NDR Barn Renovation

Nice barn! What a great looking house! I'm looking for a house just like that one here in Jersey, although I think they're a bit cheaper out where you are :) Look forward to seeing pictures of the renovation!

Anthony
 
Washington is under Imternational Building Code, so if you start structural repair, and get caught, your permit fee can be twice as much as it would be if you get one up front. Start by contacting your local building dept, if you plan on repairs or renovation. Your barn is what building dept. people call "non prescriptive", so you'll probably need an architect or engineer for at least some of the design/calculation of the structural repair.
Why go this way? It's state law, and if the building falls down, or burns down, and you've done work on it, your insurance company will say tough luck on the repair/replacement on the building and it's contents.
Just my two cents. Matt, A serious question, how often does the insurance company not cover in such a case? Something I always wondered about... Every house I lived in has has a lot of uninspected work on it before we bought, so how can they tell if it is your fault? What woudl they ahve to prove? Like I said, I always wondered about that. T
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My two cents. I would think the insurance company would have to prove that 1) the cause of the loss was due to inadequate/non compliant work and 2) that the insured is the one that did the work in the first place.

That IS a great boat house. Have fun with the project!

Kevin
 
,,,,,,,,,,the insurance company would have to prove,,,,,,,,,,
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In all reality all they have to do is deny your claim. They do this quite often on older farm buildings. Most of the time the reason is lack of proper care to keep the building in reasonable repair and structurally sound. If they deny your claim, it then goes to arbitration as the next step. Yes you may eventually prevail in court,,,,,,,, but at what cost? Meanwhile you are at a standstill concerning replacement or repair of said building.

Probably better to be safe than sorry. JMHO
 
insurance companies want to make a profit they dont want to pay a claim. So anytime they can deny they will. But it does depend on the adjuster you get the most succesful adjusters in the company deny the most claims. Best safe and contact someone on what is required as far as permits.
 
If the roof hasn't leaked, that is in my opinion what saves these buildings. If it hasn't been gooped up with roof coating, but is just galvinizing that is starting to rust through, there are rust neutralizing primers that you can brush on. We did that with several of the buildings that had "newer" rooves, then painted with rustoleum silver. Once they have been gooped, you pretty much are stuck re-gooping untill you want to bite the bullet and replace it.

Great looking barn...I want one...someday!

Chuck
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Chuck beat me to it, but that is pretty much what I was going to say. The in-laws have owned several very large warehouses in town and eventually the roofs did that same thing. Options are to redo steel (50 year warrenty on Paint) or use the rust converter stuff which changes it to I believe iron oxide or something like that, I would have to look it up. Anyway, stops the conversion to rust. You can then primer the roof, then paint. I have done well over 20000 square feet of steel roof like this one summer on 5 warehouses. That was 15 years ago. Still look brand new and no rust bleed through is seen. Guess the point is, once the roof goes, the whole place will go.

As far as the corner. Come on guys. Jack it up, put a better foundation under the corner after you level it all up, regrade the land and you are then set. Mainy of these old barns are in far worse condition and guys level them all the time by themselves. Not a big issue to repair that. You are not changing footprint or building anything new. This is not wiring/concrete etc. Just my take.

As far as shops go. I would dedicate one area to wood working only. No wrenching/storage. I would put in a WOOD floor. As I age, standing on concrete just keeps getting harder on the body and tools when I drop a chisel etc. wood would be sooo much better. If you have any old wood boats, they say UNHEATED DIRT floored barns/sheds are the best to NOT dry them out. For the glass/tin/steel/al. concrete is nice to move things around, but if you already have a wood floor that only needs to be spruced up a bit, I would opt to be cheap and just use that for a while personally.

Great barn, property looks great. Wish you were not on the other end of the continent or an elbow bending session would be warrented. Drag Sutton up there to help you.
 
Brad
that barn is a true duck boat haven.....
I grew up on a farm where every old tobacco barn held treasures from years past just waiting to be found by some latter party.

Keep the roof tight. Grading is very important too. Keep it close to the original build. It is xxx years old. And it didn't fall down.


Enjoy the apples from those trees too. Nothing like growing your own.
 
It was an old hay barn, but I believe the hay loft was added after construction and structural integrity does not depend on it. The whole thing has a wide board wooden floor now but half the boards are unfastened. I am off tomorrow so I am headed down there with some tools and a camera. I'll clean things up a bit, take some pictures and bring the results back on Sunday or Monday. I should mention that there is an old carving shop separate from the barn so the decoy shop will be in a different building. Thanks for all the posts and PMs, I knew you guys would have some valuable insights.
 
Do you have any Amish communities near by? Here in central Iowa they do barn restoration the old fashion way by hand tool like they where built.
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Amen Craig. You just gotta love the Amana Colonies!

Brad, awesome barn and property. I wish you very good luck with your project.

Best Brian F.

(formerly of central IA.)
 
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No Amish, Hutterites or Amana colonies near by. I did get to spend sometime this weekend assessing the condition of the barn. I think the main frame is in great shape and unique. I have not seen upright posts set on angle before.

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About half of the upright posts on the outside perimeter walls have had the bottom 4 feet or so replaced. And the corner that had dropped has a rotten sill as well and appears to have had some roof damage that has been repaired. Its ugly but repairable. You guys were right about drainage.

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You can see the only 4 small leaks in the roof too and the repaired roof.

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I am thinking about removing the hay loft in time since it has a low overhead and is badly weakened by powder post beetles.

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The good news is I am still excited by the prospects of renovation. I am also dreaming about a "decoy" carving shack. This used to be a cabin at a timber camp and was moved to this site and used as a carving shop for a picture frames.


But before I can move in I think I want to have it rewired.



edited to resize photos and clarify a point.
 
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Brad, great pictures. Never a good thing when you see a jumper bolt hanging from the fuse box.

Consider laying down ply on the hay mow, good 3/4" will make that last a long time and you can dump all sorts of skiffs etc. up there. (if the supports are still good enough that is)

Jealous I tell you. Congrats.
 
Tod

There is graffiti on the wall that indicates a few people have slept in the carving shack when it was a cabin up in the woods. I should inquiry locally about the age of some of the guys who wrote of their female companions. I would bet that most are under 60 years of age now. Its been a carving shack for quite a while even though the real estate add called it a bunkhouse. Here is the drill press in the shack.

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ooppps I meant over 60.
 
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Tod, I don't know how common it it for insurance companies to play that card, I'm not in that business, just hearsay, but an expensive one. You may want to discuss this in a general way, without too many details, with your agent.
I'm just letting folks know how it goes if the inspector is driving by and sees old wood torn out and new wood lying around, or nailed onto the building. Just like a cop, he has probable cause at that point, and can legally enter your property to investigate. It doesn't matter that you're repairing something already built, or making what's there better, if it's structural, it requires a permit, and inspection, and possibly submitting plans.
Some building depts. treat you like a criminal at that point, double fee, plan submittal, engineer stamped plans, etc, and become a royal pain in the butt. I'm fortunate to work in a dept that feels the biggest thing is a safe building. If the Building Official feels the work was done in ignorance, he's been waving the double fee, and He's also a retired architect, and will help people on the design side of it. He's got no patience for scofflaws or dumbasses though. The B.O. in your area may be completely different though.
 
Good points Matt but this county (almost directly across the river from you) has no zoning, a one person building/planning/inspecting office. I know of renovation work done right in front of the office without a permit. I asked the inspector about a building permit or occupancy permit and was told that nope one was not issued and there was no problem inhabiting the structure without said permit(s).
 
Tod

There is graffiti on the wall that indicates a few people have slept in the carving shack when it was a cabin up in the woods. I should inquiry locally about the age of some of the guys who wrote of their female companions. I would bet that most are under 60 years of age now. Its been a carving shack for quite a while even though the real estate add called it a bunkhouse. Here is the drill press in the shack.

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Cool, I have to write my own dirty poems on my stuff.

T
 
Tod, I don't know how common it it for insurance companies to play that card, I'm not in that business, just hearsay, but an expensive one. You may want to discuss this in a general way, without too many details, with your agent.
I'm just letting folks know how it goes if the inspector is driving by and sees old wood torn out and new wood lying around, or nailed onto the building. Just like a cop, he has probable cause at that point, and can legally enter your property to investigate. It doesn't matter that you're repairing something already built, or making what's there better, if it's structural, it requires a permit, and inspection, and possibly submitting plans.
Some building depts. treat you like a criminal at that point, double fee, plan submittal, engineer stamped plans, etc, and become a royal pain in the butt. I'm fortunate to work in a dept that feels the biggest thing is a safe building. If the Building Official feels the work was done in ignorance, he's been waving the double fee, and He's also a retired architect, and will help people on the design side of it. He's got no patience for scofflaws or dumbasses though. The B.O. in your area may be completely different though.
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Thanks Matt!
 
fast forward from 2010 to 2021, we are finally underway with the barn project. In between years was full of new house roof, insulation in the walls and crawlspace of house, building a shop for my toys, tearing the old addition off the house and building a modern addition to replace it, along with a new job 3000 miles away for 6 years and then retirement.

In the mean time the old barn just waited patiently.

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Time and weather were beginning to widen her stance and gravity was tugging away.
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Nevertheless, many strings of scaup were highlighted against her old gray sides.

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But it was time to take action or let her tired old legs collapse. So we started the project with the help of the neighboring farmer's son who played in this barn more than 40 years ago. He has repaired a number of other old barns around the area and he knows this old barn well.

The first order of business was clearing out 118 years of dust, debris, cow manure and old boards. Before.
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After
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The 1902 foundation was big rocks hauled in by horse and 8" by 8" sills laid on top of the rocks. I am sure that all of the lumber was groan and sawn within 5 miles of here.

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I was completely wrong about the old hay mow as being non-structural. I am confident that the mow is what kept the old barn upright. Most of the log sills were rotten and the bottom foot or two of all the old posts were either gone or slowly crumpling.

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So now we have the old posts jacked up and supported by cribbing. The barn looks like it is levitating.

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Now new footers have been dug and we are building forms for stem walls to put her back down on.

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I'll keep you posted as the project proceeds.

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