Two story barn up 18 inches & holding
The search engine didn’t enable me finding my original post asking for counsel raising this two-story barn. We have the thing up 18 inches and are ready to remove the existing cracked foundation & replace. It’s 3 below zero today.
There is a 6 x 6 sunk 36 inches deep with 320 lbs of concrete (flared) 4 feet in from each corner with a 12 foot steel beam diagonal against the post, chained, with triangle bracing (see attachments):
The barn was built in 1910 which seems early for a concrete foundation? It wasn’t very deep though and evidently doesn’t have any re-bar.
There was originally a wood floor (floor joists notched into foundation) on the left half & maybe just dirt on the right
One thing I can’t understand about such skilled builders is why they didn’t install any corner wind bracing, unless they were relying on the full length studs transfering the triangulation from the roof. There was horizontal 1 x 6 siding on the outside of the lower half and horizontal 1/2 in x 3 bead board T & G on the inside.
The lower half had unusual siding. It was 1 x 6 (no knots) with “double 3” horizontal siding milled on the outside but also tongue and groove on the edges. I may post a picture of the siding later.
Replies
Looks like quite the project!
I don't know how common it was, but my 1913 house has a poured concrete foundation and basement walls so they were definitely using it back then.
Stuart,Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah, I remember my grandpa and dad talking about pouring the concrete foundation for my grandpa's house in the early 1900's. He said they made a large box, about 10ft by 10ft in the yard and mixed the concrete with sand/gravel from the creek with a hoe, moving the forms around as they went. There was no basement except on one corner. He said it took about 3 weeks to pour.Another thing my dad always told about a long, clear wide baseboard laying on the floor upstairs that one of the kids was playing on. My grandfather said, "watch out, that board cost me a dollar!" Fz
Stuart,It got a little more nerve wracking today:Fz
Flying barns is somewhat amazing, but nothing tops my amazement at seeing green grass in -3 degree weather!
Tell me how you did that!
blue
green grass in -3 degree weather!Tell me how you did that! (blueeyeddevil)blueeyeddevil,Yes, the green grass and icebox -3deg. Here's how that happens - last tuesday it was 61 degrees. Yesterday - 3. Fz
Are you going to get the barn resting on cribbing, or just leave it on the jacks?
Are you going to get the barn resting on cribbing, or just leave it on the jacks? (davidmeiland)davidmeiland,There is a 12 ft steel beam diagonal across each corner against a 6 x 6 sunk/keyed in 320lb of concrete. We worked on these jackpoints (where the beam is immediately under the wall). There are two jacks under the beam, about a third of the way in from each end of the beam. There is as serious cribbing as we could come up with in the center (railroad ties, etc). There was 40 mph wind night before last. And yes I'm going to church today. Fz
That was a pretty fancy barn in its day.
Tim
>> "double 3" horizontal siding milled on the outside but also tongue and groove on the edges. << Here, I'd have to wonder if that siding could be cypress. I guessing not, in the mid-west though...
>> "double 3" horizontal siding milled on the outside but also tongue and groove on the edges. << Here, I'd have to wonder if that siding could be cypress. I guessing not, in the mid-west though... (Matt)Matt,We have seen some cypress around here, mainly in screen frames, etc. This looks more like a pine, but it was really sound. There was of course no moisture buildup.Fz