would you take down a decent old barn and move it?

countrydreamn · #1 03/31/10, 08:28 PM

I've already got a thread going about adding on to this house, but the ultimate goal is to take down the barn and build a bigger home there, but put the barn back together else where on the land.

I understand that it's a ton of work and most of the barn is still in really good condition. But a lot of it needs to be replaced. I can try to put up some pictures later this week.

We are talking about a two story-large hay loft, five actual door stalls, but you have to step up and over in order to walk inside of three of them, the other two you can just open the door and walk in. But the pervious owner made a mess of the wall between those two stalls, by cutting it pretty much out so that he could put stuff in. (This place was sold at auction, changed hands before that auction ink was dry, then sold to the couple we bought it from, the second guy probably actually did the barn mess. As I've been told he took out several other out buildings and I can see from Google earth that there are things missing.) And the last room on the left side has a raised floor like a tack room.

Then there are over hangs off both sides, the front one looks like it's where they parked the tractor whereas the back side has a normal roof line.

This will probably be a very long time coming, which is why I am going to go ahead with adding on first. I'll probably have my dream home by the time my children are getting ready to begin leaving. But oh well, they'll have a nice place to come and visit. LOL!!

Am I crazy?

RedneckPete · #2 03/31/10, 08:59 PM

What is your time worth? The materials may be worth less then the time it takes to salvage them.

Nevertheless, I just finished (well, almost finished) building a 24x28foot shop almost completely out of salvaged material, but I was paid to salvage the material.

Pete

FarmboyBill · #3 03/31/10, 09:38 PM

I took apart a 150yr old barn in the 70s. It had a wood hay track. It was a pain, literly. I fell through the roof, wife got a few nails in her, and it just wasnt worth the trouble.

Heritagefarm · #4 03/31/10, 09:41 PM

I don't think we can answer that for you.

#5 03/31/10, 10:12 PM

There are people who pay good money for old barn lumber & beams & such . I believe I would see if I couldn't sell it & let someone else dismantle it . I once paid one of my employees to dismantle an old garage that a friend wanted removed & I used the lumber to build a barn . I would have been much better off financially if I had just bought new lumber .

where I want to · #6 03/31/10, 10:37 PM

Yes- many years ago I took apart and re-built a much smaller barn than yours- and would never ever even think to do it again. However it did leave me with a lifetime supply of funny stories about how I hurt myself. Too many times I can remember hitting the ground when a piece of wood suddenly came loose- I even had a Buster Keaton moment when a whole framed wall I thought was secure fell right on top of me- I did NOT fit through a window opening.
But everyone should do it once anyway.....................

uncle Will in In. · #7 03/31/10, 10:42 PM

Taking it apart and stacking the parts in order of rebuilding the barn would be more work for one person than you'd ever believe. The roof would need to be replaced entirely. The siding would need to be replaced for the most part. Without some good equipment to handle the heavy beams, it couldn't be done. You could hire an excavater to tear it down into a big heap, but putting it back up by youself would be a nightmare.

michiganfarmer · #8 03/31/10, 11:27 PM

like everyone els says, It would be very difficult.

Last summer a neighbor gave me a 30x40 pole barn. With help from the family, I tore it down, moved it and put it back up. It was an IMENSE amount of work! I never imagined how much work it was gonna be. I spent 3 months non stop... nights after work, and weekends. I was exhausted when it was finnaly weather proofed.

I would do it again, but only because IM broke. If I could afford it, I'd either hire it moved, or buy new. I might tear one down, and reuse the large poles, beams, and timbers, but the perlins, siding, and roofing would go for kindleling.

manygoatsnmore · #9 04/01/10, 03:06 AM

Does your dream house HAVE to go right where the barn sits? It would be a lot easier to fix up the barn where it is and build your house in another spot, if there is one available. I hate to see old barns die...they just don't build them like that anymore - you can't get the old growth beams they used back in the day. I'd much rather see an old barn be repaired before it gets to the point where knocking it down is the only thing left to do. For want of a nail....

**Ross** · #10 04/01/10, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manygoatsnmore

Does your dream house HAVE to go right where the barn sits? It would be a lot easier to fix up the barn where it is and build your house in another spot, if there is one available. I hate to see old barns die...they just don't build them like that anymore - you can't get the old growth beams they used back in the day. I'd much rather see an old barn be repaired before it gets to the point where knocking it down is the only thing left to do. For want of a nail....

Thats what I was thinking. You could match the effort of tearing down the barn and rebuilding it with dozer work to ready a different site.

davel745 · #11 04/01/10, 07:13 AM

Even if you number every piece and move it. It won’t go back together the same.

If you look at the price of building something. Lumber/building materials aren’t really that expensive. (Only speaking relatively) It all costs money.

If the barn needs repairs then that isn’t going to be easy and you will need building materials to make repairs.

Maybe you can build the house at choice number two location. Might be easier.

Best regards

Dave

springvalley · #12 04/01/10, 07:52 AM

Why don`t you fix up the barn, and live in IT !!! We have had sveral old barns fixed up in our area that the people live in. Makes for a very interesting home to live in. I also am very saddened at all the barns that are torn or fall down each year. They are an american Icon, that are slowly fadding from the landscape. A place where our fathers and grandfathers made their livings and spent so many hours working at the careers that made this country great. I myself have spent alot of money in the last few years reroofinf and fixing my barn, in hopes it will still be standing long after I`m gone. Funny story, I had a neighbor stop and ask what I was doing when I was putting on the new roof. He said he had a barn also that was nickle and diming him also and he just got tiered of it a threw a match in it. I said if everyone did that there would be no more of these wonderful pieces of American history. Thanks Marc

foxtrapper · #13 04/01/10, 08:34 AM

I'd be much more inclined to leave the barn where it is and build a house somewhere else.

Another barn relocating possibility is to take the barn whole. I read an article about some farmer who screwed a whole bunch of handles around his barn, and got a hundred plus neighbors to come over. Everyone grabbed a handle, picked up the barn, and carried it to wherever it was to go. It's actually quite plausible. I don't know if the story was really true or not, but with enough handles, it could be done.

RosewoodfarmVA · #14 04/01/10, 10:36 AM

We have disassembled and moved to our farm an old kitchen house, smokehouse, corn crib, and are currently doing a log barn. Yep it's alot of work, but on a 200 year old homeplace nothing but 200 year old buildings will do! Besides, what would make you feel better, knowing that you've saved a piece of history, or looking at a tin shell 'barn' ??

Wolf mom · #15 04/01/10, 01:25 PM

My neighbor just dismantled an old house & large shed for the lumber and built a barn using that wood. Beautiful aged wood that would cost fortune today.

He of course, didn't have to number the pieces and didn't have to puzzle it back together. Contrary to most here, if I had the time and strength, I'd do it!

where I want to · #16 04/01/10, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolf mom

My neighbor just dismantled an old house & large shed for the lumber and built a barn using that wood. Beautiful aged wood that would cost fortune today.

He of course, didn't have to number the pieces and didn't have to puzzle it back together. Contrary to most here, if I had the time and strength, I'd do it!

Of course- that's how we all got into doing it in the first place. Sounded like a good idea. At the time. Yep. Beautiful wood. Yep.

Actually- it is the re-building part that gets you into trouble. You can't just saw around nails or trim off the good pieces. To re-build, you need the thing intact- you have to pull nails a lot- sometimeds you can cut the nails from the studs and beams but mostly, you pull and pry.

Actually "all that beautiful wood" is what got me started on the idea in the first place- lots and lots of shiplapped oldgrowth redwood. When I finished it, it was beautiful. Of course I moved two years later. Someone , I'm sure, is really enjoying this lovely old barn.

geo in mi · #17 04/01/10, 04:02 PM

If my grandfather had built it, yes....

Wolf mom · #18 04/02/10, 11:03 AM

I dunno - he didn't seem to think it was a problem. His attitude seems to be if this is what ya' gotta' do - it's what you gotta' do. Just an ol' cowboy.

Mel- · #19 04/02/10, 11:06 AM

my dad did that when I was in highschool. he owned a gas station so paid employees to go over and help. me and my sisters spent that summer helping too. if I remember right, he took it down in sections. cut big wall sections whole and left them in tact and then reassembled at new place ( I wasn't involved in this part).

I was 15 at the time and hated every minute of it though I was far from a girly girl

so, NOOOOO I would never dismantle a barn and move it !

**highlands** · #20 04/02/10, 12:05 PM

We did this. The old barn didn't become one new barn but rather we carved it into pieces and used those to build several other structures. Some of the timbers are still left for future projects. Thousands of dollars worth of materials saved. Plus we saved the cost of disposal of materials. See:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2009/06...oof-going.html
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2009/08/shed-down.html
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2009/11...tain-farm.html

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa