Lots of Reclaimed Chestnut...$? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

jcalvin · 03-07-2009, 08:03 PM

I am remodeling an old house and the owner wants me to haul off all the old wood I am tearing out. I made sure that he knew that it is ALL chestnut. There is going to be around 750 board foot once it is all over with. The wood ranges all the way up to 142" long and 18" wide. Sure I will haul off this old wood for you Mr.

Here's the question. My father in law used to crank out custom cabinetry all day long and was buying it for $12-$15/bf...three years ago so my information is a little old.

So, what kind of money can I expect to get out of this wood?

If the price is down, should I store it for a few years while the price recovers?

Is there a market for 2x material in chestnut or just the 1x material?

I am cleaning the wood as I am taking it out and stacking it flat.

MALCO.New.York · 03-07-2009, 08:08 PM

Checkout

ACF.org

Woodweb.com

WoodPlanet.com

WarnerConstInc. · 03-07-2009, 08:24 PM

I like chestnut, depends on what you have, full of nails, big checks in it. IT CAN BE WORTH BIG BUCKS to the right person.

jcalvin · 03-07-2009, 09:19 PM

some of it has some splits in it, most of it doesn't. i have removed all of the nails but they do have a few holes in them from the ancient railroad spikes they used. big question is where can i find the right person? is there a site that caters to this type of stuff. i know there is a couple places that specialize in brokering deals. is there one for reclaimed wood?

jcalvin · 03-07-2009, 09:38 PM

here is a few pictures of the first load. malco, thanks for the link, turns out acf.org is in asheville which is about 20 minutes east of me.

jcalvin · 03-07-2009, 09:40 PM

and more.

Dustyrose · 03-07-2009, 09:43 PM

I have been holding on to old light fixtures we tear out of homes. It's amazing how much dealers are getting for these things. I plan to rewire them and offer them up on ebay and see what that gets me. Hopefully more then a head ache.

There is a good market for antique building supplies and fixtures on the upper east coast.

Splinter · 03-13-2009, 02:48 PM

Check out woodnet. There's a lot of good info and a bunch of good guys on those forums. They have a swap and sell area too...

jcalvin · 03-24-2009, 12:28 PM

To give you all an update on the wood. I finally got a guy to come out yesterday and he offered me a whopping $2.50/bf.

On top of that, he estimated that I have about 600bf. I have actually measured 900. The guy was ready to write me a check and drive off with the wood.

Me: Hold on buddy, I have another guy wanting to come look at this.

Him: Well, if he offers more, let me know. I have quoted a job where the HO wants only 6' and longer boards. I am going to need all of your wood to do the job because I am slap out of everything over 4'.

I think this guy is a crook. Check would've probably bounced anyway. Thinking about calling him back and telling him it is $5/bf CASH. Am I in line with this price?

jarvis design · 04-19-2009, 03:40 PM

That guy sounds like an a-hole I met quite a few years ago. A client wanted to have 6 mature walnut trees removed from his property and this guy offered him...wait for it....$150.00 for ALL 6 trees!! Was telling him he would be doing him a favour by giving him any money at all. I located a mennonite company who ended up writing my client a cheque for $12,000.00.

Some people have no morals!