Barn Board Business Take Off

Barn Board Business Take Off 30-6-8 Dilapitated farm buildings and fences harbor a precious resource - aged boards and posts that can be put to other uses. Fred and Jean Proft breathe new life into old barn boards, turning them into attractive furniture and decorations. The Barrhead, Alberta couple have been recycling "barn board" for six years now, a retirement hobby that keeps them quite busy. The weather-beaten planks with their tiny cracks, add a country flair to any item. Seasoned fence posts are also in demand for birdhouse stands. The Profts say they enjoy traveling around the countryside, keeping an eye out for old weathered buildings that have collapsed. They also enjoy meeting the various landowners they meet in their travels. "Many landowners are happy to let us go in and collect whatever wood we can use before they push the rest up into a heap and burn it," Fred says. "Other times we pay a little for what we get." They also run a classified ad in their local paper to let people know that they're looking for barn boards. They build a wide variety of items, including shelves, benches, wishing wells, wheelbarrows, birdhouses, chairs, garden workbenches, wall hangings, and picture frames. They sell the majority of them through greenhouses, although they also attend some farmers' markets and craft shows. Custom orders are sometimes made from woods supplied by a client.'"It's a way for people to hold onto a small piece of their past and incorporate it into their current surroundings," Jean says. "There's nothing better for displaying an heirloom family photo of Grampa's old dairy barn, than a picture frame made from red barn board recovered from that very site." All of the Profts' creations are pre-drilled and screwed together, not nailed. This is because the older wood no longer has the same fiber content as new wood, and nails can work their way back out. The couple learned this from experience. Because of the marketing and travel expenses involved, this is not a get-rich-quick scheme, the Profts point out, but they say there is some profit in it, and it's an enjoyable business.'"It keeps you busy and out of trouble." They've sold some large cabinets for as much as $500 each, and say some of their small items sell for as little as $8 apiece. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Fred and Jean Proft, Box 4817, Barrhead, Alberta, Canada T7N 1A6 (ph 780 674-5873).

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