Question for Mason:

We are finally after 4 years re insulating our kitchen walls. The drywall has been removed as well as a layer of old barnboards.  We have reinsulated and the vapor barrier is in place.  I like the idea of putting the barnboards back and having a rustic looking kitchen wall.  My question is how would you refinish barnboard? (this board is really old and has a rough dark colour to it).  And what would I use to fill the gaps between boards? 

-Tracy H

Tracy:

Wow!  This sounds like an exciting project with the prospect of adding a very unique finish to your kitchen walls.  I love it!

"Refinish" can have many meanings.  The process you use will depend on the effect that you are trying to achieve.

A rather drastic approach, should you really like the old boards to be completely cleaned-up and "regular" in fit and appearance, would be to power plane the visible side, and run the boards also through an edge joiner for straight edges that butt nicely up to each other.  This may be a DIY project but clearly, you would need access to these tools.

As the above might sacrifice the essential character - or "barn-ness" - of the wood, you may elect a more conservation-oriented approach.  This would entail simply cleaning-up the surfaces.  Depending on what's present in your barn wood, and how "clean" you want it, I would try the following (listed in order of strength - start with a milder solution and work your way up as needed):

• 1) Borate cleaners (like Borax, from your grocery store) in water. Mild and neutral; environmentally-sensitive.
• 2) Tri-Sodium Phosphate ("TSP"), dissolved in warm water (available from a hardware store). Start with ¼ cup per gallon... increase strength only to the extent needed. Alternately, add oxygen bleach (like Clorox) in small amounts to your solution if you wish to brighten the wood. Essentially, you will have with this homemade mixture, the same thing as commercial wood deck cleaner.
• 3) Sodium percarbonate oxygenated bleach Products. You won't likely find these at the corner store, but look here:  http://www.loghomestore.com/wood-cleaner.shtml#sodium-percarbonate

Every one of these products will require a huge amount of elbow grease, brushing with a medium stiffness hair or plastic bristle brush.  Unless you wish to destroy the character of your wood, never use wire brushes, nor succumb to the "easy out" of sandblasting.

 Be safety-minded - wear latex gloves and proper eye protection.  As well, with the exception of the neutral Borax solution, you will need to rinse these solutions well out of the wood after cleaning, to return the wood to its natural, neutral pH.  Clearly, then, complete drying would be in order prior to installation.

You may elect to apply a sealer to the surfaces of the wood (if so, coat all four sides), or leave it natural.  I would not fill the gaps, but rather make sure that the surface behind (your vapor barrier?) is black, so all you will see is a uniform "darkness" between the boards.

Old wood can add a great deal of character to your home, and I encourage you to expend the effort to prepare, recycle and install these materials properly.  I am attaching a couple of pictures of two of our jobs with such lumber for your reference. 

Good luck!

Mason

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