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I have a friend with several old barns he wants to tear down. They are largely all red oak. They had tin hammered to the outside.He wants to pull out the nails, plane it to 3/4, rip it into boards, and tounge and groove it into flooring.I think he will have to have it kiln dried to get the moisture content down and kill the bugs/larvae etc in the wood. Has anyone else ever done this out there? It sounds like sort of a gruesome job.
Frank
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I really don't think it would be worth doing. For me, I know it wouldn't be. If he just wanted to floor a cabin or something, maybe, but he's going to put hours upon hours into getting substandard boards that he could just buy. He'll ruin some planer blades, router bits and probably go through a saw blade or two, running 35-50 feet to get maybe 10-20 decent feet out of it, and still full of nails and other defects (which I'm sure don't bother him, or else he wouldn't even consider it.)
I've milled oak flooring from standing timber to finish floor. It is a huge job, the tongue and groove process alone is big, and imperfect. Some might say this job could be dangerous too.
Drying would be a major plus, depending on your climate, the boards could be pretty close to acclimated but you are right about bugs. He could bring in any number of destructive bugs.
So many negatives, and I haven't even mentioned all of them.
*I agree with Mad Dog but let me add that there are companies that do just that to make flooring. There is at least one in my area that makes beautiful flooring from all manner of recycled materials, including barn siding. However, they have lots of dedicated, large scale equipment to do this. My recommendation would be to try and find a place in your area that specializes in this and might do it for you.
*Abrasive planing may be another way to go, if the boards don't have paint on them. Safer and then they're almost finish-sanded. Also, no chip-out from a planer. You might get a plywood mill to do the job, if it's big enough or you know someone. As for kiln-drying, i once put some black oak in with a kiln-load at a mill i worked at and the drying schedule was wrong for it (they were drying softwoods), so the oak pretzled on me. I worked at another place that tented the wood and used some god-awful chemical bug-killer that they got out of Mexico because i think it was illegal here, but hey, it worked!Another idea would be to forego the T&G and screw and bung the boards down, which could even be in several widths if that would conserve material and lessen the resawing task.You'll save a lot of money on this job as long as you don't count your time. But maybe you could sell it for a tremendous price differential it to upscale homeowners who want to feel good about going green in their 8000' bungalow, and buy new, clean stuff for yourselves.
*Many moons ago, when we had more time than money, a few of us formed a loosely knit group called the heavy mutha destruction co. We dismantled barns and salvaged out the usuable material. Lotsa work, and not all of it foolhardy. Nails are a concern, as are bugs possibly, but if you've got the time? We never got to remilling. Just used it how we found it. Some of what we salvaged is still around. 30 yrs more use out of something cant be all bad. Best of luck.
*Another vote for more time than it is really worth. If you have excess free time, and want to do this, then knock yourself out.I brought home a pile of red oak fencing with a similar idea. I ended up having a hell of a bonfire, and a really good time.
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I have a friend with several old barns he wants to tear down. They are largely all red oak. They had tin hammered to the outside.He wants to pull out the nails, plane it to 3/4, rip it into boards, and tounge and groove it into flooring.I think he will have to have it kiln dried to get the moisture content down and kill the bugs/larvae etc in the wood. Has anyone else ever done this out there? It sounds like sort of a gruesome job.
Frank