My Fiancee and I are home shopping and fell in love with barns. we did lots of research and came across one in a good area. We will be getting an inspection, an architects advice, and have the help of a couple who has gone through the process.

The Barn we found has never had any occupants. It is 180 years old, has some cracks in the stone walls, some rotted beams, rotted wooded exterior planks, and a stone foundation that may need some work. The Barn offers all that we want in a home but we do not know if what we are looking at is worth anything, or how it compares to other 180 year old barns. What are the key factors to determining if a barn is worth investing in?

Land,

Your question requires significantly more time and space to respond to comprehensively than we have here. That said, I will try to cover some of the key issues, and hopefully other contributors can suppliment the dialoque.

When I am asked to do a barn inspection for any reason, the very first thing I look for is the itegrity of the artifact itself. It is uncommon for the steward of a barn, or someone who is considering becoming one, to be able to read the history from the evidence. This is due to the fact that very few barns are intact, and interpreting the modifications and effects of aging requires many years of experience.

Although barns come in a great variety of shapes and sizes, they are all utility buildings. Consequently they are moved, modified, expanded and "improved" in any number of ways, and by individuals with varied levels of skill. Typically, the original framework was done by a skilled carpenter. Very early modifications usually were too. Unfortunately, the more recent the work, the less likely it is it was done well. Inspection from the road usally shows the recent additions as the parts that are sagging or falling down entirely, while the original barn is normally straight and true.

By figuring out what parts of the barn are original, (as best you can) and what modifications have occurred, you know where to look for problems. Were timbers removed (particularly braces)? Were timbers modified to accept additions? Was the roof changed, and if so has it been leaking from poor flashing work? Are added timbers increasing the load on older timbers beyond their capacity or in a bad location? These are all important and critical questions.

It is also important that someone considering becoming the steward of an historic structure consider how well suited it is for their intended use. Barns are, for the most part, large roofs over haystacks. Older barns were designed for loose hay. Newer barns were designed for bailed hay. Sadly, many older barns have been significantly modified to carry the extreme weight of bailed hay, or worse, weren't. The results can be catastrophic failure. If you plan to apply residential level loading to the mow floor, it can very likely handle it, if it is intact. If however, you are considering "lofting" areas to creat second floor rooms, you better have an architect or engineer (or both) take a good look at where and how the loads will be supported.

Foundation work is it's own specialty, and I will not claim to be an expert in that area. You should hire someone as a consultant who is. I would warn however that the interface between the foundation and timber frame is likely to show more deterioration than any other part of the frame. Sill timbers rarely have a chance to dry out completely. The sill along the bank or main barn door rarely survives more than a few decades. I have seen some pretty horrific attempts to repair them.

In closing, let me give you some simple advice. Do not expect people who you ask to come out and give you a "free" quote to provide you with the input you need. Hire professionals to inspect the building you are interested in, and pay them for their time and travel. Remember, barns are historic artifacts. They are not a resource for materials. Many will be lost to neglect. Some will survive when a new use is found for them. Few will be honored and protected the way they deserve. Tread lightly and respectfully. Your barn/home will reward you for it.

Rudy R. Christian

Rudy

Thanks for that post, it addresses the question I had posted to the general forum.

You suggest hiring a professional for inspection, do you know people in the Vermont area that do this kind of work?

Also, do you know of any publications on the subject of re-using barn frames for homes? I'd like to delve into this subject a little deeper before I start looking at frames.

I found a company once located in Maine that buys old barns, dismantles them, repairs them and then sells them. You can view photos and sometimes videos of the barn being dismantled. These barns can be used as homes or barns. I entered barns in a search engine and found it, you'll get hundreds of hits with that search title but if you look at the descriptions you'll find it. Good luck.

I would suggest calling Will Beemer at the Timber Framers Guild office 413-623-9926 and order a copy of the Timber Frame Resource Guide. There are listings for several restoration specialists including Jan Lewandoski who is a Vermonter.

As far as a do-it-yourself guide to barn inspection and conversion, there are none I am aware of. You can do some some related reading.

Robert F. Ensminger's "The Pennsylvania Barn" is a very good book on one of the midwest's most classic barn forms.

Hubert Wilhelm's "Barns of the Midwest" introduces the ethnic origins of the barn builders.

"Barn" by Endersby, Greenwood and Larkin is a beautiful book which includes wonderful photographs of converted barns.

Your best bet to get information first hand would be to attend the TTRAG conference in Stanton Virginia in March. Hugh Wilhelm is one of the speakers and many specialists in historic timber frames will be there. Check the website for details.

I'm sorry not to have seen this post earlier. I hope this response is still timely. - Period Homes, a magazine of resources for residential architects, lists companies who dismantle and reuse barns in every issue.
In my experience (I'm an architect and have converted a barn into a house) the problem with old barns ( beyond Rudy's excellent list) is that their structural integrity is hard to measure by modern engineering standards - something local building inspectors may require.