Our Story

We dismantled our first barn many years ago on the banks of the Hatchie River in North Mississippi, just a mile south of the Tennessee line in a small community called Jesus Name. The month was July and the temperature hovered around the 100 degree mark. The men were dirty as junk yard dogs. Our crew leader decided he wood walk out on a Cypress log that had fallen across the river, kneel down and splash some of the cool water in his face. Well, I watched expectantly as I knew he was about to take a bath. Sure enough as soon as his boots hit the mossy bark, up went his feet and down he went head first into the river. He must have bobbled about 20 yards before I got him pulled out. Biting my lip to keep from laughing, I tried to calm his composure by impressing him with my Bible knowledge. "My friend" , says I, "You just got baptized in Jesus Name". I'll never forget the look he gave me.

Since those days we have traveled all over the country taking down barns, warehouses and old factory buildings that no longer serve a useful purposes. We have dismantled some very interesting buildings. I am always amazed, especially on our multilevel structures, how beams weighing over 1200 lbs were hoisted into place using only ropes, block and tackles, and mules - many times over 30 feet high. One of the secrets was strong men of character with as much will to work as the mules they were handling. Laborers would work 10 hour days driving 9" nails with a #2 sledge hammer and gratefully receive a just pay of $15.00-$30.00 per week.

A lot of TLC goes into handling the wood, making sure no one is hurt and the wood does not get damaged. Taking a building down is much like building it, only you do it backwards. What ever was done last, we do first. Adhering to this simple philosophy and lots of prayer and trust in God's faithfulness, we have never had an accident more serious than a wasp sting.

After the lumber and beams have been brought to our plant, the tedious work continues. A detection device will check several times for nails, bolts and metal of all kinds. We then use the latest technology in removing what was detected - a 300 pound, mean, not so lean, 2-legged nail pulling machine. He goes after nails like a chicken on a June bug. It's hard, slow, tedious work, but necessary to protect our equipment that's designed to cut wood, not nails.

After all metal has been removed, then comes more metal detection. When we are confident that material is safe to run through our saws and planners, the wood is placed into one of our three warehouses until called for to go into one of our varied products.

The natural beauty of the wood is due to its age. The older it is the more beautiful it becomes. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people were like that? Well, the aging process may not work on our bodies that way, but it sure can on our hearts.

A SIMPLE MESSAGE TO PRESERVATION SOCIETIES

Sometimes you look at our industry and declare it a shame that we are destroying the monuments of our historical heritage. My reply: The buildings we dismantle are beyond repair. It really makes no sense to spend millions of tax dollars on so called restoration, when many times rebuilding would be a better alternative. In my state alone, over a million tax dollars was spent to restore a single 1200 sq/ft house. In addition, vacated buildings usually present a dangerous liability to property owners. I recall where kids decided to have a spook gig on Halloween and someone was seriously hurt. It was no problem in finding a lawyer and you know the rest of the story.

Why leave an old building to environmental deterioration until its material is of no use to our industry, and all you have is a memory of where it once stood. We keep memories alive and take the material to produce beautiful products that will last for generations, and bring happiness to others. Also, we are about as GREEN (Eco friendly) and re-cycling as you can get.