Barn Burning

[lovethesticks]

Hi all - we have an old barn (1911) that is partly collasped. We plan to pull out the corners so it will finish dropping down, and burn it over the summer. My daughter said that old barn lumber was treated with arsenic, and that burning would be quite dangerous, releasing things into the air we might not want there. I haven't found much on the web about this, only that arsenic is still being used to treat wood. Does anyone have knowledge of the safety of burning old barns? Also, I was hoping to recycle some of the lumber. Is it safe to use? Life was much easier when I didn't know anything! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Thanks, Chris

[jimbrown]

I doubt that if it was built in 1911 that it has very much if any treated lumber in it. Perhaps the 4x4 or 6x6 post but I doubt the siding is treated. I would not hesitate to reuse it. It will probably be very hard and difficult to drive nails in unless it is rotten. Believe it or not you might even be able to sell it. Old barn wood is in guite high demand by the artist types. I live close to several ghost towns. There was and old guy who tried to live in one of them. He built a shack out of the old wood he gathered up but silly tourist and the like kept steeling all the wood off of his shack. Heck put a for sale sign old barn wood see what happens.

[lovethesticks]

Thanks for the info Jim - our "artist types" in Michigan are fussy. They want the wide boards, not the narrow ones. Have had several people stop past, and they are either not interested or want this wood for free! However, the barn is past the stage of safely removing wood. The beams are 2x6s nailed together. It is (was) a two story barn, hayloft overhead, and the supporting beams are tall enough that I should be able to cut off from the ends if they are rotted. I don't think they are though. The roof came in, but the rest is stubbornly standing, although the sides are really leaning in. Chris

[tdiller]

Call your local firefighting department and tell them you have a barn for them. They may be more than willing to come out and use it for practise.

[mffarmall]

I like the firedepartment angle. But if all you want is to get rid of the wood, get out a beer and burn it. That is funner then giving it away and your daughter will remember the summer for the rest of her life.

[lovethesticks]

My son and his chums have decided to take care of it. We have a good-sized burn pit (buried a truck bed!) and he has bonfires most ever nice weekend. So they did tank up on a "few" beers, and hooked up an S-10 to one corner end, and yanked it out. The guys are thrilled to use their trucks to pull the sucker down. They remind me of my brothers when we were young.