If you're an avid woodworker like I am, then you probably know that material for new projects can get expensive. Going out and buying lumber isn't cheap these days no matter where you buy it, whether it's on sale or not. I've done hundreds of projects and if I would have gone out and purchased material for them at a lumber store, it would have cost me thousands just for wood alone.
To save some bucks, I will use some used lumber. As long as the wood isn't dry rotted or have lead paint on it I will use it. I keep a good stock pile of used wood, some even with nails or screws still in them and when I'm ready to do a project, which is always right after I finish one. (It's like that with me...one project right after another as I'm always asked to make something for family or friends.) I'm always happy to oblige as long as it doesn't cost me a lot of money for wood, I'm retired and a cheapskate. You have to be since a sufficient amount of income is no longer there. I've had to figure out ways to cut down on expenses
Last spring, I helped my daughter re-build her deck using cedar. Not only did I keep some of the better treated deck boards, I saved the cut pieces as well. I also visit sites where new homes are being built and collect pieces of plywood and cut up lumber. I can pretty much pick and choose the bigger pieces as they would be taken to the land fill anyway or burned. Another way I accumulate my stockpile is driving by houses on garbage days. People are always throwing out good wood whether stained or painted. Most of them have nails still in them or nail holes, but for me that's not a problem.
I'm not afraid of a little elbow grease in cleaning used wood. Filling in nail holes is no biggie either. By the time I cut them up and use them on a project the holes are hidden. If the wood is weathered, I just sand them down. Most of the old wood is simply dirty and wet and just needs a little cleaning and drying out. I often find little cracks, especially in treated wood. If the cracks don't go all the way thru, I just use the other side. I will either stain or paint the wood and then cover it with several coats of polyurethane, outdoor type if the projects ends up for outdoors.
By now you're probably wondering how these projects look after using used/old wood. Below are just a few of my recent projects. Every one of them were created using either old decking or pieces I picked up from discarded material.
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| my stockpile of old used wood |
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| a starting piece for the Adirondack chairs just below |
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| Adirondack chairs and a pie shaped table from used wood |
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| this outdoor table and chair set were made from discarded lumber |
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| This rocker and table was made from used wood |
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| this birdhouse was made from used wood |
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| this birdhouse was also made from used wood |
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| these birdhouses were made from discarded old weathered wood |
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| this masterpiece birdhouse I created for a friend, was mostly made from both weather-beaten lumber and discarded material I found next to a garbage can |
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