This Old Barn

[bindian]

Awesome thread. Keep the photos coming, please.
hugs, Brandi

 

[EddieWalker]

Really enjoy seeing your pictures and what you are having to deal with in how it was built. Very impressive!!!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I’ve always known those as cut nails. We have a lot in old buildings.

 

[two_bit_score]

I’ve always known those as cut nails. We have a lot in old buildings.

It’s what I’ve always heard them called also.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I’ve always known those as cut nails. We have a lot in old buildings.

Here's an interesting* article about the history of nails and how to date a building based on how the nails were made:
Antique Nails: History & Photo Examples of Old Nails Help Determine Age of a Structure, Old Cut Nails

They're called cut nails because they were cut off of a flat bar by a shear. They are made from wrought iron, which has a grain. The grain runs the length of the nail, which means they were made after 1830 when a new process was invented for cutting nails; prior to that they cut across the grain. The heads appear to be hand forged because they are irregular, which means they probably aren't much older than that, because head-shaping machines came a few years later. It's a little-known fact that Rhode Island was the most industrialized state in the country in the 19th century so they were likely to be using the latest technology. All of this supports a construction date of around 1850.

Where the barn uses metal fasteners they are cut nails. The framing either uses no fasteners, or trenails -- "tree nails" -- wooden pegs. Cut nails are used for the siding and flooring. What is remarkable about these nails is just how big they are, they're like spikes. The flooring in the loft is 1x and uses nails that look like what we'd use today, as does the siding.

*(sentences like this really make my kids roll their eyes.)

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Interesting article, thanks.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I got a little more time today to work on the floor. I'm working on the section that has the trap door, which I talked about way back in post #30. I had done all the repairs to the framing with the floorboards on because otherwise I would have had no place to stand. This is what it looks like with the flooring off.

Since the cellar is just fieldstone it can be a bit damp at certain times of year, so I'm treating all of the old framing with a borate solution to inhibit rot and insects. But the inside of the barn is so dirty I can't get it to stick unless I wash the wood first. This picture was after I had washed the beams and applied the borate solution which is why everything is so shiny.

I decided to keep the trap door operable, so I made a frame out of 2x4's and cut a hole in the Advantech. I doubt I will ever open it but I do feel an obligation to preserve as many historic details as I can. Using the Advantech was a big compromise for me. I actually looked into getting rough cut 2x lumber, and at the time it was only slighly more than the Advantech, about $1.30 per square foot compared to a dollar. But rough lumber just doesn't make a very good floor, cracks will open up with time, it's hard to sweep and it's not going to be level. Advantech is really good stuff, with the tongue and groove edges it joins together into a solid sheet that is a nice solid floor. I believe that the best way to preserve historic buildings is to make them useful, and I intend to use this building.

The trap door isn't much to look at from the top, it's just a square cut out of the flooring. If you look carefully you can see the pencil marks I made where the 2x4 frame goes under it to guide my nailing. It's a conversation piece, I guess.

 

[MossRoad]

Seems every horror/suspense movie ever made that features a barn, someone uses a trap door sooner or later. Glad you kept it. :laughing:

Outstanding job of descriptions by the way. Thanks. :thumbsup:

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Seems every horror/suspense movie ever made that features a barn, someone uses a trap door sooner or later. Glad you kept it. :laughing:

Outstanding job of descriptions by the way. Thanks. :thumbsup:

Thanks. I compose the posts in my head as I work as a way of passing the time.

 

[two_bit_score]

Seems every horror/suspense movie ever made that features a barn, someone uses a trap door sooner or later. Glad you kept it. :laughing:

Outstanding job of descriptions by the way. Thanks. :thumbsup:

And the vast majority of suspense/ horror movies, I suspect, have an old barn in them.