Help me build a barn

-
matthon

matthon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
3,019
Reaction score
1,391
OK, so I salvaged beams from my mother's barn, (built around 1800 and collapsed around 1990), and I'm broke- so I am hoping to build a barn using the old wood and some new lumber on the cheap.
I'm trying to figure where to use the old stuff, and what to buy new to fill in the gaps. I was thinking I would dig 4 foot holes, (but how many?), and use 6*6 treated lumber- or I could do concrete footings but that is more work and time is tight too.
Also, how should I fasten the beams together?

I have a 20*10 parking pad I made using crushed gravel.
I am thinking that either the beams will dictate the size of the barn, or not- but the goal is to fit the Barracuda and some storage.

I salvaged:
8: 6*6*8 beams (notched as they were roof beams- check the size of those nails!)
4: 4*4*6 beams
2: 10*10*6 beams
Various lengths of 10*10 beams, 6*6, 4*4, and smaller beams- not alot.
1: 10*10*12 beam where they cut the sides to make it a hexagon- it has 6 sides all perfectly smooth, (strange yes, but old).
I may also be able to get a few more beams from my brother.

So- how would you assemble all the parts?
I'd also like to use the hexagon beam somewhere, but where? Cut it in half?
Opinions appreciated.

I am somewhat handy, I built the deck below last summer, (2*8's, 2: 2*10 beams mounted on 3 6*6's for the frame), and used one of the barn beams in the kitchen, (plus I made a little barn from some siding).

DSC04954.JPG


DSC04955.JPG


DSC04956.JPG


DSC04957.JPG


DSC04958.JPG


DSC04959.JPG


DSC04960.JPG


DSC04962.JPG


DSC04961.JPG


DSC04953.JPG
 
Ya know around here those beams go for some good cash.....you could try to sell what you got and buy some regular lumber which is easier to work with I know thats not what you are asking,,,you may have to just lay them all out on the ground and try to figure them out that way.. ........ My garage is 28 x 40 pole barn style garage I used treated 4x4 18 of them I think...same deal dug holes and poured concrete in the ground.... Not sure what you local codes are or if you are using them LOL....you might not be able to use what you have.... even though they are have been on this earth forever and a day...
 
any full bents? or all mics. parts?
do an inventory/part list of what structures you have to start with. although you can cut and fit anything, its nice if you don't have to, or you can limit the frame rebuild. looks like some nice hand hewn beams there!

good luck
 
chasduster said:
Ya know around here those beams go for some good cash.....you could try to sell what you got and buy some regular lumber which is easier to work with I know thats not what you are asking,,,you may have to just lay them all out on the ground and try to figure them out that way.. ........ My garage is 28 x 40 pole barn style garage I used treated 4x4 18 of them I think...same deal dug holes and poured concrete in the ground.... Not sure what you local codes are or if you are using them LOL....you might not be able to use what you have.... even though they are have been on this earth forever and a day...
Click to expand...

Chasduster is right on. That old lumber is worth some serious cash to the right person. Unless you have an attachment to the old wood, consider getting the cash and building with new treated lumber.
 
Chas is right and I would go that route in the long run it will be an easy build because your stuff will be new and all the same size, you don't want to start mixing and matching. I took down my old barn years ago and had some 2" hickory floor boards about 18" wide..I got $100 bucks EACH. I sold all the wood from the barn very fast because it is in high demand. I live in Ontario Canada and the guy I sent it to says he ships it out to Vermont just as fast as it comes in.
On the build side I WOULD GO WITH A POLE BARN DESIGN, I find they are easier.
 
my god man thos beams could be worth upto 1000$ bucks a peice.but they are yours. any ways a frend of mine used phone polls we went to the elictric co and phone co.and they give them to him.he used them for the up rights evry ten ft.then fond a saw mill to cut the biger ones.his bigest money went for siding and insalaion.just tring to help artie
 
Good set of brains on here guys. I was thinking the same thing on selling em as they do look structurally sound. Got a shop in Springfield that deals in nothing but that kind of stuff. One house i built needed a fireplace mantel. The owner and i went and picked out a 10' beam for $200. Sell the stuff and then get the cull lumber from your local lumber yard (1/2 price)and fabricate your own 5x5 post as the guys from Morton Buildings do. Let me know when you get that far and i'll give ya a lot of details on how to make it happen. Sell the beams. Check with a restoration contractor or shop. Never caught where you are located.
Small Block
 
do ya live in Amish country ....if ya do ask they will tell you real quick... they still build the way the barn was built the first time ...... story bother live's in ohio an lives in a 250 yr old farm house . had a beam go bad that hold's one end of the house 16x16x30' ...city engineer told him to put steel in certain size this that an the other major $. amish man he know's said lets go for a walk out back in the wood 's my brother own's looken at trees he said this will work ...took the tree down an over to the saw mill 2 days later beam replace notch for floor jounces wood dowels to hold the floor... look like it had been there for 250 yrs price 300$ ..... city engineer failed the inspection said it was not strong enough what b/s but the beam is still there some how the engineer lost his position
 
I'd 10th it. Sell the beams. I done my pole barn. I check local codes and though i live in town, very small 1 in KY I did not need permit for a pole barn. I just dug holes 3' deep and 8' apart. well give or take. post for the doors are 9'. It does take a little thought. I used 6x6 post crossed with 2x4 going horazonal 2' apart. for your corner post need to account for the 2x4's when measuring your holes. getting the post set right was the hardest part. once i finished and had a pole barn:-D i added electric, heat, concret floor, sat TV, frig, and the list goes on and on. I hope this all makes since.

It's easier to build using new wood so try to sell the old. Plus think about getting nails into the old wood.
 
Wow, thanks everyone.
A couple things-
My brother has more beams from his barn that he said I could have- if I knew how to post a video I could put up the one where we tied a chain to his smaller barn and pulled it down, he he.
I found a good website for selling/buying barns, most you have to take down yourself and are way too big, but if I had the means it would be well worth it.
I also found a local guy who sells barn frames, but the smallest one was 4 grand, about 10*12.
http://www.oldbarnwoodsite.com/old_barns_for_sale_.htm

Maybe selling them would be the smarter thing to do, although I am a little attached to this stuff, and the workman ship on the beams is pretty cool.

I was even thinking of using new wood, but assembling it the old fashion way, using motise and tenon joints with a wooden peg.

So if I use treated 6*6's for the pole barn, the corner ones have to be placed out farther so I don't have the horizontal wall boards going around them.
My understanding is I can use a ridge beam to support the roof, meaning the ridge beam is supported by beams going to the ground, or use the side beams to support the roof and the ridge beam is actually held in place by the roof rafters.
In the second scenario, what keeps the roof from moving front to back?
And should I use 2*6 or 2*8 for the roof rafters?
 
Check LOCAL CODES 1ST

Pole Barns are the cheapest way to get a building. There are 2 different grade of treated, below grade and above, use the correct one.

Sell the old beams, keep one if you want the look for an exposed beam somewhere, use new manterial. Ask for help for a BARN RAISING, that is how all the old barns got built

I built a 40 X 48 X 14 Pole Barn last year, not CHEAP, but nice to have.

Now to get the inside finished. I had building inspector make me do things I didn't think was needed, but they have to sign off, so if you need a permit, MAKE THEM HAPPY, or they will make you PISSED OFF
 
you can't replace hand hewn, chemical free beams gang. may take a bit more time to put it together (thats why having the full bents makes it so much easier) but a far nicer, original build in the end.

a neat link for barns,

http://www.thebarnpages.com/

I put an offer on a property that has been in the same family for almost 175 years, and I tell ya, it wasn't because of the house! the barn structure is so awesome! beats the hell out of the modern barn, unless of course you have some old school craftsman put it together.
my 2 cents!
 
Check out the beams in this barn. I went to a car show last year at a historic farmhouse, Dutch built:

DSC04499.JPG


DSC04498.JPG


DSC04501.JPG


DSC04502.JPG


DSC04503.JPG


DSC04507.JPG
 
I'm looking into building a pole barn. General "fomula" for the frame is 6x6 posts spaced 8' apart, hole depth seems to be between 3' - 4', pre-fab roof trusses 4' apart. 2 schools of thought on putting the post on a concrete "cookie" or mini-footer, or cementing in. Header boards on top, "rat boards" on bottom. Don't know if you can use what you have, but maybe this will help....
 
the funny side my brother was able to pick up the siding off a old barn/ after he used it on a basement wall for looks/ after the sideing warmed up from the heat allkinds of bugs came up .lol
 
plumcrazy704406 said:
the bents are the main frames for the structure. a normal barn has 4-6.

link for raising a barn, shows the bents going up.

http://www.nvhistory.org/herrickbarn.shtml#barnraising
Click to expand...

Its the joinery that I would like to recreate, even if it is with new material. Bolts, nuts, screws, nails, who needs them!
On the beams I have the marks are still there, made by some piece of metal, for each mortise and each peg hole, and for each angle cut to accept the corner supports.

I wonder if I could do it? I'm stupid enough to try, and probably smart enough to pull it off- but it would make it a very long process I'm sure.

Hand hewn they are, that's why that one beam has me puzzled, the one where the sides are shaped like a hexagon and its perfectly smooth on all sides. It was originally one of the beams holding up the third floor along with the other very rough cut beams which still had bark on 2 sides. I'll post pics of it when I go get it- strange.

The barn was huge, and I made every attempt to take complete parts before it came crashing down, but no luck, it was just too huge. Once it fell into its stone basement it was easy to pick off the beams on top, but other than that impossible to get at anything else. I'm still stewing over the first floor boards; roughly 4*6 beams that were tongue and groove together to make up the floor- I just cannot get them out and they rot so fast once exposed.

Well, thank you everyone, plenty to think about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top