Lynn Kasdorf
09-12-2006, 11:11 AM
After a bunch-o-bux, and work and hassle and tool theft and recovery and mess work and work and more work, my 1849 bank barn project is getting close to being a shop!
This year, I added a 16'x50' slab and roof to the high side of this old bank barn. This now keeps water totally away from the foundation, which had been admitting some water into the downstairs during a big rainstorm. The guttering on the barn, and grading improvements help here as well.
We re-sided the whole thing in 1x12 white oak board and batten. Boy dats a bunch of work! But- it is super strong, authentic, and hopefully will outlast me. And lawdy do these things shrink! Boards that started out 12 1/2" green are now 11 1/2 or less.
I've been using a lot of steel on this project. I had to reinforce several very questionable old M&T joints that had seen years of weather. Even white oak eventually rots! I replace the wood where feasible and if not, I reinforce it with cutom made steel brackets.
Since many of the joints are not exactly 90 degrees (!) I generally cut the steel pieces, clamp them to the wood, and tack weld with a small ac welder in order to achieve a perfect fit. Then I take down and mig weld the bracket. Its very exciting welding around 150 year old oak! (lots of water and fire extinguishers at hand).
I have been scavenging windows. I snagged for free, 9 andersen casement windows. Some of which are vinyl covered wood and the flashing was destroyed when they sawzalled them out. I bent of new flashing out of aluminum (with my harbor freight shear/press brake/ slip roller) and they came out great.
The next big thing is to put in a loft in part of the barn. I'm gonna weld up big old braces to hold the 2 1/2x12x16' white oak beams for this.
Then, in the downstairs, I need to construct 4 double doors and hang them. The list goes on and on...but it is all managable.
Once all this construction is done come the part I've been looking forward to- figuring out where the machines will go, doing lighting, and electrical, running dust collection ducts, etc. And constructing built in benches and shelving and actually setting up shop! But this stuff will be a breeze compared to what I've been thru so far on this project!
When I can catch my breath, I'll post some pics.
This year, I added a 16'x50' slab and roof to the high side of this old bank barn. This now keeps water totally away from the foundation, which had been admitting some water into the downstairs during a big rainstorm. The guttering on the barn, and grading improvements help here as well.
We re-sided the whole thing in 1x12 white oak board and batten. Boy dats a bunch of work! But- it is super strong, authentic, and hopefully will outlast me. And lawdy do these things shrink! Boards that started out 12 1/2" green are now 11 1/2 or less.
I've been using a lot of steel on this project. I had to reinforce several very questionable old M&T joints that had seen years of weather. Even white oak eventually rots! I replace the wood where feasible and if not, I reinforce it with cutom made steel brackets.
Since many of the joints are not exactly 90 degrees (!) I generally cut the steel pieces, clamp them to the wood, and tack weld with a small ac welder in order to achieve a perfect fit. Then I take down and mig weld the bracket. Its very exciting welding around 150 year old oak! (lots of water and fire extinguishers at hand).
I have been scavenging windows. I snagged for free, 9 andersen casement windows. Some of which are vinyl covered wood and the flashing was destroyed when they sawzalled them out. I bent of new flashing out of aluminum (with my harbor freight shear/press brake/ slip roller) and they came out great.
The next big thing is to put in a loft in part of the barn. I'm gonna weld up big old braces to hold the 2 1/2x12x16' white oak beams for this.
Then, in the downstairs, I need to construct 4 double doors and hang them. The list goes on and on...but it is all managable.
Once all this construction is done come the part I've been looking forward to- figuring out where the machines will go, doing lighting, and electrical, running dust collection ducts, etc. And constructing built in benches and shelving and actually setting up shop! But this stuff will be a breeze compared to what I've been thru so far on this project!
When I can catch my breath, I'll post some pics.