Old barn is down, what is recyclable?

[deb]

The old barn collapsed today.

6.5 years ago, we signed the mortgage paperwork, drove the 50 miles to our 1st house to change the locks and discovered that since our last visit most of the wood siding had been taken off the old barn.

As you may imagine, we were shocked, but we didn't try to get reimbursed for the removed wood. We knew that the house's former owner (elderly) had taken the barn wood and we knew that trying to get any reimbursement from him would get really nasty as he & his wife are related to everyone on our street and half of the township

With the barn siding removed, the "bones" of the barn were revealed and it was clear to us that most of the structural parts of the barn were rotten. We didn't have the cash to replace all of the rotten beams & posts or all of the missing siding. We left the barn alone and concentrated on fixing up the house. At one point, I looked into having the barn taken down, but I left that task undone when my Dad's health took a turn for the worse.

Now the barn is down, I am wondering how to deal with the wreckage. We only have 2.5 acres so I am not keen on having it buried onsite. We've spent so many years digging up garbage in the yard, that I am not willing to bury the barn. At some point, the southern side of barn's roof was covered with steel roofing. Is used steel roofing recyclable?

Any ideas for what to do with the rest of the wood? It is too close to the house and trees to burn. Have you ever heard anything about shredding old wood buildings? Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance
Deb
in wi

[arabian knight]

The "barn Boards" the siding sell like hot cakes. Start advertising them now.
Beams and what not can be also used if not too bad.

[clovis]

List the stuff on craigslist. Should sell very well.

You are right about burning. If you do, make sure they are small fires. Ask me how I know that.

[rambler]

That's a bummer.

Good used sheet metal has a good value. the key is that it is not bent, and the nails are nipped off, to not make streatched or ripped holes - need to keep the holes only the size of a nail to reuse. I suspect a building that fell down had a lot of damaged tin, which is not so valuable any more.....

The siding is stolen off of it, so you don't have that.

The big beams, if not rotted & not spilt up when it fell, have some value. Depends on what you have, if you can find good 8 foot or longer chunks of it, will have some valuue. Longer is better.

Any weather vanes or coupulas can be quite valuable, if they weren't damaged.

Most of the wood could be used for firewood, or salvaged. It just takes a lot of time to save it, sort it, pull nails, size it.

--->Paul

[mr.breeze]

The sheet metal roofing that's not bent is good for many uses,the beams you may be able to trim off the rotten parts and if you can't find a buyer take them to a sawmill to be made into planks. The sheet metal that's not any good take it to a scrap yard and make a buck.

[Riverdale]

Originally Posted by mr.breeze

take them to a sawmill to be made into planks.

I seriously doubt any sawmill would cut old barn beams. Too likely a nail would turn their saw into a spinning shrapnel machine.

[deb]

Originally Posted by rambler

That's a bummer.

Good used sheet metal has a good value. the key is that it is not bent, and the nails are nipped off, to not make streatched or ripped holes - need to keep the holes only the size of a nail to reuse. I suspect a building that fell down had a lot of damaged tin, which is not so valuable any more.....
--->Paul

The roof side with the metal on it is mostly intact as the wooden planks underneath of it kept it in one piece. It is resting at 105% angle so we can't take it apart with help from machinery. Does it matter if the metal has rust on it?

Thanks
deb
in wi

[DaleK]

It just depends what your local market is. Everything in a barn is recyclable, the question is whether it's worth the trouble or not. The roofing should be easy to find somebody to either re-use it or take it for scrap. The beams may or may not be useable. I have two neighbours who recycle barns for a living, they have no problem getting the beams sawed into planks through bandsaws but they have to pay for any damage to the blades so they have to think seriously about each beam to decide if it's worth the risk or not.

For the rest, look around for a wood recycler. There's one two doors over from my parents, he's running a huge chipper all day every day chipping up old wood for the fibreboard plant.

[DaleK]

Originally Posted by deb

The roof side with the metal on it is mostly intact as the wooden planks underneath of it kept it in one piece. It is resting at 105% angle so we can't take it apart with help from machinery. Does it matter if the metal has rust on it?

Thanks
deb
in wi

Depends how bad the rust is and how thin the metal is. The scrap guys here, if the roof is big enough, will come out with their truck and pull the steel right off the boards with the grapple on the truck, as long as there's enough steel to make it worth their while.

[Big Dave]

Cut up non sellable for firewood

[Yvonne's hubby]

Its a shame you are so far away from here. Just a couple miles up the road from me there is an outfit that would buy every scrap of your barn. They take all the beams, boards and metal roofing and clean it all up and resell it for a hefty price. Most of it is being sold in the western states as interior decoratives. You might do some googling and see if there is anyone in your area doing this.