Putting the Barn Under Tension (Jacking it up)

Our house moving crew's first task was to put the barn under tension; lifting it 6 inches and fully supporting it with steel beams so that we could remove all of the basement walls.  Five beams (40' each) are installed running North/South close to the five lines of structure (3 bents/2 gables).  Two beams (50' each) are placed beneath and perpendicular to the first beams to support them and to allow the barn to be leveled easily.  Another set of beams parallel and below the second beams are installed as tracks. They extend 20 feet beyond the barn and will support it on its move to the West.

Reinforcing Beams before Jacking

In preparation for jacking up the barn and moving it we needed to reinforce the 8x8 beams in the basement.  They had unsupported scarf joints and were rotten on the east end where they contacted the poured concrete wall.  We thru bolted LVL's on either side of the beams they cantilevered out under the east gable where they had rotted away.  This was critical because when we jack up the building these LVL's will carry the gable end.

Andrew and Dave spent a day and a half on the end of a jackhammer making the 4 holes necessarily for the LVL's to pass through the 20inch thick concrete. Totally brutal and by far the the most physical work to date

Getting Ready for the Move

We took advantage of the nice weather and removed the siding on the lower level and cut holes in the walls where steel beams must be placed to jack up and move the barn.  Once the barn is lifted a few inches the walls below get removed.

Interior Demolition and Salvage

Salvaging wood at upper level of barn

All boards have been removed exposing the timber frame structure and wall framing.

A Great Find!

While scraping the basement boards I came across this note written in pencil on one of the boards! "1891 May 23 Young cow served by Hunt's bull". Awesome.

Salvaged Wood

We removed 3000 board feet of whitewashed bead board from the basement ceiling and walls and took it back to the shop where we spent weeks reclaiming it. They were absolutely filthy! Each board was hand scraped and wire brushed. Then nails removed and the boards gone over with a metal detector before they were put through the planer. We planed the bead off as it was impossible to clean out thoroughly and they are now ready to be put back in the barn as wall paneling.

Barn Board - Before and After

We've salvaged lots of barn-board from the barn. The sample on the right is an old dirty floor board; the sample on the left is the same board after it has been planed and oiled. We will use the salvaged boards for the interior wall finish. The floors will be poured concrete and thick, salvaged thick Hemlock planks.