Good Deal on Antique Pine?

[Jason Hanko]

I can get a bunch of old pine floor joists that were rescued from a barn demolition. They are 12/4 x 8'' x 13', straight as an arrow. He wants $1.00 a BF. Oh, and free delivery. The only downside is that they're whitewashed...
Should I go for this? Ive never bought rough lumber before as I just gained the ability to dimension it myself.
I can't seem to find anything comparable on the internet, which leads me to a followup question: what internet sites do you guys use to buy wood?
Thanks in advance for your help and experience!

[Michael Donahue]

I'd buy it! I'd belt sand the whitewash off so it won't gum up my planer though. You'll also want to use a metal detector to find any junk hidden in the wood before planing.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Sounds like it could be really nice wood. Do you have the capability to resaw it into whatever sizes you might want? Michael's idea with the belt sander and metal detector sound good to me. Wish I had a chance to get some of it at that price (delivered to Indy? Ouch!).

[John Keeton]

The questions I would ask would be-
What is the local market for pine - (clean kiln dried pine in this area is about $.75/ft)?
Do you have a need for the wood, i.e., a project in mind?
What kind of pine is it - old growth, heart pine?
Is it free of infestation?
Do you have an extra set of blades for your planer, because I guarantee that you will nick your blades on something in the wood? "Rough lumber" is normally thought of as rough cut, unused lumber. This wood has been used, and likely has broken off nails in it. The metal detector is a very good piece of advice.

If you are OK on the above questions, then $1/ft. for good dry wood for which you have a use is a good buy. However, on a personal level, I would not buy it as I have no interest in doing anything in pine.

[Andrew Joiner]

That's $26 each if it's $1.00 a board foot. If it's tight growth rings( no wide soft rings) and clear with no knots, probably an OK deal.

White washed and with some metal in it takes value away. I agree with John,if you have a use for it NOW buy it.

Maybe he means $ 1.00 a lineal foot. Feel him out on that and see it first before you agree on price. Bring a scraper and see what's under the paint. Cut off some ends to see if the rings are tight.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Jason, I came up with a similar deal a few years back, and am the proud owner of a large pile of barn wood that has followed me through two moves now. The pile is getting smaller, and I still like old pine. If it is the good old tight growth ring lumber, the price is ok. If you have a place to store it, go for it, however, the deal is not spectacular, and I think you may have some negotiation room. It will take you time and money to get rid of the witewash, shoot him half of what he wants, and see what he says. I paid $200 for about 1000 lineal feet of 1x12's, for an idea of what it might bring out here.

[Frank Drew]

Jason,

There's pine, and then there's pine.

Around here, Old Pine refers to the now mostly logged out Southern Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris); top quality boards, often resawn from larger timbers, sell for as much as or more than mahogany. It's really beautiful stuff, much harder and richer looking than any other yellow pine I've seen, with the possible exception of heart Caribbean pine.

I think $1/bf is a pretty good price for good quality old pine dimension lumber, but there will be a fair amount of cleanup involved, and you might lose a couple of inches from what was the top edge due to nail holes.

[Joe Chritz]

If he is willing to deliver some up here I would take a bit myself.

Joe

[John Bush]

Hi Jason,
I tore down an old barn, built in the 1880's, on our farm in Ill. and shipped the 20' to 30' 8"x8" beams, 2" x 12" joists and 1" x 12" floorboards out west via deadhead containers, and built my shop with most of it. It had been used as a dairy barn at one time and most of the interior surfaces had been whitewashed. I used a pressure washer to clean it off easily and didn't tear up the surface at all. There will be a lot of "grit" on the surface that will dull blades quickly too. I used a metal detector and found a bucket full of old cut nails, which break off easily, 22 slugs, buckshot, and many BB's that I am sure I deposited there. I have a Garret detector, like the ones at the airport, and it was sensitive enough to detect the rust scale from the cut nails. I milled a lot of it myself pre-bandsaw using a skill saw on both sides then ripping the uncut center with a sawzall. Way too much work. I found someone with a woodmizer to cut up the remaining 8x8's and I have built quite a few projects with it. I found it interesting that the barn had been standing for 120+ years and there was still a lot of resin in the wood when I milled it. It gums up the machines but still takes a finish well. Look closely for signs of powder post beetles--patch of tiny(~2mm) holes--,and if the lumber has been sitting for a while, look for small piles of very fine saw dust. I would take a belt sander, a plane you may not be too fond of, and some stain you may plan on using and work some of the wood down well below the surface. If you like the look of the grain rub in some stain and see if you like the way it finishes. If you like what you see, it would be a good source of stock for lots of projects as you expand your WWing skills. If it doesn't have the look you are after I would reconsider buying it, unless your tears convince the seller to drop the price by half. Most projects I have built have been with reclaimed lumber, mostly because it was free, but I enjoy the milling process as well. It's fun to find some nice looking, usable wood. Buttttt.........as I do more projects I am finding the salvaging process takes as much or more time than designing and completing the piece. At some point I will have the courage to spend dearly for some fancy pre-milled stock and put some steel to it. Good luck, JCB.

[Neal Clayton]

Jason,

There's pine, and then there's pine.

Around here, Old Pine refers to the now mostly logged out Southern Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris); top quality boards, often resawn from larger timbers, sell for as much as or more than mahogany. It's really beautiful stuff, much harder and richer looking than any other yellow pine I've seen, with the possible exception of heart Caribbean pine.

I think $1/bf is a pretty good price for good quality old pine dimension lumber, but there will be a fair amount of cleanup involved, and you might lose a couple of inches from what was the top edge due to nail holes.

yeah, select old growth longleaf pine (from storm damaged trees on private residences or preserved forests) i last paid about 5$ a board foot for, and i've seen as high as 7.50 for clear salvaged stuff.

it's a pain to work with, it must be painstakingly air dried before use in the case of new stuff, it tends to check and split....and nothing else looks quite like it so it's all worth it in the end ;).

[Mike Wilkins]

Steal of a deal for a buck a bd. foot. Especially since the boards have been removed from the building and delivery is involved. Had to do all that the last time I got some vintage pine. As other have stated, use a belt sander after the metal removal is done.

[Jason Hanko]

Haven't done much other than chop an end off a few to take a look at the grain. Im not really an expert on wood but it looked nice to me! Nice tight, even growth rings - no big ones. They were ceiling joists from a barn build in 1907.
I scraped a bunch of whitewash off and couldnt find any knots. There are a bunch of nail holes, but I knew that going in. The guy says they get the nails out, but yeah - Im sure a few get through.
I have one of those $2 magnet stud finders, but that cant "see" through more than a 1/4'' or so, so I may have to invest in a little metal detector as a few of you mentioned. I dont suppose a regular stud finder would find nails huh??
All in all it looks like Ive got about 140 BF (5 each at 12/4 x 8'' x 14') for $100. About 71 cents per BF.
Now to start turning it into sawdust! (and hopefully a project too :D)

[hank dekeyser]

Personally I tend to shy away from the stuff like that unless I have a use for it as-is. Just don't be a tight wad when it comes to getting a metal detector ! spend at least $100 for one, anything less won't be able to scan deep enough. One missed nail wrecks a set of blades and the time to replace them. I would use a wire wheel on an angle grinder to get the w/w off and hopefully reveal any surface nails . (wire wheel NOT cup)

If you were in the Green Bay area I could recommend a shop that could sand it and straight line rip it for you. I had about 100 bf of 4/4 maple sanded and ripped down for a (5' x 7') butcher block island I'm doing. cost me like $75.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Sweet! I wish I could stumble on a deal like that around here.... you've got a great start on a big project! They might even be heart pine!

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Word of caution about the "white wash".
It could be simple white wash - which was whiting in linseed oil, or, it could be white lead and oil.
If it's older than 50 years, I'd be inclined to think it's the latter.

Farmers were notoriously thrifty and usually slapped on whatever was cheapest & would last the longest - which was white lead and oil.

[David Keller NC]

Jason - Considering your location, you may have something very different than what is recovered from around these parts (Raleigh, NC) and sold as high-end flooring and lumber. That's generally "heart pine", and is virtually rot-proof, extremely hard and heavy, and smells of turpentine when its cut regardless of whether it's been in a barn since 1776 or 1903.

What you may have instead is eastern white pine (despite its name it grows throughout the upper mid-west), which is relatively soft, somewhat light in weight, and in my opinion at least, some of the finest wood to work with hand tools that exists, period. It's very hard to get clear, old-growth eastern white pine these days, and it sells for a lot when one of the few remaining old-growth groves are cut down.

I mention this because the appearance of finished heart yellow pine and eastern white pine is radically different - the yellow pine will have intense grain pattern, while the white pine will have a very subtle grain pattern or none at all.