Renovation of an old Bank Barn

[Dave5264]

Hi folks, im contemplating my next big project at the Farm.

I have a big gambrel roof bank barn, 32' x 70' , huge Hay Mow on top and old Cattle stalls below. aprox 1920's

-Upper structure is good
-Floors of the Mow/ceiling of the stalls are 50/50 - some beams need to be repaced
- big issue is the foundation wall of the lower stalls - its cracking and caving in.

Once you remove the livestock, the heat isnt there and so the harsh northern winters cause the frost to heave it.

The real issue is cost to repair it. little wonder there are fewer and fewer of these barns, the quotes to repair the wall are off the charts.

I got one quote at $70,000 CAD to re pour the concrete walls
I got another quote at $50,000 CAD to replace with Concrete Block

both quotes include jacking up, removal of the old walls and, new footings.

at that price I can build 2 new pole barns.

so...what to do....

I love to "look" of these old barn's , it would be a shame to lose a piece of history. Im contemplating on learnig to lay Concrete block. There is a small Grainary on the side of the barn which has the worst of the wall damage which would be easiest to learn on.

thoughts from the members here ?

 

[seymojo536]

Rent the movie; "The Money Pit"

You will be staring in the remake. Old barns are wonderful, but once they get past a certain point of non-maintenance, it's better to let them go.

 

[dave1949]

Sounds like you would rather try to save it than let it go. Some pics would help folks give you an honest opinion.

If you can stabilize the walls, even temporarily by doing a little fixing and a little shoring up; and keep the roof reasonably rain tight, you should be able to hold it in it's present state for a good while. That would give time to work on it here and there as time and budget permits.

Old barns are way cool, but no doubt a big expense and endless work.
Dave.

 

[DanD78]

Barns are a money pit. When we bought our place the previous owners wanted nothing to do with the barn and I thoughtit was a selling point. No one said I was smart. I replaced the roof along with a lot of wood, all new windows, all the doors, 80% of the loft floor and a coat of paint. I did this over a span of 5 years. When we moved in all the windows were out, no doors and holes in the roof large enough for birds to fly in and out. This barn was built in 1917. It is not a post and beam but is built from 2x10s and such. I just had the roof replaced torn off with heavy fake shakes for $11,000 If nothing else keep the roof in shape. That will save the interior.

I think they are worth restoring. There are only a hand full left in my area and I get a lot of comments about how it looks. I do have one side set up for animals and the other side as a wood shop. The center drive is where I keep the 3320 and the trucks. I have had as many as 1200 bales of hay in the loft with tons of room left over.

The pictures were taken during a Ice storm we had a few years back.
Dan

 

[Dave5264]

Beautiful barn Dan, nice Job.

this is the only pic I have just now, the worst wall is hidden by the Tractor (front wall of the Grainary), however the front wall with the window (behind the bend in the FEL arms) is now cracked too.

I Had the wall on the far side of the grainary pulled back straight 3 yrs ago and butressed from the inside, but it too has started to fail agian....too much clay, needs digging out and repl with sand to withstand the frost heave

eves trough added 3 yrs ago to keep water away

roof has been repaired several times over the past few yrs to keep water out

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I love those old barns, but gotta cost a fortune to maintain. A neighbor just redid one here, but dont think he had foundatin problems. One down the road just got repainted as part of a competition where people voted. One across the road from me has stone sides, but is in vast need of repair, probably too far gone. it is on a lot for sale.

 

[DanD78]

To better answer your question about which foundation I would go with the poured walls with plenty of rebar and footings below the frost line. If you can live with out the windows in the poured walls that would save some $ and reduce the chances of cracking. You may want to put doors in different places or change the floor plan a little.

Dan

 

[toy]

Is it the cinder block wall that is cracked or is the wood walls giving way to? If the bottom part where the windows is the part that is cracking and it is cinder block and it is cracking at the joints could you take a chisel and knock out a little of the mortar around the blocks at a time and mix up some mortar pack it back in between the blocks until you have its joints repaired? After doing that could you fill in up on the blocks on the outside enough to get you a little below the frost line and slope the fill away from the barn? Could you get away with just putting fill dirt on the outside as I described or would you have to fill in some on the inside as well. If filling in around the foundation on the outside with dirt after you had replaced the grout joints wouldn't that be a cheaper method of taking care of the problem? I would hate to see you lose your big barn, I hope you can save her. I like old barns.

 

[dave1949]

To address the foundation issues - if frost is the problem - you could consider using the shallow frost-protected foundation methods. Basically an apron of 2" thick extruded foam sheets around the perimeter inside and out for an unheated building. These go under about 18" of soil, so you don't see them or worry about tearing them up.

Foam isn't cheap, ~$25 USD per 4x8 sheet, but cheaper than concrete work. If you google 'shallow frost protected foundation' you will get lots of info.

www.buildingfoundation.umn.edu/MHFAfrostFoundation.htm
Dave.

 

[Egon]

If you are having frost heave problems be prepared to spend money to fix the problem.

It would sound like you will have to have new foundation walls set on a base that starts below the frost level. Anything else ands it may just be a temporary fix.