Free Lumber!

We acquired a large pile of used lumber the other day.  Completely free.  It used to be a deck that a friend of ours, who has a junk hauling business, was hired to dispose of.  Knowing we burn wood, he asked if we might want it (which would also save him from having to take it to the dump).

Of course we said sure, we'd love to have it.  This isn't the first "retired" deck we've gotten ahold of.  Usually at least a third of the wood is salvageable as building material, and the rest can be easily disposed of by creating heat for our home (*note* this is treated lumber, so not burned indoors or in a campfire where people would be in close proximity to the smoke.  Say what you will about polluting the air, but it's either burn it and pollute the air, or send it to the landfill, where it pollutes both soil and water as well as takes up space).

Here are some things we've made out of the previous batch of old deck lumber we were given:

Chairs that can stay outdoors in all weather:

 the "double"

the "single"

Picnic table that seats 6 fairly well, and 8 if you squeeze in:

When you consider that our only cost for these three items were the nails/screws holding the boards together, using reclaimed lumber is totally worth it!  They were also really easy to build; my sons built the chairs at ages 17 & 13, from instructions I found in the book Build It Better Yourself  (Rodale Press, 1977)--that I picked up for 50 cents at a garage sale.  The picnic table DH found instructions for online.

This latest old deck we received seems to have many 2" x 6" x 8'  boards that are in excellent shape.  Really, I don't see a piece of rotten wood in the whole pile, which is rather large.  It appears that this deck was not replaced because it was old/falling apart, but because it's owners were remodeling.  Most of the sections of balustrade are still intact.  I'm sure I can find a use for those :0)  Maybe a cute fence around something.  Or supports for next year's peas.  Hmm . . .putting on thinking cap. . .

The new pile 6' high by about 12' long and 6-8' wide? 

(guessing, and I'm not good at eyeballing measurements--note Old Dog is standing uphill of base of pile)

Free lumber.  It's out there.  You just have to keep your eyes and ears open, and be willing to sort out the junk (and remove a lot of old nails).