A Booming Barn-Board Business

(Page 6 of 6)

January/February 1981
 
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To complete your masterpiece, build shelves and hang up old baskets, tools, farm implements, Indian rugs, and dried herbs. Be as imaginative or as conventional as you like . . . you'll discover that practically any decorating scheme you choose will look lovely with barn wood!

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Then, once you've got some "homework" under your belt, you can confidently set out to spruce up the interiors of other folks' houses . . . or of such commercial establishments as beauty salons, taverns, "western" sections of department stores, and other places that want an "antique" interior.

Since it's difficult to find carpenters willing to work with this old wood, you should have no problem getting any reasonable asking price for your labor. For example, a friend—using all hand tools—recently spent four days installing a barn-wood wainscot in a small kitchen. Aside from the $400 received for the wood itself, he charged $550 for his installation work . . . and the customer was well-pleased with the job and the price.

Of course, the aged lumber can be used for projects other than interior decoration, too. We've made signs, fireplace mantels, shelves, picture and mirror frames, and borders for stained glass windows. One young couple—who helped us salvage a collapsed shed—even produced an elegant home-on-wheels . . . by paneling the entire inside of a transcontinental bus.

And today (years after our first hesitant undertaking), our own original barn-board rooms—which require no maintenance—are doing fine . . . and we have an established recycling business that keeps on booming!

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Comments

  • Scott 6/8/2009 12:07:52 AM

    great stuff ...I never steeped in a barn till I was in my late 30s and now I save as many as I can!

    Scott

  • Barbara 1/4/2008 1:43:10 PM

    We can help with any and all of your barn related projects.
    570-465-7878 Thanks, Barbara

  • Tim 10/27/2007 10:48:51 PM

    Thank you for this site and info. When I was a child, my parents
    bought an old dairy farm and I loved being "in the barn". I'm now
    42 and am driven by the idea of reclaiming and installing old
    timber. I pray that the Lord opens any and all doors so this may
    become my main source of income. I live in the restaurant business
    and need an escape sothat I can be a full time dad. If you are God
    willing folks, pray that this can be my path. Thank you God bless
    Tim (570)406-1618

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