pretty quick too. Just as I got set to build my cabin. Murphy never even gives me a reach-around. Red Tool House on Youtube talked the dead falls on his property and other trees that he cut down for barns that made it worth the $8k or so he out into a new wood mill. PS he also did an episode about getting your farm wood certified for use in home construction...reasonable enough that it makes the whole process worth it if you are building your own home. @lostnswv any chance you could link that episode? I'm trying to find it but coming up blank. I've got a hobby sawmill and am interested in this |
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All the sheds we built as kids at my grandparent's house where rough cut oak. Hauled truck load after truckload in there over the years to build wood sheds, garden work sheds, Work shop, cellar, storage sheds (one big one). Dad always put big eaves on the sheds and the wood is more solid/hard now that it was 50 plus years ago. Someone will get a lot of nice old oak out of it one of these days when my brother is gone.
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Usually a city hipster buys old beams and wood slats that were used in a barn to do the interior trim work of their weekend/summer homes they just built, in the sticks. To get a "rustic/country/rural feel".
They'll pay big $$$ for it. Especially if it's weathered. Shortly thereafter, they'll buy a king ranch/Laramie long horn/High Country flannel button down plaid shirts and levis skinny jeans. |
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Quoted: A local (depression era kid) guy here did the same thing except with dollar bills. His son knew of the old mans habit and reclaimed the cash after his dad died, but before they sold the house. View Quote Just yesterday one of my co-workers was telling me his Dad has a habit of doing stupid shit like this. He once got in a bad car wreck, was in the hospital a few days and the car was towed to a lot waiting on the insurance company to come do the total out. As soon as his Dad was able, he had his son drive him to the tow yard and get about $5K cash out of the trunk he had under the spare tire. He said his Dad's house is full of hidden cash and he is going to have to go through everything with a fine tooth comb when time comes to clean it all out. Hidden in shoes, behind or inside of picture frames, etc. |
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Took a trip to fix up my moms old house that she was gonna sell. Had an old barn on the property that had been half destroyed due to the roof coming off and she had never used the thing. Pulled some of the old oak from the cross pins that were still under cover and brought it back home. My wife was very happy as she crafts alot and the prices for that stuff here is ridiculous.
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There use to be a company in NC bought old lumber, someone gave me there number before we had an old house and barn burned down.
They wanted the knotty pine paneling out of the house took the whole tobacco barn, paid 5k. |
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Quoted: Barncasters are not my thing, but they are a bunch of peoples things https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--eaTJTQhK--/f_auto,t_large/v1578539528/k7k8d6x9dea3vssqeuow.jpg View Quote Damn, that looks like crap in my opinion; seems like the checks, splits, wormholes, etc. would make it sound like crap too. |
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Our house was built with reclaimed redwood 2x4 framing salvaged from a school teardown in Santa Ana in the 30’s. Doors were salvage too and probably some windows. Family were French immigrant and had building skills.
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My family has three old barns. All are chestnut. They serve a purpose now but we all know they are worth quite a bit. We’ve had people asking to buy the wood.
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Flooring. Not so much Douglass Fir but other species reclaimed is very desirable to the right client(read: rich)
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Same reason they still fish cut timber off the bottom of the Great Lakes - you simply can’t get some kinds of wood anymore, or reclaiming is much much cheaper.
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This came off the 100 year old barn on the lot beside where my wife grew up. I ran a piece through my planer to see how it would clean up; it is friggin beautiful wood. Huge rough cut overlapping slab sides.
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Quoted: @jollyg83 Can you make a thread either here or in team showing what you're doing and how? I'd love to have a little side hustle like that but have a million other projects that I have to do first on my house. It would be enjoyable to live vicariously through your growth as a business! View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Yes. Hipster carpenters do. There is a local place that buys the shit out of reclaimed lumber to make furniture out of. You pay an assload of money for a table, and get a little card telling you about its history....... One of many examples. I’m actually in the process of starting up a side business doing this. Beats the hell out of flimsy “made in China” bullshit. @jollyg83 Can you make a thread either here or in team showing what you're doing and how? I'd love to have a little side hustle like that but have a million other projects that I have to do first on my house. It would be enjoyable to live vicariously through your growth as a business! @sizzlin_bacon Yes I hope to have some threads in the future as well as a YouTube channel. I’m working on 2 desks right now. Simple pine frames with oak tops that my neighbor sawed for me. My wife and I are in the process of opening a farm stand which will showcase among other things, our wood crafts. |
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I mean, I know some people pay a premium, and I know there's good reasons in some case, but usually all I see is the "I know what I got!" over a pile of rotted out pine.
So you gotta get past a lot of the garbage out there, but nothing new about that. |
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Quoted: Damn, that looks like crap in my opinion; seems like the checks, splits, wormholes, etc. would make it sound like crap too. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Barncasters are not my thing, but they are a bunch of peoples things https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--eaTJTQhK--/f_auto,t_large/v1578539528/k7k8d6x9dea3vssqeuow.jpg Damn, that looks like crap in my opinion; seems like the checks, splits, wormholes, etc. would make it sound like crap too. As long as the neck pocket is sound and it stays in tune, I'd rock that! |
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Quoted: @lostnswv any chance you could link that episode? I'm trying to find it but coming up blank. I've got a hobby sawmill and am interested in this View Quote Video Can you legally build your house with lumber you milled yourself. Yes or No. The answer is both with certain caveats and other stuff.... RTH explains difference between structural wood (which is required by code to be inspected and stamped) versus non structural wood. And at 7:20 it is explained that you can hire one of the certified wood inspectors to come inspect your wood and can grade and stamp it, assuming it makes the grade and all. Host also makes the point that if you have more wood than you need for building your home and it is properly inspected and papered you can sell the wood at market prices like it came from a building supplier. He explains best practices on how to minimize the cost of inspection, based on his conversation with President of a company that is certified to inspect wood, be ready with wood stacked in a optimal way, your equipment gassed and running, all geared to the inspector getting paid on the hour (including travel costs). Can you LEGALLY Build with SAWMILL Lumber? |
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Its pretty popular back home. A while back my grandparents had a crew tear down one of the old falling down barns on the home place (it was pretty damn big) to harvest the lumber to line the walls of the main "entrance" (basically a 12x8 room/hallway with double glass doors at each end) of their business. After singling out and cutting as many straight, non split, non rotted/bug infested pieces they barely had enough to finish with only about 15 board feet left.
In other words it's an ass load of work for not a whole lot of usable material so I can see why it's kinda pricey. |
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Quoted: It has to do with forest density. A long time ago in dense forests, there is less sunlight per tree, they grow less each year, so the rings (1 per year) are closer together. Now with trees planted for timber, they are spaced apart appropriately to maximize growth and ease of harvest, they will grow more per year so there is a larger gap between growth rings. View Quote On Maui there is an area of planted trees, can't remember exactly what species, that an early colonist planted. His thoughts were that the trees would grow fast and supply a much needed resource for future building requirements. He was right, they grew fast, so fast that there are practically no growth rings and no strength. Almost like a balsa forest but even weaker. |
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I thought the whole hipster thing was kinda over with ... I guess not
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Quoted: It has to do with forest density. A long time ago in dense forests, there is less sunlight per tree, they grow less each year, so the rings (1 per year) are closer together. Now with trees planted for timber, they are spaced apart appropriately to maximize growth and ease of harvest, they will grow more per year so there is a larger gap between growth rings. View Quote I'm mostly familiar with PNW softwood farms, Doug Fir, Hemlock and Western Red Cedar. They clearcut every 40 years and thin at 20. They plant trees as dense as they can all at once so they all compete for height to get to the sun, which forces them to grow fat rings to hold themselves up. An old growth fir tree spent centuries in the shade, and then centuries at it's mature height. Also, there's sapwood. The last 40 years or so of rings are more active, there's more sap flowing through them, so the density of the wood is lower. That's what climategate was all about. In a tree farm there isn't any real heartwood, the trees have a heart but it's very low density and a small % of the tree compared to old growth where ongoing growth over a lot of time tightens everything up and the sapwood is just under the bark. |
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Quoted: Its pretty popular back home. A while back my grandparents had a crew tear down one of the old falling down barns on the home place (it was pretty damn big) to harvest the lumber to line the walls of the main "entrance" (basically a 12x8 room/hallway with double glass doors at each end) of their business. After singling out and cutting as many straight, non split, non rotted/bug infested pieces they barely had enough to finish with only about 15 board feet left. In other words it's an ass load of work for not a whole lot of usable material so I can see why it's kinda pricey. View Quote I know where there are century or so old wooden barns made from YUGE notched timbers. |
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