Will it be worth it?

I look at price tags closely. Used jeans. New car. Box of brad nails. Pile of lumber, and so on, and I always say to myself, "Will it be worth it?"

Used jeans are always worth the price. I wear them for several years as 'my good jeans' before giving them their final designation, i.e., 'shop pants.' My four Honda Civics have always been worth the price. Brad nails the same (a box of 5000 lasts a long time and one birdhouse sale buys at least two boxes). But concerning piles of lumber one must be careful.

Recently I spotted 16-foot lengths of pine barn board, gray on both sides, covering piles of cut lumber at an old mill in Fenelon Falls. I loved the look but I raised an eyebrow at the price. I can get barn board in London for less, but not gray on even one side. In spite of the 25% higher cost I bought 96 board feet and filled the trunk of my Civic.

Since then I've used it as wall and roof slats on barn-style birdhouses and as logs on log cabin-style triplexes. My reactions are as follows:

Lovely shades of gray

It cuts like a charm

Easy to sand

It takes a nail, easy kap-easy

Very little wastage

Humbly I say, lovely birdhouses

4 - 5 sales will pay for the pile

Will I buy it again? 

["I used other lumber only for the triangle atop the main apt."]

Yes, whenever I'm in Fenelon Falls, Tim Handley (at the Handley lumber yard) can expect me to call and say, "Can I have another six 16-footers, please?"

Easy kap-easy decision about the price tag.

Photos by GH

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Please click her for a related anecdote 'old lumber mill, Fenelon Falls'