Their Barn Business Is Booming

Their Barn Business Is Booming BUILDINGS Miscellaneous Ginette and Eric Therrien are finding new homes for old barn wood making and selling it as furniture flooring wall coverings and more Their barn wood boards and beams have even found their way into European homes “We’ve sent boards and beams to France and Belgium because they’re not allowed to demolish old barns there So if you want to renovate one you can’t reclaim beams or boards from somewhere else ” says Ginette While the business is only 5 years old it already includes a retail store filled with furniture and what the couple refers to as “barn stuff” Four employees work with the wood in the company workshop The Therriens also have plans for a mini-farm museum on site Even with all the growth raw material is no problem Demolition is outsourced to Ginette’s father and a crew of 5 She reports that they are fully booked “When we take a barn it is often because the insurance company has required it be demolished before insuring the home ” says Ginette “Most come from owners who contact us ” The Therriens are passionate about old barns and try to encourage barn owners to maintain existing barns However if one can’t be kept up they willingly turn the boards and beams into new uses Once they even covered an old concrete block shed in barn boards “It looks so beautiful now like it is a living building ” says Ginette The Therrien’s first barn wood project was a table Eric made for Ginette from a barn she had played in as a child Although he had never made furniture before 5 out of 6 people who saw it ordered ones for themselves Those projects led to the full-time business La Vieille Planche Old Plank and more than 700 custom-made tables priced from $750 to $1 000 Other projects have included furniture of all kinds including a freestanding see-through fireplace Ginette reports that many of their customers are as passionate about the wood as the Therriens “People want to know where in the barn the wood used comes from ” says Ginette “They want the story of the wood ” She describes one customer who ordered a kitchen table counter and bench He asked for a picture of the barn the wood came from before it was demolished “He has the picture hanging in his kitchen ” she says Most of their wood and furniture have found homes in Quebec and Ontario but other pieces are scattered around Canada and the U S While most customers visit the store and see the item before they buy it about a fifth of their customer never see their purchase until it is delivered Products from one recently demolished barn have gone to Austin Texas Saskatoon Sask and Nice France Their website in French and Facebook page English translation available when searching are full of photos of past work including 10 named table designs they have developed However tables and other furniture can also be custom ordered Readers interested in having a table or other item made by the Therriens should send them an idea of what they want and the size “Today there is a 3-month waiting list and it is getting longer ” says Ginette Contact: FARM SHOW Followup La Vieille Planche 2752 Rue Principale Sainte-Justine-de-Newton Quebec Canada J0P 1T0 ph 450 764-3330; info@lavieilleplanche com; www lavieilleplanche com

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