30 November 2016
Over the past weeks, we finally talked with and or met with several people to give us their expert opinions on the condition of the barn.
The first was Taylor Barnhill of the Appalachian Barn Alliance. Although too far away to make economic sense for him to come visit the property, he generously spent a portion of his day discussing the barn with me over the phone after looking over a bunch of photos I sent him.
Later I met with Brett Linden, a local contractor who has experience building and restoring timber frame structures.
Finally I met with Jason Allen, owner of Allen Historic Restorations, LLC., and a member of Preservation North Carolina. He was able to spend a large part of the day looking over the barn and the house. A very productive and helpful visit.
Overall, the consensus was that yes, the barn is worth saving, yes, it can be restored, yes, it can be temporarily supported to prevent further significant damage, and most importantly that none of this will take a fortune to accomplish. Yay!
Based primarily on input from Taylor and Jason, we have set about the tasks of trying to secure the barn from any further major damage.
The first thing to do was to remove vegetation and trees near the barn. At least what we can handle on our own.
It was leaning way over the back portion of the barn. I decided to use some rope and a come-along to keep it from falling on to the barn, and actually get it to fall the opposite direction.
After I pulled it over, tt got hung on the branches of another nearby tree.
Luckily I had the foresight to have tied another loose rope high up on the walnut tree and was able to get it to roll off the other tree.
Then we set about bracing each of the problem areas that we've identified. First was the slight bulge of the wall on the right side of the barn. I removed several rows of siding and then lag bolted a couple 2x10 boards to the posts and studs. Amy, Sam, my father-in-law Bob, and I then set a couple T-shaped braces against the new boards.
Then we installed a support under this cracked beam, also on the right side of the barn.
I located the new temporary post directly under another post on the main floor instead of under the crack in the beam because I thought it would be better for load transfer.
Next, we pushed the floor at the back of the barn up about 1' or so to make it close to level, and then put in temporary supports. There was some creaking and cracking. All in all a pretty exciting endeavor. You can see the rotted double beam on the right that the floor joists used to be resting on.
Having Amy, Sam, and Bob in on this project was a huge help. The extra manpower allowed us to take some short cuts that saved a lot of time.
Next up was the post on the left side of the barn that has been hanging in mid-air. We didn't try to move anything here. Just added some support so that if it does move more, there will be something to stop it.
Then we added a brace to hold a retaining wall, a post, and a beam to help keep them from falling over any farther.
Securing some of these problem areas also allows us to use good areas of the barn to store the lumber and supplies that we are amassing for the restoration work. Next up, securing, and possibly raising, the big dip in the center of the barn floor.
Over the past weeks, we finally talked with and or met with several people to give us their expert opinions on the condition of the barn.
The first was Taylor Barnhill of the Appalachian Barn Alliance. Although too far away to make economic sense for him to come visit the property, he generously spent a portion of his day discussing the barn with me over the phone after looking over a bunch of photos I sent him.
Later I met with Brett Linden, a local contractor who has experience building and restoring timber frame structures.
Finally I met with Jason Allen, owner of Allen Historic Restorations, LLC., and a member of Preservation North Carolina. He was able to spend a large part of the day looking over the barn and the house. A very productive and helpful visit.
Overall, the consensus was that yes, the barn is worth saving, yes, it can be restored, yes, it can be temporarily supported to prevent further significant damage, and most importantly that none of this will take a fortune to accomplish. Yay!
Based primarily on input from Taylor and Jason, we have set about the tasks of trying to secure the barn from any further major damage.
The first thing to do was to remove vegetation and trees near the barn. At least what we can handle on our own.
After the brush and small trees were removed, Amy and Sam decided that a nice path was needed. So that's what we got.
I also removed a pretty tall black walnut tree that had grown up just outside the back door of the barn.
It was leaning way over the back portion of the barn. I decided to use some rope and a come-along to keep it from falling on to the barn, and actually get it to fall the opposite direction.
After I pulled it over, tt got hung on the branches of another nearby tree.
Luckily I had the foresight to have tied another loose rope high up on the walnut tree and was able to get it to roll off the other tree.
Then we installed a support under this cracked beam, also on the right side of the barn.
I located the new temporary post directly under another post on the main floor instead of under the crack in the beam because I thought it would be better for load transfer.
Next, we pushed the floor at the back of the barn up about 1' or so to make it close to level, and then put in temporary supports. There was some creaking and cracking. All in all a pretty exciting endeavor. You can see the rotted double beam on the right that the floor joists used to be resting on.
Having Amy, Sam, and Bob in on this project was a huge help. The extra manpower allowed us to take some short cuts that saved a lot of time.
Next up was the post on the left side of the barn that has been hanging in mid-air. We didn't try to move anything here. Just added some support so that if it does move more, there will be something to stop it.
Then we added a brace to hold a retaining wall, a post, and a beam to help keep them from falling over any farther.
Yeah, I know, it's not pretty. But it just has to keep things from falling over for a few years.
Securing some of these problem areas also allows us to use good areas of the barn to store the lumber and supplies that we are amassing for the restoration work. Next up, securing, and possibly raising, the big dip in the center of the barn floor.
 |
| Before reorganizing our wood hoard |
 |
| After, with a few pieces left to go. |
Comments
Post a Comment