SALVAGING OLD TIMBERS FOR A NEW BARN FLOOR

We came across some rough-sawn elm cut to 5/4″ that we thought would work well to make the loft floor in the barn, but it turned out to be only about half the needed number of board feet.  Then a good friend kindly offered us some old white oak timbers that have been sitting in his back yard for going on seven years.  Wayne got some friends (including Doug) to help him haul them to his yard when an acquaintance of his had been given an ultimatum from his wife to get those timbers out of their back yard.  I don’t know how long they had been sitting in Wayne’s friend’s yard, and I don’t know where they came from before that.

These orphan timbers have been hauled about who knows how long waiting for a rebirth.  Unfortunately the last few years have been the hardest of their long life, and much of their formerly sturdy wood has succumbed to some carpenter ant invasion and dry rot.

Each piece had to be hauled out and evaluated.