Hello,
I recently bought a circa 1880's farmhouse in W. maine.The barn may or may not be on its last legs. Over the winter we had to have a new roof put on the kitchen/porch area and the roofer said the barn wasn't attached physically to the house. I take what he said with a grain of salt. I wasn't here when that was going on, so i wasn't able to see for myself. Anyway...to make a long story short, since the barn is so close (or attached) to the house, I'm concerned that it may fail and take part of the house with it. I've been reading Nash's book on restoring old homes and it seems as though I might be able to jack up the main posts and give them proper footings...redo the roof system with trusses or 2x6 rafters, and maybe replace or firm up a few of the posts. The thing is, the previous owner(s) didn't maintain this property at all. Beams and rafters wre removed from the barn to make a shed out back, proper drainage was neglected...all of the main support posts have been hacked at, portions removed and replaced with sistered 2x6's. Not knowing much about TF buildings at all, my impression is that this barn is a lost cause, and we would be better served to just slowly dismantle it over the summer. I've posted a link to framing pictures here, and can add more if need be:
http://moosebytes.com/BARN/ The size of the barn is 16 x 26, and it's 13' to the top of the upper plates. Any opinions would be appreciated. Money is a big issue, so I plan to do most of whatever-firm up or dismantle, by myself, a few hydrolic jacks, a winch or two, lots of 2x4's, and maybe a local guy with a tractor.
Thanks in advance.
Michael
