SKANEATELES, N.Y. -- Habitat for Humanity volunteers are helping to keep the wood from an old barn in Skaneateles out of local landfills.

"We took this metal roof off this morning. We're removing the nails off of these boards and I think they want to take the tar off this roof so that they can get to the wood underneath," said Richard Kendrick, a Habitat for Humanity volunteer.

Habitat's ReStore Center will sell the wood to companies or individuals who use high-end lumber to make things like furniture.

"That's a lot of trees we don't have to cut if we salvage it here," said Greg Wright, the deconstruction manager for Habitat for Humanity.

A board-foot is a piece of wood that's one foot by one foot and one inch thick. And Wright estimates the group will get between 30,000-40,000 board feet from this barn alone.

"This is our first full take-down. The hope is to have a deconstruction company working, at least part-time working, for Habitat with paid staff to do more difficult, technical things," said Wright.

Wright says because this project is experimental, the owner didn't have to pay for the deconstruction of the barn, but if Habitat continues to do large deconstruction projects like this one, they will likely charge a fee.

"There would be a charge, much like there is for demolition. Probably less than demolition and obviously much greener than demolition," said Wright.

This project is expected to bring in between $30,000 to $50,000 for Habitat for Humanity.

The volunteers should have all the wood from the barn stripped of nails and sorted out within the next two weeks.

If you're interested in being a part of this project, Habitat for Humanity is still looking for volunteers. You can give them a call at (315) 422-2230 for more information.