this is a sad story of sorts , but one that has a golden ending. my wife’s great grandfather moved here to verbena in the late 1870’s and built a huge southern home, its a beautiful home that sits on 80 acres and surrounds our home we have built here, well a few days ago my wife discovered water pouring out of the house on the back wall, a broken pipe has now caused im sure over 100,000 dollars worth of damage and her grandfathers bedroom has been destroyed, along with all of the antique furniture that was in there, i have recovered and kept the bed he had in there, it was a bed made of walnut with lots of veneer, which is all lost, but i have kept all i could so i can reuse it as a template for the new veneer. but for now this is the best part of the story, i have been able to recover most of the antique southern heart pine that has been taken down, a lot of it has mold and will have to be cleaned and it will be a very big job, i will look for suggestions here in the post for ways of cleaning it, but as for now im thinking to pressure wash it to get rid of the mold and re stack it all , let it dry, and then re mill what has to be cut out or trimmed and use it for projects that i will design, i have an idea to make something for all of the grandchildren, but that will be later, so here are a few pictures for now and i will post more later when there is more to show.
that is what all of the wood is like and here is what i was able to salvage. 
and 
i also have a small trailer i was able to load up as well, if anyone close would like to come and help me clean this up, i would gladly accept all the help i could get, thanks for looking at my family wood gloat, i look forward to making some projects from her family’s old home wood. and here is the home that her great grandfather and grandfather built.
and one last picture.
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
13 comments so far
Bertha
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12906 posts in 890 days
#1 posted 656 days ago
The home is spectacular and the story even more so. That’s terrible about the old pipe; it happened to me in a historic home I once lived in. No doubt that wood found its way into good hands. Just think if there wasn’t a woodworker in the family.
-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog
a1Jim
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89032 posts in 1774 days
#2 posted 656 days ago
A sad situation for those folks, I really feel for them. I’m glad you could save a lot of the wood. As far as removing mold my first thoughts were to use bleach water but after thinking about the fact your trying to clean walnut the bleach will lighten the walnut even though it’s not as bad as two part bleach it will still lighten the walnut. My second thought was to lay it in the sun but sun light will lighten walnut also. My best guess is to apply some naphtha and scrub with a stiff bristle brush . It my take a few passes to get the job done. If you don’t have naphtha you can try mineral spirits. I hope one of these ideas works for you bud. The pressure washing idea may work too.
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
Dennisgrosen
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10851 posts in 1312 days
#3 posted 656 days ago
sorry to see such a beautyfull house get damaged like this
about the mold there is several cemicle you can use with water to wash it of
and then stack and dry it ….that shuold do it
but you shuold beaware of that many type of molds is dangerous to breath
we have many houses here that isn´t build well enoff the last 20 years and people
get realy sick in them speciel children
so ceep protected while you work with it and be sure no mold is left in the damaged house
to future generations
take care
Dennis
Karson
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34396 posts in 2597 days
#4 posted 656 days ago
A great looking pile of wood. Sorry about the damage.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
ellen35
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2453 posts in 1629 days
#5 posted 656 days ago
When one is faced with lemons, some are able to make lemonade.
If you can take part of this lovely home and make something to pass down to the grandchildren, the home and it’s rich heritage live on.
Nice work, Grizz.
Ellen
-- Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Beginningwoodworker
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13238 posts in 1869 days
#6 posted 655 days ago
Thanks for sharing, Griz.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
Roz
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1573 posts in 1983 days
#7 posted 655 days ago
Beautiful house! I’d spray it all down with a fungicide and stack it on slats to air dry. Keep the Alabama sun from directly hitting it and you should be fine in a few weeks.
-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."
gfadvm
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6907 posts in 886 days
#8 posted 655 days ago
Man Grizz, I’m really sorry about the water damage. That is a beautiful historic home. Good luck with the fungus and the salvage operation.
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
LittlePaw
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1500 posts in 1275 days
#9 posted 655 days ago
You might contact your local fire department and/or companies that do restoration after water damage. I have used Ozone generators to remove smoke odor and cigarette smoke odor in cars quite effectively. They would be able to help you, I hope. Good luck, Grizz.
-- Paul - The sweetest sound in my shop, next to Mozart, is what a hand plane makes slicing a ribbon.
lew
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9035 posts in 1952 days
#10 posted 655 days ago
A beautiful home place, Grizz. So glade you could salvage some of the wood. It will make great memories.
Lew
-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!
docholladay
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1258 posts in 1255 days
#11 posted 655 days ago
Griz,
I think that the pressure washing idea is the best way to remove the mold without applying a chemical that could potentially lighten or change the color of the wood. I think that I would pressure wash it and then leave the boards spread out as much as possible to dry initially. Then stack and sticker it.
Doc
-- Hey, woodworking ain't brain surgery. Just do something and keep trying till you get it. Doc
NBeener
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4805 posts in 1370 days
#12 posted 655 days ago
I don’t know that I ever saw pictures of the house, Grizz, but …. Man … what a beautiful and stately home.
I couldn’t BE more sorry for the water damage. It’s unbelievable how destructive water can be.
I just know YOU, and know that you will take a tragedy for the heirs, and turn it into a memory that they’ll cherish for a long, long time.
-- -- Neil
Sheila Landry (scrollgirl)
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6059 posts in 1116 days
#13 posted 653 days ago
Just catching up here on posts . . .
That’’s quite a haul, my friend! Think of all the WONDERFUL things you are going to make with all that wood! And as Neil said – what wonderful memories you will create with these pieces!
I can’t wait to see! :)
Sheila
-- Contributing Editor, Creative Woodworks and Crafts, Sheila Landry Designs http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com "Knowledge is Power"
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