old doug fir beams

[jimmykx250]

I have two beams that are laying on the ground buried in some bushes a block away from my house. The guy (developer) who owns the property said make me an offer. They were used to support a ranch style house that no longer sits on the property. They seem to be in decent shape and I will need to get someone out to re-saw the materail into useable pieces. The two are 25 foot long and 16" x 12" .

Whats a fair offer per board foot? Taking into consideration the labor to rip it and all.

[RenaissanceWW]

I would offer him a flat price over a board foot price especially since you are looking at 400 board feet per timber. However considering the labor and the unknown condition of the material and high moisture content I wouldn't go more than .25/bf. For kiln dried, bandsawn or even S4S timbers in these sizes cost usually runs in the 1.25 and under range. Add to that the fact that he couldn't get a professional saw mill to buy them because no one with expensive machinery is going to take a risk in sawing a reclaimed board like that (unless they specialize in that sort of thing). Essentially you are doing him a favor by taking them, give him $100 a piece and call it a day.

[duckkisser]

i say tell him you will put in the effort of taking them out of the ground and disposing of them if you can keep em. you might be able to get them free if you wait a while. alot of people might not put in the effort of taking them out and cuting them up. like renaissance said most machinery people dont like the risk if they can help it. try explaining that alot of lumber might have hidden surprises like bolts and chains that are in the wood that can break a blade costing big dollers. but definatly dont go over 100 because you can buy alot of rough cut lumber from a mill for 100 dollers. more then a weekend warrior will go through in a year.