Salvaged Barn Boards

Modernizing wood panelling 

Barn Boards, are everywhere right now, Lucky for us, the previous owners had completed many update in circa 1965-1977??? Totally guessing But, when they did the remodel wood paneling was "The Thing," and they used real barn board complete with a million rusty nail.  

In this post I will talk about what I did to salvage these beautiful boards, cleaned them up, and use them in the 2018 super trendy way. 

The Barn Boards inherited from the living room and pantry 

walls when we purchased the house.  You may have spotted them 

from past blog posts.

We may not have pulled these board fresh off a barn, but to be honest, I'm sure the prior occupants did just that without changing one aspect, i.e.. which is to say all together I must have pulled out at least a hundred plus rusty nails from both sides from these beautiful planks. I'm talking all sizes from large square nails to little brads, and all sizes in between. Readying the boards meant devoting several days to pulling nails, sanding, and gluing them back together. 
Take Note: if you are buying barn board from as salvager, ask if they have been de-nailed it takes more time than you think, if you are planning to cut them the saw blades could get a boo-boo.

Barn Boards are old, dirty, dry, splintered, they crack easily, not consistent in size, width, or depth, and are in no way square.

But that's what we love about them Right?  

Some tools needed, plus a vacuum.

Oh and don't forget...

Eye protection and a dust mask

Don and I both love the barn board walls in our new house, but didn't like the large gaps between boards. We both wanted to use them in the new renovation, and keep the beautiful soft gray and brown hues preserved.

The problem: These boards were very dry and some split when I took them off the wall. (Rusty nails don't always pull out very easily) They were also very course, caught easily on everything, and gave splinters...Ouch!!

To clean-up barn boards 

1. Remove all the nails first, and be careful not to get poked by the rusty ones
2. 100 or 150 grit sandpaper to soften the boards and clean up the splintered wood. (when working with boards fresh off a barn, it may be necessary to scrub them with the wire brush and rinse clean with water from a hose to remove mold and bugs and then air dry)
3. Vacuumed up the dust (it's winter here and too cold to use a garden hose)
4. With any split boards don't be afraid to use wood glue and clamp overnight to straighten and secure them back together. This process saved many of our 15" wide planks
5. After all that work it may be necessary to square up the boards, so you don't have gaps between them. 

(We saved one weathers side on each plank, I'll show you why below)

I do not suggest using a water based polycrylic to preserve barn boards, it will darken the wood and lose the beautiful grey tones that only age brings.

Do Not Do This if you want to keep the old barn board look

 I do suggest you try Clear Briwax
or Renaissance wax.  
These products will help protect the wood without changing the aged look of the barn boards.

Our Project

Between the kitchen and dining room we have a chimney and 2 doorway.  Our goal was to open up the doorways between these 2 rooms creating less separation and more openness.  

Problem: 
1.  The chimney is cinder bloc, not at all like real exposed brick              
2.  We'll need a new hearth and a place to store firewood 

Before: this is not a real fireplace and the brick is a veneer

Demo means: you never know what your going to find...What is this??

Here is the new wood stove, hearth & vertical wood-box 
(Freshly painted white, we'll be installing marble mosaic tile behind the stove)

Funny, I've discovered that I have not taken any before pictures of the kitchen side of the chimney.  It was more fake brick on this side as well.


Here it is the New feature wall in the kitchen using the beautiful barn board Horizontally. We had enough length to wrap each plank around one side, and create a niche on the other. 

Wow! One step closer

This view shows the beam I just treated with linseed oil 
and all the extra height we added.
The ceiling installation will be happening soon

As Promised

When squaring up the barn boards save 1 weather edge.

• This way the horizontal boards would fit snug without large gaps
• With squared off boards the look is cleaner, and level 
• Placing the weathered edge up and the cut side down helped to mask the uneven dept from board to board  (you don't see any fresh cuts)

Hope that was helpful and you liked the trendy 2018 use of our barn boards.  

Many more projects to go.  I think this weekend we are picking up 3 new beams to replace 3 beams missing in the kitchen.  Sadly we couldn't locate any old beams that would work, so I'll have to figure out a weathering technique to match them up to the old ones.   

Wish me luck and come back again :)