A Vintage Barn Home Made From Reclaimed Wood

Introduction to Reclaimed Barnwood

This antique barn has a beautiful finish you are sure to love, made possible with the use of reclaimed barnwood in antique brown tones. The weathered and aged patina of this reclaimed softwood adds so much to the appeal of this stunning barn build. A growing trend these days is the use of reclaimed barn wood for new barn style homes and wood cabin construction projects. All across the country private contractors and builders have begun renovating homes and public spaces with wood reclaimed from old barns, houses, factories, and commercial buildings. Whether you are building a new barn style house or renovating a rustic wood cabin, reclaimed wood can add the character that you want.

Choosing and Sourcing Reclaimed Wood

You might choose to use a reclaimed barn wood accent wall in a room in your barn style home or use reclaimed for the beams. Reclaimed wood comes in a range of shapes, color tones, and sizes. There is nothing that can compare to an authentic piece of reclaimed wood, it has a unique story to tell and a look all its own. You can choose to get your reclaimed wood from a place that sources and finishes it for you, or you can go about getting the reclaimed wood from local sources and finishing it yourself.

Cleaning Reclaimed Barn Wood

Regardless of the source of your reclaimed wood, there are a few tips for using this type of wood. If you use reclaimed barn wood, it may have been in the elements for 100 years or more. The reclaimed wood may be covered in dirt, dead bugs, amongst other things. Because of this, you will need to clean it. Start by using a stiff nylon bristle brush and give the wood a brisk rub down. This will help get rid of any loose dirt. Follow this up with a quick spray with an air hose to clean off the finer particles of dirt. Some people like to clean the reclaimed wood with a high-pressure water sprayer, but you have to be careful, or you may risk damaging the wood.

Inspecting for Metal and Pests

Next, you will need to inspect the reclaimed barn wood for any remaining metal. As part of a barn, the boards would have been nailed to the barn structure, and some of the nails may be left behind. The same goes for pallet wood, you'll want to give each piece of wood a good visual inspection, and you'll catch about 99 percent of it before it dulls your saw blade. Then check for bugs. Pallet wood usually doesn't have an issue with this, but with barn wood, it will depend on the type of wood. Some places that specialize in barn wood kiln dry the reclaimed barn wood, to kill off any bugs and remove moisture from the building material.

Dealing with Bugs and Characteristics of Reclaimed Wood

If you suspect that a piece of wood has bugs, you'll need to be sure and get rid of them, as you don't want any bugs invading the inside of your log house or wood cabin. Reclaimed wood isn't straight, or square. Reclaimed wood will most likely be warped, crooked and one end might be thicker than the other and that is part of the appeal.