Reclaiming Used Wood - A community effort.

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duncndonut

New User
Pete
Hey all, I was hoping to start an open discussion of good places in Eastern Carolina to find used/reclaimable wood.

Have a barn your taking down? Know a guy who knows a guy?

Post it here and maybe we can all do our part to re-use what we already have.
 

Sealeveler

Tony
Corporate Member
There is a barn behind my house that belongs to my father-in-law.I mentioned one day that some people reclaim the wood out of old houses and barns and he said he wished I could find someone to take it.Most of the roof has fell in but there is still some good full cut wood there.
Tony
 

CarvedTones

Board of Directors, Vice President
Andy
My understanding is that pros will get a lot of it by scaring landowners with what is largely legitimate info about liability; even a trespasser can sue you if an old building falls on them and allowing someone to reclaim it without their own insurance and a contract is also risky. Don't get me wrong; I don't think the people who reclaim for a living are thieves; they have a lot of sweat equity in the wood by the time they get planed boards to market, usually as flooring. But the existence of that business makes amateur reclamation less common.
 

Glennbear

Moderator
Glenn
Just another possible reclaimed wood source here. My wood rack is currently filled with reclaimed boards from decades old gymnasium bleachers. These boards were originally 20 feet long, ~5/4 thick and between 8 and 12 inches wide. They do have fastener holes to be plugged and decades of poly to be stripped (I use a planer) but are usually close grained heart pine or fir both of which are knot free. Another possible source is old church pews which can yield some beautiful oak. :wsmile:
 

CDPeters

Master of None
Chris
+1 on Glenn's suggestion.

At one time I had a bunch of very nice maple reclaimed from church pews. Look for churches doing renovations. Alot of the time the contractor just removes the old pews, smashes them up with a sledge hammer and throws the material in a construction dumpster! :gar-Cr

C.
 

RobS.

Robert Slone
Senior User
Just past my house is an old barn still standing but in rough shape. The interior walls are all 5/4 pine in random widths mostly 10" wide and wider. I'd say about 75% of the framing is still solid. My wife's grandad built the barn from lumber cut from the woods behind my house. Lots of tin for the recyclers too.
I don't need the wood and don't have anywhere to store it. I still have some 270 year old pine I've had for 10 plus years and haven't done anything with it yet. We sold the land the barn is on. The new owner has no plans for the barn other than to let it fall down (it's on a wooded site not near the fields). I still have a little junk stored in the barn which I plan to get out in the next few months.
Also we have the remains of a 1920's tenant house if anyone wants to try to salvage any wood from it. I used some siding and doors from it when restoring my house. It no longer has a roof and is rotting nicely but it's possible that there is still something worth salvaging - but I wouldn't travel far to check it out.
 
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