OT/Old Barn

Built in 1909 and no water damage or rot.

The floor joists under the hay mow are a full 2 X 12 and one piece 30ft long spanning the entire width of the barn.

I don't know anything about lumber value but wonder if the length makes them valuable to anyone as I'm not sure you can buy that length most places anymore. A shame to throw in a match if someone wanted to go through the work to get them out.

you might try listing it for sale on www.oldbarnwoodsite.com. Just an idea, check it out.

My 34x80 hay barn, built around the same time as yours collapsed when Ike came through in 2008.

Before collapse, the barn was in good condition with no damage but there was nothing holding it down and the wind came from the south, unusual in my area, and rolled it off of the foundation.

I had difficulty giving much of the lumber away. Several people came by to pick and choose a few things but most of it was burnt as I had to get rid of the debris to rebuild.

The loft joists were true 2x16 and 18' long poplar. Some of the perfect ones were taken but most of the imperfect ones were burnt.

Dean

Are there any mennonite or Amish communities in your area? Sometimes they will take down and/or clean up older buildings if they can have the material cheap or free.

I for one am sorry to see them going away.
Around here it was a lot of stout Swedes and Frenchmen that hefted them up off the ground and built them with hand saws and hard labor.
But I also understand that land uses have changed. As have farm needs.
Ever see that PBS program called "Barn Again"?
It had some new uses for those lovely old buildings.
Good luck.

It might be a real bear to pull nails from salvaged lumber that old but it seems a shame to burn it. A while back a fellow bid on dismantilling an old grain elevator that the railway wanted off their siding. He had it knocked down then hired an army of students to tear it apart so he could sell the lumber. They didnt get too far as that old 2x6 fir didnt give up nails very willingly and ran out of time before the railroad told him he would have to burn it to get it gone. Not such a good deal for him. Hope yours turns out better. Have a good one

I agree, there are some beautiful barns around here, but as you said land uses change. Sad part is you cant get barns built like that today. Maybe the Amish still do. Everything new today around here is metal.

I don't know where you're located, but there are any number of companies that will come in and dismantle old buildings... the barn frames themselves are very valuable if removed and reconstructed elsewhere... or, if that's not possible, the lumber is salvaged, cut and planed into flooring or (larger timbers) structural members for timber framing. I would think a little research on the internet would help you find someone interested in your building. You're right... just can't buy lumber like that any more. Shame to burn it up. If you find the right folks, they would probably pay you some amount for the lumber, and most would have it gone in a week! HTH ...D

You must have a different set of air quality regulations than we have. Our state folks have gotten real serious about burning anything other than brush or storm debris.

Those could be worth quite a bit to the right people, due to their length and depending on their variety. A friend of mine had an opportunity to tear down an old house and keep the lumber. The house had been built in Galveston shortly after the 1900 hurricane. The ceiling joists were fir, full 2 x 12's (2 1/8 x 12 1/4). I think that they were either 20' or 24' in length. He had them ripped into 2 x 8's. I helped him move the resulting 2 x 4 leftovers. When I reached down to pick one up, I thought I had gotten hold of a tree. Those things were HEAVY. I tried to drive a nail in one and the nail bent, every time. A person would have had to drill a pilot hole. You very rarely, if ever, see lumber like that any more for framing.

Just burn it and be done with it. Lots of people will say O Jeez, you gotta save that barn, what a shame to lose another one. But ask them to come and help and you'll be there by yourself. Salvage guys will come, pick and choose the best, and leave you with a heck of a mess, trust me.

Sell it, this barn can never be replaced. There are people who would buy this wood to reconstruct a new barn. Please do not burn it.

Brad

i think i would need to see pics befor i could say 1 way or another, around here we have alot of old pole barns for tobacco and mine just isnt worth saving (no loft, just cedar post)and ruined 1 by boards for the sides

There is a guy around here that salvages old barns. He has a crew that takes them down and cleans up the whole mess. When he's done you can't even tell there was a barn there. He reprocesses the wood into flooring, and misc. other lumber for resale. Best part according to what I understand is it doesn't cost you a dime and you don't have to do a thing. Maybe there is someone like that around you.

Are the 2X12's straight? Square nails? Square nails pull easy cause they're tapered. If it's been dry and you're not in a real h umid climate the nails shouldn't be rusted in. How hard they pull partly depends on the type of wood.
If the roof is sagged or if it's bowed out at the plate the lumber might not be worth going after.

I learned all that stuff the hard way. I used to tear down every building I could get my hands on, big or small, to get used lumber to fix up my own buildings with. Did it board by board without flopping any walls down and I pulled every nail before I quit for the night. If an old building isn't straight as string, burn it. It sounds blunt and cold hearted but you can't do anything with twisted, bowed boards even if they're in otherwise fine shape.

I am definitely not anti-old barn. My century old barn is alive and well today cause I straightened it up with used lumber from other buildings that were going to be burned. Kinda like scrapping one antique tractor to fix another. Jim

Do a Google search on old barns. You find many websites to list it for sale. I did that to mine after it was hit by a small tornado. Within hours I had several people interested in salvaging the lumber. You may not make a killing on it, but with the right people it will go to good use. Some of the lumer from mine went for renovation of in the Historic District in Charleston, SC. The slate roof went to NH and was used in a church restoration. The siding went to a hunting lodge in LA owned by a professional football player. The rafters were resawn into flooring. The nails and hardware were sold for scrap and the hay trolley went to a collector. I got my barn torn down and completely clean up and the lumber went to good use. Just check out the offers and get references. Then pick the best.

A lot of old barn wood is sold all the time and it can/does at times bring in 2 or 3 times what the same board would if it was new lumber all depends on who and where you are

I think someone's fishin' boys........NO ONE is that naive.

I have helped move one the lumber is quite valueable ,but the biggest pain is nail pulling . we sent over 4 tons of nails to the scrap yard belive it or not .

not sure where youre at but my family farmed on West Galveston Island for 7 generations...my father saw the writing on the wall and moved the cattle up here to Colorado County back in the mid 70's.
i went down after Ike to check on friends and went by the old homestead...barn my grandfather built with salvage material from the Lil Suzy Railroad was still standing...framework anyhow...my best guess is the tin was over in Chocolate Bayou with all the con-damm-minimums that surrounded us before we moved.

guess Yagotta do what ya gotta do ,. I would advertise the barn on Craigs list ...Lot of folks would jump on it. This was to be response but I felt it more appropriate to appear here , It is not Meant to Cause any guilt OK ... I do not know the barns Location or history But can Only Surmise of the Barns I know but can No longer visit Because They simply are no longer in EXistence .. this is my Sentimental vent ..T he world has definatly changed more in 100 yrs than it has in the last 500... just imagine the values and reasons Why the need tobuild such a barn , think of All the willing hands and Expertise that went into this Structure , And realize that many of the timbers (Which No doubt were growingwhen George Washington was a Young Man )that were cut And stackwed for the barn culminated a 3 year or more search , Cut , Drag to mill , SAWYER time , Stack ed CORRECTLY , Restacked on Wagon and team freighting many loads to site , Laid Out Cutin mortised Set in for a week or more , Then The Big day of Timber setting , Neighbors , farmers Old hand Carpenter eperts and teams , Brought All they could Imagine theyb weouldneed to Set the structure ,In ONE DAY , followed By weeks of Rafter and Roofing , wood shingle cutting , , Siding and Doors . The tongue and Groove loft area for holding Wheat .The manger ,the Milk Parlor .The whole course of time may have taken 5 yrs . tocomplete ..And no one ever considered changing their mind and Saying , Never Mind , I decided not tobuild , because It will be too much of a effort ..And We havent Even conidered the Years of Productive Use Storing the annual crops , Butchering Days , threshingand corn shredding topping the loft with much needed fodder to make it thru to spring . spring Basketball played in the loft when nearly all had been fed out , New Birthes from fillies to piggys ,All recorded on the Calendar on the milk house walland torn off and carried tothe farm house for permanent record keeping each month .. Old Life giving in to New Life . The Changing of Hands And Ag enterprise , The Storms requiring Loving Repairs , The OLD BARN sported magazine covers describing prosperity , innovation , impending doom with changing times , and plain old Nostalgia . it had The 1st Lite Plant in These parts ,The 1st tractor and the Last Horse , The Old barn Witnessed the last thresher being pulled outside to make room for the new Combine. Its Milk Parlor was a sure fire time to Catch the owner without appointment ..and Witnessed more discussions than the parlor in the FARMHOUSE . The Barn saw The last of a Thousand hoggs , the closing down of the Dairy giving way to beef cattle , And then Finally the last Cows leaving the farm ,after the land developer has snookwered the nephew into selling the Barn and all the Land ... America Will have to have a miracle bestowed upon it to develope that kind of People with Loving Values , Stamina and Enterprising Hard working Spirit , Whose Best pay was not the Almighty DOLLAR , But The best Pay Was the Confident self Reliance that was developed in these Barns , And the joy of Shaking Hands With your Neighbor In Thanks for a Job well done , More often than Not The Pay WAS "I will Come help You Next Week at your place Joe "...

Good wood like that is too hard to find to burn it. Amish will tear it down. Lots of rich folks would pay a fortune to have it as flooring in their mansions.

Lots of salvage wood places, especially on the coasts.

Gene

Shucks!.. this was intended to Show up in YOUR STORIES ...

another thing these barns were built from the old growth timber and that makes the lumber worth more cash than you want to belive .

4 ton of nails? Thats 8,000 lbs. How big was the barn for goodness sakes? Got a tough time with that one.

It wouldn't be worth anything in my area of New York. We have many barns built in the middle 1800s, and many of them were built with hand hewn beams made in the late 1700s. They are often in the newspaper, "free for the taking" if professionally removed and site cleaned up. Many just get knocked down and burned. I've got one that was built in 1820. All the mortise and tenioin joints pulled out and wooden pins rotted. I've got it cabled all over the place.

A few years back, there were several companies looking to buy post and beam barns. They were reselling them as finished modernized houses. Haven't heard much about that lately, though.

Also, old barns that have Heart Pine that can be reclaimed have some value in wood. In my area, they'll usually hemlock, beech,hickory, and white pine.

I wouldn't let a single one of those filthy, inbred, theiving, lieing, socialist sob'n amish on my place if I were you. Put her in a hole and burn it, it's not worth the hassle.

I guess you must have bought one of those amish heaters

that was well written I really enjoyed that. I like it when people have a love of history and a love of land.

Iv been through the same thing. Took down condemend house in town. Iv used some for myself, tried to sell either it was to far out in country, didnt want to pull nails,to long by 6 inches. Tried giving away same story. So Iv sawed up for firewood and just made piles and burned it.

old dairy barn 3 story covered nearly 1 acre

I've heard from many people to "contact the Amish" or "place an ad in
the (paper, internet)" and people will come take it in a second. Please send me the phone numbers of people in NW Ohio that are willing to remove a 40' x 80' barn with a 40' x 80' lean to on the back. I also hate to light a barn that has mortise and tenon joints and pegs to hold the large beams together, but I have no use for it and would like to see somebody take it to reuse the wood. I've already seen a couple of people around me have barns burned down. I also drive by a guy who apparently took down his own barn and has all of the siding and beams stacked up outside. Another has a mess of the old metal roof, smaller barn pieces and "junk" left in a pile in his backyard after someone came and dismantled the standing barn.
What is the correct resolution?

Randy

Nope, just a general hatred of all Amish and the backwards, heathenistic lifestyle that they lead.

Thanks for all the responses.
Still don't know what 30ft 2X12s are worth.
They would be free for the taking but a dollar value would help me decide to advertise them or not.
They have no value if the labor to remove them is more than the value of the lumber.
Just don't want to waste my time from the get go if I knew there would be no value to start with.
No Amish here in the Dakotas, just Hoots.
They don't take a vow of poverty and only buy new stuff be it buildings machinery or vehicles but they get all the tax breaks for being a religion. But thats a whole different subject I don't want to get into here.