220 Years Gone In 30 Minutes

[BoylermanCT]

Demolition day finally arrived today. My 220 year old barn has been torn down to make way for a new barn. Took less than 30 minutes to reduce the barn to rubble. The old 2000 sq ft barn was too far gone to save. The new barn is 30x40 with a 30x30 lean to off the far peaked end. It’s sad to see the old barn go, but I am excited about getting the new barn up. Bought a pole barn kit for the new barn and all materials have been delivered and are ready to go up.

 

[kuschneider]

Would have loved to collect some timbers from that first

 

[Oaktree]

Yours didn't actually look too bad (or at least from what I could see in the photos) compared to a lot of ones around here. Roof, walls caving in.
Shame to see them deteriorate, but I get how/why people let them go...just re-roofing one of those old barns would likely cost a small fortune!

 

[clemsonfor]

Why did you tear it down?

 

[ruffdog]

It looked much better than my neighbor's horse barn!

 

[BoylermanCT]

Why did you tear it down?

Looks are deceiving. I kept it painted so it looked good from a distance but the rafters were sagging, main beams were sagging, posts were rotting, and it was leaning 8” from left to right from the top of the wall to the bottom. As it was coming down, beams were snapping in half from dry rot.

End of day 1. Barn is gone and all concrete has been dug up. On Monday they will finish by hauling off the concrete. We start digging holes for the pole barn next week.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Would have loved to collect some timbers from that first

I had it listed on Craigslist for free wood to anyone who wanted it for over 2 months. Called a dozen reclaimed wood companies including Barnwood Builders. No one wanted the wood as it was not hand hewn. Seems reclaimers are picky in New England!

I did sell the sliding doors and 8x8x8 walk in cooler to a friend at work.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Yours didn't actually look too bad (or at least from what I could see in the photos) compared to a lot of ones around here. Roof, walls caving in.
Shame to see them deteriorate, but I get how/why people let them go...just re-roofing one of those old barns would likely cost a small fortune!

Estimates to remove roof and replace all rafters, decking and shingles were over $30k. And that did not address the walls, posts and other structural issues. Was much cheaper to demo and start over.

 

[Thomas]

Bet the barn had some history to tell if it could have talk.

 

[ruffdog]

Estimates to remove roof and replace all rafters, decking and shingles were over $30k. And that did not address the walls, posts and other structural issues. Was much cheaper to demo and start over.

From a distance, a pretty red barn looks good until you take a closer look.