Replies

1. 
   hammer1 | Apr 22, 2007 03:31pm | #1

   I've seen chestnut beams sell for between $25 and $35 per board foot. Your beams contain approximately 144BF, each. That would put the value of each beam at $3600.00 to $5040.00 retail.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   user-211435 | Apr 23, 2007 02:19am | #2

   Wow, I have some chestnut lumber to sell at these prices!

   Hal

1. 
   hammer1 | Apr 23, 2007 07:34am | #7

   There seems to be a mystique about chestnut. The old barn beams are desirable as rustic mantles, the more "character" the better. The prices I posted are at the extreme high retail level. Folks are willing to pay for something they consider rare and unique.http://www.awebresource.com/cgi-bin/furniture.cgi?page=m&sortby=c
   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

2. 
   user-211435 | Apr 23, 2007 02:23am | #3

   I think the price will depend on what you are going to do with them, and the condition they are in.

   The last time I bought 2" thick chestnut lumber, I was given quotes from about $10.00 to $18.00 per board foot.  If you are planning to cut them to this size, that's all the wood is worth.

   If you are planning to sell them to one of the new nation-wide or world-wide mall type stores or restaurants, you can probably get a lot more for them.  These stores seem to waste a lot of valuable lumber just to be trendy.

   Hal

   http://www.rivercitywoodworks.com

    

1. 
   Joe Sullivan | Apr 23, 2007 04:56am | #4

   Even at that price, it is not exactly cheap.

   I have recently been offered an entire 1840s log cabin made of Chestnut.  The guy who is giving it to me -- my oldest friend -- owns the property it sits on in Virginia, close in to DC.  It is about to be developed.  He coldn't bear to destroy the house, so he is taking it apart, numbering the oieves, and taking it to my property in northern Minnesota to be reassembled and restored.

   Until this thread, I didn't realize it was made of platinum.

   J

1. 
   user-211435 | Apr 23, 2007 05:22am | #5

   I think the best possible use of that wood is to rebuild the cabin.  What a fantastic thing to have!

   Hal

1. 
   user-83153 | Apr 23, 2007 06:13am | #6

   No response from the OP. I hope he didn't have a heart attack when he saw what Hammer1 said these beams were worth!

                  Rob

1. 
   arnemckinley | Apr 23, 2007 03:44pm | #8

   i had a pretty good idea what they were worth from browsing, but that is somewhat theoretic. these beams i'm sure have nails in them which need to be removed before they  can be sawn( or maybe they would be used best if undisturbed in rough hewn form). not to mention a buyer found (they are only worth that much if i can sell them for that much, if that makes any sense??). 

   thanks for all the input everyone.

   how would you go about moving an item like this. i want to use some of the smaller beams for a large viking table, but i don't have a project to use the larger beams on. i'm thinking i'll sell them.  saw it, or leave it old school?? where to find a buyer?

   what does you guys/girls think??

2. 
   Joe Sullivan | Apr 23, 2007 04:30pm | #9

   Oh, I agree that rebuilding the cabin IS the best use.  I woldn't resaw those timbers to save my life.  It would just be wrong.

   Joe

2. 
   astro | Apr 25, 2007 11:21pm | #11

   Hmm...I've never had a friend give me a cabin.  What am I doing wrong?

   What a cool problem to have. Please let us know how it resolves.

   Rick

2. 
   BarryO | May 02, 2007 02:50am | #12

   The last time I bought 2" thick chestnut lumber, I was given quotes from about $10.00 to $18.00 per board foot.  If you are planning to cut them to this size, that's all the wood is worth.

   I don't think so.  It may be worth that much after you re-saw it, and that may be all it's worth to you, but its fair market value as a whole beam will be considerably higher.

3. 
   AzDiscDog | Apr 23, 2007 04:57pm | #10

   I think the unanswered question is what you're going to do with them.

   If you're simply going to re-sell them based upon whatever connections you have, you could offer to broker the sale for her and take a reasonable commission off of there. That's probably the easiest way to reduce your risk of overpaying (ie liability) and still helping her out.

   If you're going to use them for personal use, then you probably need to adjust the overall price based upon the condition they're in and what it would take to get them usable. Just because you're helping this person out doesn't mean you don't deserve to get a good deal out of it either.

   Glen