Greetings All,
I live in SW Oklahoma. I'll be building a house in about 2 years and I need some advise. My Great Grandfather built a barn on my family's land when he was a young man (he got the land in the Land Lottery when this part of the country was opened to white settlement). The barn and land has been in my family ever since.

I want to use the wood from the barn (the barn in bad shape and really cannot be refurbished, pity) and incorporate it into my future home. I thought the best way to do this would be to use the wood for flooring material. However, I'm open to suggestions!! If I do use the wood for flooring, how would this be done? I know it would have to be covered with something (such as polyurethane or some other material) to protect it. What material would be best to protect this old wood if it were used as flooring. It is amazing wood, although I don't what type of wood it is, it was milled VERY BIG and LONG. I haven't measured it, but I do know that I've not seen dimensions like this in the local hardware stores.

Any advise would be great!!

Thanks,
Brian

To use the old barnwood, it needs to be removed carefully, x-rayed for any steel, then re-milled into flooring. During the milling process, the wood will be planed into uniform thickness and tongues and grooves will be added to the edges. While this could be a somewhat expensive process, it should still cost way less than comparable flooring. You will need to find a local mill that can do this and has experience at doing it. After the flooring has been made, you then need to find a local flooring contractor to install and finish your flooring for you. It's hard to know what the wood is. You may want to find out before deciding to use it as flooring. My guess would be either oak or chestnut, both nice woods.

Thanks Gary!

Please forgive me, I'm totally ignorant of this subject matter.

I can see how the wood would have to be of uniform thickness, in order to avoid "floating" some pieces up to meet it's neighbor. But part of the uniqueness is the length of the wood. Are you saying that by having it re-milled, that it would have to have the same dimensions as the wood flooring seen in every other home? Or could it be milled to uniform thickness and remain the same length or even an odd length?

What types of wood should avoided for use as flooring material? I assume soft stuff like Pine.

Can you think of any other applications for using this wood? I've thought of using it for wall material, but wonder if floor to ceiling would be an appropriate use for wood?

The barn wood itself is mostly support material, with some of it being interior walls and hay loft floor. The exterior of the barn is presently corrugated metal.

I am most grateful for any ideas!!

Thanks Again,
Brian

Brian, people have been reclaiming old barn wood for flooring along time. I seen some just face nailed in stores with 1/8 inch gaps and no T&G.

The old tobacco barn wood is especially sought after by designers. It's got that tobaccy smell to it and stuck between the edges. I checked out some a designer had and it smelled awesome. Some people don't even want the face sanded down, they like that old worn look.

Depends on what you want.

It can be milled into various widths and lengths. That would be the norm to do it that way. If it is an old timber frame barn, the members could be various woods. But since it's in Oklahoma, it is probably a hardwood. Perhaps Southern Pine. The frame needs to be disassembled and milled into uniform thickness. But the board lengths and widths will be random ( or uniform, depending on your desires ). The best use would be flooring or furniture. Or re-use it as timber frame supports if your building a timber frame home. Call out one of the local saw mill reps to have a look and discuss your particular situation.

Thanks Floorme and Gary, you two have been great help. It looks like the most difficult part of the job (physically and sentimentally) will be taking the old barn down and getting rid of the old metal such as nails and stuff. However, the old site will be a great place for a vegetable garden!! Should be able to grow 'em BIG ha ha!!

Again, thanks very much. I'll certainly follow your advise and have a local saw mill guy come out and tell me what he thinks.

Brian

Don't you dare throw those old nails away if they are in good shape! Send them to me.

Hey Floorme,

What in the world would you use them for?

Brian

You might not believe it but there is a market for vintage nails. Depending on the style they are sought after by restoration people.

Now THAT is "attention to detail"!!