(RE)COVERED: Northwest Barn Wood-The KAOS Building Project
September 1, 2015 barn deconstruction / barn wood siding / reclaimed barn wood / reclaimed wood in restaurant
The beautiful wood you see throughout the new McMinnville KAOS building on 3rd street was once found serving a totally different purpose. This is its story. 
While the wood now living in 1882 Grille and The Barberry is reclaimed northwest barn wood that came from multiple regional barns, this story will focus on just one. A while back, the Reclaimed Timber Products team was contacted by the owner of an old barn out on Riverside Drive here in McMinnville, OR. It had been standing unused for some time and the owner was ready to replace it with a building he could utilize. Fortunately, he knew we would not only rid him of the unwanted barn, but we’d preserve the history of the local landmark.
Deconstruction is as meticulous as construction. There are no wrecking balls involved because demolition is not what we’re about. We’re about reclaiming, preserving, and repurposing historic structures so the history can live on and the story retold. When we were asked to deconstruct the Riverside barn, we were happy to rescue it from the landfill that is often the fate of too many other buildings.
Deconstructing the barn basically followed the building process backwards. We started with the roof, then the rafters, siding, and inner framework using chain saws, pry bars, hammers, an extended reach forklift, ropes and chains. A project like this is not an easy feat. An old barn is often unstable from age and wood damage. We had to identify those pieces that were too damaged to reclaim while salvaging the rest of the structure. We took in almost every component of the barn including the rafters, skip sheathing, interior timber frame, and siding.
Once all the wood was collected, it was denailed. Unfortunately, once the nails oxidize they do not come out of the wood as easily as they went in. With plenty of strength and patience, our guys removed each nail by hand with hammers, pliers and drills. To ensure that we didn’t miss any, each board is passed over with a metal detector before it’s sent to be cleaned and cut. We then wire-brushed the boards to clean off years of dirt and debris. From there, the salvaged material was processed and custom milled to fit the needs of the KAOS building.
After six weeks, the weathered wood that once lived on Riverside Drive as a barn had new life again. Resawn and stained, this wood was ready to be repurposed in a building that would house two restaurants and a wine tasting room for locals and tourists to enjoy for years to come.
*Stay tuned for part two and three of The KAOS Building Project.