Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Carlson.
Hi Ron, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The owner of BuyBarnWood.com, Ron Carlson was a contractor by trade. He was looking for some reclaimed barn wood for a project he was doing on a commercial property. He searched every where to find someone that could supply him with reclaimed wood on a regular basis.
After many attempts he discovered that supply of barn wood on a regular basis is a rare commodity. People were selling pallets and old broke fence pickets, claiming it was the real thing.
Finally, he found someone that would sell him some barn wood, but he had to buy the whole barn and figure out how to ship it. So, after using barn wood on his own projects, could you image he had a bunch left over.
Having several storage lockers full if wood, he took action to sell his excessive inventory.
“Some people bought 1 board or 5 sheets of tin, but other people also had large projects to do and bought full trailer loads. Eventually, others started asking if he had barn doors, or barn wood flooring, ship lap, or enough wood to build a whole barn from scratch.” The answer was normally no but got Ron thinking.
“This stuff is hard to find. What if I figured out how to get reclaimed wood products in to the hands of the public.”? So he put in the time to do just that.
Along the way Ron figured some stuff out like:
How to find barns for sale
The long and hard process of taking wood from a barn and getting it to a customer
How to make hardwood floors from reclaimed lumber
How to make shipping affordable
How to mill wall panel for easy installation
Building Barn Doors and more
“From the start he was hooked. Each board has its own character that can never be duplicated. Faded reds, weathered grey boards, 14 inch wide thrashing floor planks, hand hewn beams, worm holes, sawn marks. I love this stuff!”
As the shop grew the need to upgrade to better tooling became important. The shop bought a small saw mill to a “flat” on ceiling beams and mantels. That small saw mill led us into selling wood slabs and finishing out epoxy tables. What started as wood shop in the owners home has become a business that services restaurants, ranchers,, designers, home owners and more nation wide.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No. In the beginning it was just a couple of guys crammed into a small garage at the owners house. The material was stored in five shipping containers outside. Each piece of wood was loaded and unloaded by hand. Customers kids would come and feed the goats while the parents looked at our product. After a while we started upgrading our equipment and got a small 1995 John Deere skid steer. Does not seem like a lot to some but for us it reduced our work load drastically. After a few years we are able to move into a larger shop up the street. We upgraded all our equipment to make our products better and with a higher quality. We made an epoxy room to help us finish our high end tables. Built out a small 400 square foot show room and got a fork lift to help move materials . Today we are becoming a top leader in the nation for what t we do.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Buy Barn Wood?
We have developed systems and processes to produce high quality barn wood products. We are a custom wood working shop that specializes in reclaimed products. We sell barn wood beams, trusses, flooring, wall and ceiling panel, custom countertops, mantels, shelves, barn doors. We make an amazing Epoxy table and can do other styles of tables as well. We specialize in unique orders. For example, some people want a living room full of beams that all go together while others want wide plane reclaimed flooring. Almost everything we do is custom except our bulk products we keep in stock such as wall panel or mantels. We are know for or customer service and attention to detail. Also, listening to our customers to make sure we give them what they are looking for. We can take down a barn and reset it up for a mancave or a wedding venue. We install locally in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. We are the company that makes your vision for your space come to life while adding some history to your story.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Anyone who loves the story of old barn wood or want a custom one off piece will be inspired by what we do. Calling us at (855)629-2276 or checking our our website is a great start to see what we do. We have also been posting a lot of our projects at Facebook.com/BuyBarnWood. Some like to come to the shop in Burleson Texas to look at the machines and product. After a short tour many are inspired. We work well with Builders, Contractors. Ranchers, DYI individuals, designers, architects and those who need there space to come alive.
Pricing:
- Custom to each persons need
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BuyBarnWood.com
- Instagram: @BuyBarnWood
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/BuyBarnWood
