Reclaimed Wood Prep

Reclaimed wood is a great material choice for many DIY and furniture projects. You must be careful however as a reclaimed board should not go directly into your home from the barn or structure it came from. Nobody wants to bring wood boring bugs or years of dirt and grim into their homes. You must make sure the boards are prepped before use. This video will show you the many options available to remove nails, treat for bugs and how to clean each board for use.

Step 1: Removing Nails

The first step in the process of preparing boards for use is to pull nails and any other objects that may be embedded in the boards. There are a lot of tools available that will help remove nails from the boards. A good hammer, A solid steel pry bar and nail pulling pliers are the most commonly used and can be purchased at your local hardware store.

Removing nails from a board is simple physics. Pry bar is the lever arm, The bend in the pry bar the fulcrum and you are the applied force. The longer the pry bar the more leverage you have to remove the nails.

You can use a scrap piece of wood between the pry bar and wood to avoid creating any new marks or dents in the board.

Step 2: Treating for Bugs

Nearly any board that is reclaimed from an old barn or structure will have some sort of bugs in it or on it. These are not the type of bugs you want in your home. If you have access to a kiln heat the core of the wood to about 140 degrees for atleast an hour. This will kill any bugs and larvae.

If you do not have access to a kiln, you must treat the boards with a pesticide. Timbor and Boracare are 2 available options available at online stores. Boracare soaks into the wood and is effective for up to 25 years, where Timbor is only effective on the surface of the wood.

Follow the pesticide instructions for mixing, safety and application. BoraCare is typically mixed with water at a 3 part water 1 part Boracare ratio. Spray on board and allow to dry. Once dry Boracare is harmless to people.

Step 3: Cleaning the Boards for Use

Just like treating for bugs there are many different options available to clean the dirt and grim from the board. on

one way to clean the boards is to use a Pressure Washer. This will remove the most amount of dirt and grim.

Another method is to use some sort of wire brush on the surface of the wood. There are power tool options as well as hand held brushes that can be used. Be careful with wire brushes as they can scratch the surface of the wood if too much pressure is applied.

A handheld belt sander with an 80 grit paper run over the surface of the wood is also a great way to remove the dirt and grim from the board. Just like the wire brush do not use too much pressure as you run the risk of removing the character and patina in the board.

Step 4: Start Creating

now that the boards are de nailed, treated for bugs and cleaned you can safely use them for projects around the house. Let your creativity run and make the most of the character that sets reclaimed material apart from anything else.