Old Animal Barn....Need some advice....

Started by SolomonMan, October 04, 2016, 05:03:15 PM

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SolomonMan

All,
Thanks for all the help/advice in advance.

I have a post construction 40X48 barn (16ft tall) that was built in 1970. I recently bought this Rural property for my residence.

The house was built in 1900 and has been extensively (electric,well,septic etc) renovated including most of the main home being lifted off foundation and new basement walls re-poured.

The barn unfortunately was left to its own demise and at best today houses only a few animals and maybe the occasional project/toy.  The previous owner used it for wood storage.

The barn structure is a mixture of original 1900 timber (Oak I believe) and modern trusses (~36 O.C)) with a dirt floor. The trusses make up just the peak of the barn and are approximately 18 ft across. The remaining 12 ft width is made up of another section that ties into the ends the trusses. The tie in construction is something I question personally but it is tied together with metal plates and appears solid.  Much of the 1900 timber has been scavenged by I believe previous owner (wood worker) so little to no animal stalls were remaining.

My wife and I have cleaned up/recreated the stalls and replaced a few of the main 4X6 posts (rotted at base) and recently replaced the original 2X6X12 (etched out) truss supports (now 2X8X12) across one complete side of the barn as they were sagging considerably. One support actually had cracked all the way thru vertically with much sagging. I also extended the vertical posts to meet the new beams so the span is not greater now than 8 ft in any place,

The structure is now level on the one side where previously it was a mess. The other side is actually in decent shape with maybe only one questionable but still very decent truss support beam.

The next order of correction is the roof.

Basically the one side of the roof has experienced extensive wind/element damage. Both lower corners about 12-18ft up have been torn away (gaping hole). Also the fascia board and roof guards are missing on large sections of both sides of the barn.

The plan is
1) Remove any remaining fascia
2) Remove 2 Sections (~6ft) of metal roofing all the way to peak (~24ft ) on each corner.
3) Replace fascia with new wood proper roof/fascia edging
4) Replace any rotten cross wood (roof tie down wood)
5) Replace 6 ft of metal (2 strips) on each corner the full 24 ft and put in front and back roof edging.
6) If weather allows (Northern Ohio) put in gutter for rain water storage.

As I have never done any metal roofing and currently weigh about 260 I have concern on climbing on the metal roof in any way.

The original cross slats are 1 1/4 and many are original timber so I question their overall strength.

Is it possible, or is it the common way, to work up the side of the roof one section on top of another and then come down to the roof/fascia edge and due the next section all the way to top. Then place all the roof guards in place?....This seems logical to me...

Another question is the roof is ~24ft from fascia to peak. I can get any size greater than 8ft but its special order (day or so)....It appears most of the roof is done in 8 ft sections. Any advantages for large sections?
Any tips?

Thanks again,
Chris








Don_P

Hi Chris,
Sounds like you've been busy. It's difficult to visualize without some pics but it sounds like you are thinking correctly. In 4 those are called purlins, I'm guessing rough sawn boards? A pic of that tie area might be worthwhile.

Running full length sheet has fewer seams to leak or for the wind to get under (that's probably why you lost the end sheets) but getting the metal up there means more. If you can work better with 8' sheets and the look is ok, just secure and lap well, seal if needed. Then snow guards. It sounds like you'll be hiring this part out so there will be discussion with the carpenter/roofer based on what he sees as well.



ChugiakTinkerer

Hi SolomonMan, welcome to the forum!

If you're not familiar with the picture hosting paradigm on this forum, have a read of MountainDon's write-up on how to host and link images.  There are many free image hosting web sites available; I currently use Imgur after getting fed up with PhotoBucket.  These all seem to change the user interface on a regular basis so it may be worthwhile to acquaint yourself with a couple of the hosting services.

You don't mention the truss spacing, so it's hard to gauge whether 1-1/4 is thick enough.  It sounds like some of the purlin wood has lasted for over a century.  It may be time to replace them but then again you may get another century of service.  If they are still good, one way you can increase your comfort level is by putting in new purlins between the old ones.  If they were at 4' spacing, you would then have 2' spacing, etc..  You would want to match the old purlin thickness pretty well to keep the roofing metal in a flat plane. 
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story

SolomonMan

All,
The trusses are I believe from measuring about a month back is 36 OC.

I was considering replacing the  bad purlins and filling in between as mentioned.

I was not considering hiring it out as the cost involved plus my location would make things fairly interesting...I am about 25 miles from anything.

I will try and get some pics up this week...probably towards end of week.

Thanks
Chris