Reclaimed Barn Wood With a Story That Spans Centuries
The Story of Us & Our Wood
Our story is unique as it comes from passion and experience.
The owner of BuyBarnWood.com, Ron Carlson was a contractor by trade. He was looking for some reclaimed barn wood for a project he was doing on a commercial property. He searched every where to find someone that could supply him with reclaimed wood on a regular basis.
After many attempts he discovered that supply of barn wood on a regular basis is a rare commodity. People were selling pallets and old broke fence pickets, claiming it was the real thing.
Finally, he found someone that would sell him some barn wood, but he had to buy the whole barn and figure out how to ship it. So, after using barn wood on his own projects, could you image he had a bunch left over.
Having several storage lockers full if wood, he took action to sell his excessive inventory.
“Some people bought 1 board or 5 sheets of tin, but other people also had large projects to do and bought full trailer loads. Eventually, others started asking if he had barn doors, or barn wood flooring, ship lap, or enough wood to build a whole barn from scratch.” The answer was normally no but got Ron thinking.
This stuff is hard to find. What if I figured out how to get reclaimed wood products in to the hands of the public. So he put in the time to do just that.
Along the way Ron figured some stuff out like:
How to find barns for sale
The long and hard process of taking wood from a barn and getting it to a customer
How to make hardwood floors from reclaimed lumber
How to make shipping affordable
How to mill wall panel for easy installation
Building Barn Doors and more
“From the start he was hooked. Each board has its own character that can never be duplicated. Faded reds, weathered grey boards, 14 inch wide thrashing floor planks, hand hewn beams, worm holes, sawn marks. I love this stuff!”
From Forest to Framework: Where Our Reclaimed Wood Begins
Hand-Felled Timber from Early American Forests
Long before reclaimed wood flooring became sought after, the timber we use began as towering trees harvested directly from American farmland and old-growth forests. In the 1700s and 1800s, craftsmen felled trees by hand, squared them with broadaxes, refined them with adzes, and split rails using froes along the natural grain.
Pit Saws, Waterwheels & Steam-Powered Mills
Sawyers once stood over open pits guiding long pit saws through massive trunks — leaving vertical kerf marks still visible in many reclaimed barn wood boards today. As communities grew, waterwheel-powered sawmills and later steam-driven circular and band saws transformed raw logs into structural timbers used in barns, mills, and agricultural buildings across the country.
Built to Endure: Traditional Craftsmanship & Timber Framing
Mortise-and-Tenon Joinery & Hand-Forged Tools
Many of the antique wood beams and reclaimed hardwood boards we salvage were assembled using mortise-and-tenon joinery — chisels carving precise cavities, hand augers boring peg holes, and hardwood pins locking massive beams together without nails. These techniques, used by early American builders and Amish craftsmen alike, allowed barns and timber frames to stand for generations.
Structures Meant to Last 100+ Years
These were not temporary buildings. Reclaimed wood beams supported rooflines through winter snow. Barn wood flooring carried grain lofts and workshop benches. Fencing lined pastures that shaped agricultural communities. Over decades — often more than a century — the wood matured naturally within these working structures.
The Natural Aging Process No Modern Lumber Can Replicate
Decades of Weather, Work & Patina
Time tightened the grain. Sun deepened the tone. Weight and seasonal change strengthened the fibers. Unlike newly milled lumber, authentic reclaimed wood flooring and antique barn wood develop character through real exposure — not artificial distressing.
From Historic Structure to Carefully Reclaimed Timber
When we reclaim barn wood beams, reclaimed wood flooring, wall paneling, trusses, mantels, and custom wood products, we carefully dismantle each structure to preserve its integrity. Every board is selected for strength, character, and historic value before entering our mill.
More Than Flooring. More Than Beams. A Piece of American Building History.
When you choose our reclaimed wood products for your home, commercial project, restaurant, or large-scale build, you are not buying new material made to look old. You are investing in authentic barn wood and antique timber that has already lived a full life — shaped by forest, crafted by hand, strengthened by time.
From tree to hand-hewn beam.
From water-powered mill to modern workshop.
The story remains in every grain line.
