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Old Church Pews

Started by Kirk_Allen, January 13, 2006, 06:14:27 PM

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Kirk_Allen

A local church council member called me today and was wondering what is the best way to sell some church pews.  I am waiting on pics but am being told they range in length from 8 feet to 20 feet and are made from Oak and are roughly 3" thick pews with some type of carving or decorative makrings on the ends.

He thought they were worth more for the lumber than the pews.  Once I get the pics I will post them.  I told him I would not cut them up for lumber as I thought they would be worth more as is then cut up.  He said they have been in the church since around 1900. 

Any input on a market for them is appreicated. 

Jeff

Being a preachers kid I wouldnt mind getting a hold of a short onrnate one just for decorating purposes. ;D
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Buzz-sawyer

If you are like my kids......you may find your teething marks on it :D :D :D
    HEAR THAT BLADE SING!

Larry

I bought a bunch of pews last year...all were long and very heavy.  Got em for next to nothing because nobody could use them or move them.  Cut them all down to usable lengths...3 to 6' long.  Made new ends for some of them.  Dribbled them into area consignment auctions and the ones with original ends sold great.  The ones with the new ends sold, but barely covered expense. 
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

isawlogs

 May I ask what is a churh pew  ???  I can normally figure things out but ya got me wit this one .  :-\
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Paul_H

Marcel,

they are the benches that the congregation sits on in a Church
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

isawlogs

 Thanks Paul ... now if they are benches .. why call them pews ..  ???  Is that only to mess with my english .  ;) :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Paul_H

Pew is the shortened term for "phew,that was hard on my butt sitting on there for the past hour"
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

isawlogs

 :D :D :D :D
   How much is it to clean a keyboard .  :D :D :D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

SwampDonkey

I couple a churches here gave them away to be rid of them because they were renovating. My mother and uncle each got one, sat it out on the lawn til they rotted and I tossed them on the burn pile.  ::)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

isawlogs

I want to get one to put in the entrance of the farm house .
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

Daren

Check this out.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=63556&item=7380558972
If the link doesn't work, it's because the auction ended early from a buy it now price of $500. It is (1) 6' pew and the shipping was $185 on top of that, and it got snapped up.
Kirk, those things are worth HUGE money, don't just use them for lumber.
I know a couple who bought an small old church in disrepair for $36,000. They sold the pews and stained glass for more than they paid for the church and used the profit to make it into a youth center.
Tell the guy do to a little research on Ebay or other places. My buddy is a preacher down the road, he has time to kill and comes around and hangs out. His brother inlaw makes a good living restoring and reselling pews, alters...
Heck, if you guys can't find a home for them, I will give you more than the lumber price and you won't have to mess with taking them apart. That is a sincere offer for one or the lot.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

srjones

Pew:

Etymology: Middle English pewe, from Middle French puie balustrade, from Latin podia, plural of podium parapet, podium, from Greek podion base, diminutive of pod-, pous foot -- more at FOOT
1 : a compartment in the auditorium of a church providing seats for several persons
2 : one of the benches with backs and sometimes doors fixed in rows in a church

While we're on subject, I was able to get the pews from our church a few years back for a modest donation.  I was horrified when I heard someone wanted to make shelves out of them, so I got as many as I could.  There are no knots anywhere, all are dougfir and most are CVG.  These were built in the 1920's, and the backs measured 3/4"x 24" x 20'.  That's 1 single board!!!    The stuff is absolutlely beatiful once it's planed.  However, I had to scrape off decades of chewing gum underneath.... :o :D
Everyone has hobbies...I hope to live in mine someday.

SwampDonkey

A few churches have closed here, not enough folks to keep up with the ever increasing costs. Same thing is happening with the Veterens Legions, Women's Institute Halls and Knights of Columbus halls.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Frank_Pender

Kirk, when you come this way with your load of items for us Left Coaster and you meeting in Washington, you could bring some for me and one for Paul's butt.  Let us know how much, first. 

I just purchased a 120 year old phew that was used in a small community grange hall.  It will have cost $320 in Oak firewood for next season.  This unit has a leather covered back as well as seat, all in great shape.

So, what some of us are saying you have a treasure house of value and sentiment. :)
Frank Pender

oldsaw

When I was a kid, my Dad's cousin called me up and asked me if I had a couple of hours to spare.  Since I really liked him, he said "be there in 20 minutes".  He came lumbering up in his son's grain truck, and we drove 30 miles to a church that was remodelling and loaded the truck up with church pews that he had bought for little or nothing.  He cut them up to make new doors for our church, which were absolutely beautiful.  I thought that to be appropriate "recycling".

I think Larry has it right.  Cut them down into 6 footers, use all the original ends, then cut up the rest for lumber.  I've never seen a church pew that wasn't made out of VERY nice wood, usually oak.

So many trees, so little money, even less time.

Stihl 066, Husky 262, Husky 350 (warmed over), Homelite Super XL, Homelite 150A

getoverit

My wife watches them "home decorating" shows almost non-stop around here, and last weekend they had some couple that paid $600 for a small church pew that had to be cut down in order to get it stable enough to sit on. They acted like it was a bargain at $600. It was about 6 feet long after they cut it down.

My guess is that selling them on e-bay would bring you a fortune, especially since they are true antiques already. Let the buyer worry about how he is going to haul them.
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

Don_Papenburg

Our church replaced good old oak pews with the one piece seat and backs with  some very expensive cheep glue up seats and plywood back type pews .  They could be refinnished for a quarter of the cost of the new garbage.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Paschale

When I was in the first couple of years of college, the church where my parents got married was moving into a newer building.  At the time, they were asking $200 a pew, and I really wanted to buy one bad, but as a college sophomore back in 1990, $200 was a fortune.  I still get bummed thinking that I missed a chance at snapping one of those up.  Regardless, if they were asking $200 back in 1990, and had no problem selling them, then they've gotta be worth more.  You just need to get 'em to the "big city," and find people willing to pay top dollar.  Those would certainly get snapped up at any of the antique fairs up here in the summer, provided they weren't way long.
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

Don P

We just lost a 4 or 5 footer we were "babysitting" while some friends got their house in order. I'm thinking they had paid $400 for it. I think in that size and with original ends you could sell them all day long. I wonder if matching end and coffee tables out of the cutoffs would sell  ???.

iain

Yip they are worth money as they are

November last year i finished a kitchen made from recycled pew's,
  the house owner used to sit on them as a kid,
kept all the names and graffitti that was carved and scratched  into the wood, and put it into prominent positions on the cabinet doors ready for the "vandals" to view when they visited, lots of the locals have called round to see there handy work from years ago



iain

SwampDonkey

You guys let me know when you make your first million :D :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ironwood

Kirk,

  We sell pews all the time at Construction Junction, a non profit used building material warehouse in Pittsburgh. The prices listed and advice given all jives with their experience at CJ. Usable legnths are critical, some may need chopped. You work it boy, work it. Reid
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.- Wayne Dyer

Phorester

Bought one for my wife about 10 years ago at an antique store.  Seems like it was between $200-$300. 4 feet long, slightly curved, beautiful honey colored solid oak, very old.  Fits perfect on our back porch.

Definitely can make some money selling them as they are if they are in good shape and you are willing to work at it.

SwampDonkey

Here's a sight listing used pews for sale.

http://www.usedpews.org/usedpews.htm

The old antique church chairs and carved tables would be worth more than any pew.  ;)

I have been told over the years of chairs and tables being stolen from a few churches that aren't used year around. They even stole a WWI plaque from one old church.  >:(
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Frank_Pender

If the price is not our of this world, Kerk, I will have you beam me one here when you come to Lynden, Washington. 8)
Frank Pender

Kirk_Allen

Here is a pic of the pews they have for sale.


They have the following dimensions.


Frank_Pender

Oh, I thought they would be solid wood, with no padding; that way I would not be inclined to set for very long. :'(
Frank Pender

getoverit

I wonder what they look like under all that padding?
I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok, I work all night and sleep all day

Frank_Pender

Frank Pender

Kirk_Allen

They are solid wood. The church had them padded 8 years ago.  They are tracking the history but so far they are pretty sure they are the original pews from over 100 years ago.  They have been refinished three times that they know of. 

Frank_Pender

I appologize, Kirk.   The more modern ones have plywood, out here.
Frank Pender

SwampDonkey

Ours were mostly all made from spruce, even 200 year old ones. The 100 year old ones in the church next door were spruce. They had carved fiddle or scroll arm rests, tongue and grove backs and unpadded seats with one solid board. Not the most confortable seets in the world, but I always managed to fall asleep on them somehow. :D :D Some of those old bible pounders were long winded.  ::)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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