Materials

Caren has been scouring Craigslist for finishing materials for the interior and siding for the exterior... She's been doing a pretty good job.

First load of barnwood... We drove up to Corning, CA on a Monday evening to pick thru the remnants of a 100 year old barn that a craigslister had torn down. We were hoping to get enough material to complete all the baseboard and door and window casing in the house but were disappointed. The barn had been on the ground for over a year and the wet winter and spring had done its work on most of the siding. Not to be deterred, we battled wasps and 95 degree temps to pull out the barn doors that were made of 1x12 fir. Also a few nice pieces of 2x6 and 4x4 rough cut. The 1x12 will become shelving in the kitchen. The 4x4 and 2x6 pieces will frame the stonework that is going behind the kitchen stove. However, the real gem was a 3x12 beam that will become the mantle piece over the fireplace. $100 for the lot... The beam itself is worth more than that!

Second load of barnwood... This stuff came from a 100 plus year old barn in Colusa County. Caren found an add for 600 linear feet of 1x6 redwood siding. Turned out to be about 540 linear feet, but it is in good condition, albeit with a few nails that will need pulling. We took a sample home, sanded and stained it... perfect!

This is Jesse... he took the barn down in Colusa. Stacked in his garage are 8x8, and 8x6 center cut redwood beams, 2x6 rafters, and 2x12 slabs. Stored off site are 40 foot long sill beams among other incredible pieces of wood. Along with the redwood siding that will become our baseboard and casing, we picked up a 17 foot 4x6 beam and two shorter pieces that will become the framing for the stonework on the fireplace. We also bought 55 board feet of 2x6 rough cut that will become the counter top and island top in the kitchen. All told over 350 board feet of hundred plus year old fir and redwood.

Jesse is standing in front of a dolly loaded with twenty-nine pieces of 2'x7' 24 gauge corrugated tin... Just enough to wainscot the lower three feet of the entire house... a style known as mining town chic. The world being as small as it is, he picked up those from the same craigslister that we got the first load of barnwood from. They had been on a newer barn on the same property that our first load came from.

The following pics are taken in the backyard in Davis. It has become the storage lot.

The short stack. Caren and Kelby salvaged the wine barrel from the landfill when they were getting rid of the drywall and insulation the kids tore out of the kitchen. We'll find some use for it.

The long stack. Behind it you can just make out the stack of ledge stone that will become the fireplace... Caren found that on Craigslist too. We picked up the slate flagstone that will be the entry and hearth flooring from the same guy.

And the corrugated metal... it is staying on the trailer until we can haul it up to Tahoe.

Now I need to get it all planed, sanded, stained and out of the weather. Lotsa busy evenings coming up...