Advise on Old Barn

[jdjdjd]

Recently purchased property with an old pole barn. Today I went out and found this:





No plans to rebuild but wondering if is better to hire someone to tear it down and remove the debris or if I should try to salvage some of the posts and sheet metal?

JD in Texas

 

[MIKE R]

I would try to salvage the metal and the toilet. There is enough metal there you would probably get a few hundred worth of scrap.

 

[dave1949]

If you have a foreseeable use for the posts for fencing or whatever, some posts, or parts of some if they are cracked, would be worth saving.

Same with the tin I guess. You could stack it up and run a craig's list ad or the like. Or scrap it.

Did the recent snow and ice cave the roof in? It's heavy stuff.

 

[Western]

I'm with the previous posters, I would save what looks to have some life left. Roof panels look pretty gone, but sides look OK. Post are always nice to have laying around. I sure would keep that meter pole, some cash right there.

 

[jdjdjd]

If you have a foreseeable use for the posts for fencing or whatever, some posts, or parts of some if they are cracked, would be worth saving.

Same with the tin I guess. You could stack it up and run a craig's list ad or the like. Or scrap it.

Did the recent snow and ice cave the roof in? It's heavy stuff.

No snow, just freezing rain and sleet. Lots of weight.
Went out this morning with the tractor to break ice on the ponds. Barn was OK then. Went back this afternoon to feed steers and barn was down.
I will have to wait for the ice to melt before I can go inside and look around.
Just trying to figure out how to dismantle it safely.
Now I am thinking there might be enough salvage to build a loafing shed or two.

 

[dave1949]

No snow, just freezing rain and sleet. Lots of weight.
Went out this morning with the tractor to break ice on the ponds. Barn was OK then. Went back this afternoon to feed steers and barn was down.
I will have to wait for the ice to melt before I can go inside and look around.
Just trying to figure out how to dismantle it safely.
Now I am thinking there might be enough salvage to build a loafing shed or two.

Being that's all ice and sleet, that would be one heavy roof load. They do go down sometimes.

We've had big laminated wood beams spanning a school gym crack from snow and ice load, and they are supposed to be engineered for our conditions. Every winter when the conditions are right and folks don't get their roofs rakes or shoveled, a few go down around here too.

 

[GYPSY]

disconnect any power/hydro and pull well away, strip the metal, stack it on skids and chain saw it down to the ground. push into a pile and burn that old wood into a dust pile. biggest prob is all the nails that come from an old building as such. in your feet, tractor tires and seems to find there way everywhere after, nails that is. keep an eye out on craiglist or some site as such for metal detectors, start looking for nails. i hate nails and so do my tires.

 

[Western]

They make magnets just for picking up nails. I had one that would pull them from 3" under ground if it was sandy.

 

[smstonypoint]

biggest prob is all the nails that come from an old building as such.

So, make sure that your tetanus vaccination is current.

Steve

 

[MotorSeven]

Salvage that tin, you will be glad you did. It comes in handy for many projects and it you decide you don't need anymore, sell it, don't scrap it.

 

[GYPSY]

So, make sure that your tetanus vaccination is current.

Steve

absolutely, forgot to mention that, make sure your up to date on it. i had one just puncture my foot, wrong foot wear, my bad. excellent advice

 

[jdjdjd]

Thanks for all the advise. After all the ice melts I will just take my time and pull it apart a little at a time.
I will try to remember to take pictures of the progress and post them here.

JD in Texas

 

[oosik]

jd,
Around this neck of the woods folks pay REAL GOOD MONEY for old barn wood. I had an old two story barn - probably 18 x 30 and a builder paid me over $2500 for the outside wall boards. They were 10', 12' & 14' by 12" - one inch thick pine boards. He came with his truck and salvaged them himself. He dressed them up and used them to panel the walls in a rec room of a very expensive home he was building. I know the old barn was built when this property was homesteaded in 1882.

 

[SanDucerro]

Went out this morning with the tractor to break ice on the ponds. Barn was OK then. Went back this afternoon to feed steers and barn was down.

Ah Ha! So the barn fell when no one was around and it didn't make a sound...

I'm with the others who say keep it. I wish I had one on my property right now that I could scrap out. We built a temporary green house using cattle panels and the wind darn near destroyed the whole thing. If I had the tin I could have made a make shift wind break...

 

[Stimw]

The good thing about pole barns is they are cheap to put up for the storage space that you gain.
I would think that repairing it would be far better than removing it?
I vote for repair.