My friend attends a church in Greensboro that has four, oak church pews, approximately 12’ long. The seats are also oak but have been upholstered which is stapled underneath. While the pews are free, you would need to carry them out of the building to your truck/trailer. You’d need two (most likely three) very strong guys to carry them out. Or you can disassemble them (the backs are screwed to the seats) where they sit and carry out the backs and seats and ends separately with only two guys. If you’re interested, contact Maryann at the church at 336-706-5279.
For Sale Free Church Pews
- Thread starter Elong1080
- Start date
I volunteer a day a week at my church and have repaired and modified old church pews. My experience may or may not be applicable to the ones in the above. The pews I have worked on have screws from the bottom side toe screwing the back and bottom into the ends. There was a piece of trim covering the screws. It was a simple matter on these to take the ends off. Then the back can be screwed off the bottom. In the end you have a back, a bottom, and ends. Those are much easier to haul away. I also have used the wood from pews that my church was throwing away. It is mahogany, not oak in my case. The shape of the pieces prevents getting 3/4 inch thick boards from part of each piece. 5/8ths is about all I can get from the thinnest parts. You can cut it into pieces and get a lot of it into a thicker board with about a 5-6 inch wide thinner piece. The ends of the pews I've worked on were mostly MDF with hardwood on the top and bottom. The upholstered pews have all had plywood under the upholstrey.
Please do not take any of this as trying to disagree with Eric. He knows more about these specific pews. But I would show up with a pry bar, a hammer, and a screw gun if I was interested. It is likely you can disassemble them quickly to much more manageable pieces.
Please do not take any of this as trying to disagree with Eric. He knows more about these specific pews. But I would show up with a pry bar, a hammer, and a screw gun if I was interested. It is likely you can disassemble them quickly to much more manageable pieces.
JimD, thank you for your input. It appears you are much more experienced with church pews than I am. I examined these briefly before I submitted my post and observed the following. The pew ends have been disconnected (unscrewed) from the pew seats and backs. I didn’t determine whether the ends are solid wood or MDF. However, I’m inclined to believe they are solid (they’re painted so I didn’t examine them further). The pews are supported along their length by one or two (I don’t remember which) “legs” that match the profile and style of the ends. These appear to be solid wood also. The pew backs are attached to the seats from the back with countersunk screws capped with matching wood buttons. It appears the buttons could be popped out so that the screws could then be removed. The underside of the seats are oak; the top sides have been upholstered with the upholstery wrapped around the front edge and stapled underneath. With oak being visible underneath, I assume the seats are solid oak that had the upholstery applied at a later time. I didn’t attempt to measure the thickness of the seats or backs. As with your pews the contour of the seats and backs limits my use. I was thinking of inverting the pieces to use the flat side and not the curved side. However, that would require more effort than I want to put into any project I could foresee.
I agree with JimD that a pry bar, screw gun, and possibly a mallet would be all that is needed to disassemble the pews.
This reminds me of a friend of my family purchased an old church and was being converting it to a home. He sold the pews to a local woodworker which the woodworker came in using a chain saw to remove the 8/4 ends and left the rest. Now 5 years later my father gave me the wood as separate boards with of course each board stained and a curve in it.
I took every board thru a planner making them 5/8 or so square boards and made the ends of a day bed. Don’t ask how many hours I have in the project. Not all projects need 3/4 thick boards.
I took every board thru a planner making them 5/8 or so square boards and made the ends of a day bed. Don’t ask how many hours I have in the project. Not all projects need 3/4 thick boards.
