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Retired, housewife, mother of three. Picking up the pieces after God decided the 145 year old farmhouse was no longer the house for us. Praise God for His mercy and love!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Question for those who re-purpose

Most of you know from my posts that we have some pretty dilapidated buildings on the retirement property.
Hubby is pretty well set that the barn, no matter how much character it has, needs to come down.  That will be hard when it happens, but the upside is it will allow for a larger garden near the house, as opposed to putting it out in the pasture where he is thinking he wants to put it.
Here are some pictures of the barn I took on the last trip.






Our back property line ends here. At the back of the barn.

Long story about that, and I don't know all of it for certain, but anyway, hubby wants to tear it down. He is certain there is no part that can be salvaged as a whole, but we do want to reuse the lumber.
So, is there one way that is better than another? When you reuse something, how do you go about it? Does the wood need to be re-planed just to use on another outdoor building? Or is simple sanding (and eventually painting) enough?

Curious minds want to know.

Happy Friday and a blessed weekend to you all!  :-)

11 comments:

  1. We took out tons of old floor boards, baseboards, etc..., when we remodeled our house. Whenever we needed wood for some project, that was the time to decide what needed to be done to the wood. I wouldn't sweat it until you need to use it. :)

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  2. If you are going to use it for more out buildings I would think leave it as is it would give a building unique character.

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  3. Nancy, we can probably do that, yes. We'll probably use it as soon as we can get someone to help us fix the out building. ;-)

    Doc, I like that idea. :)

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  4. Lovely old shaped building but it looks fairly dilapidated and would need a lot of restoration. In regards to recycling the timber, it depends on your re-use purposes. If you want it for its restored decorative features you will have to remove all nails, etc, scan it with a metal detecting device before you attempt to replane it for smoothness and to get back to its original colour. If you are just going to use it for re-construction - e.g. another out building, its not so important to plane it, but watch out for splinters.

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  5. John, that's a good suggestion. Thanks for that reminder, because I will be the one to dig them out of my hands otherwise!

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  6. I think that old wood has wonderful character! I would leave it old looking if I were using it for out buildings!

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  7. I agree with Melodie and the others, I just think there's such history in old buildings and so wish they could talk--I guess in some ways they do! :-)

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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  8. Kim, I know what you mean. Sometimes I wish they'd talk a little louder, haha!

    Thank you, Kim. I hope you all have a blessed weekend. ♥

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  9. This is awesome!! All the possibilities are so interesting...a hefty task, but it will be very worthwhile!

    Lana C.
    www.FarmLifeLessons.blogspot.com

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  10. Haha. Definitely, Lana. Enough to keep us busy for a long, long time. :)

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