Barn roofing question.

[hennydamule]

Well, I'm going to try and save the 250+ yr. old barn, but I've got to do it at minimal cost. I've got rot in a number of the beams, and the first step is to prevent further moisture infiltration, hence the roof. Currently, there are ancient wood shingles up there, but they're more moss than shingle. Actually, I'm still trying to figure out how they're even up there, since there's no subroofing. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I was thinking of putting some corrugated metal up there. If people think that this is a good/cost effective idea, could someone point me in the right direction as to where I should get some. Otherwise, if people have better ideas, I'm open to them!

Many Thanks in Advance!
Hen

PS I did a search and couldn't find anything, but I have a feeling it's out there.

 

[RCannon]

If you have rot already, is it safe to walk around up there? I would think the first thing is to beef up those beams.

About a month after my current neighbor moved in to the old farm house we had a pretty good wind storm and a lot of shingles came off of the old hip roof barn. He settled with his insurance company and decided to have his nephew re-shingle it. The nephew had the delivery company put all the shingles in the center for easy access. WRONG! The young man was off that roof about 2 minutes when the entire roof collapsed! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif He was a little shell shocked to say the least.
be careful.

 

[phantom309]

Hi Hen-

We're lucky enough to have a manufacturer of metal roofing here in town. Perhaps there is a Mueller location near you?

If not, you might just look in the yellow pages under "metal". We have numerous scrap and other metal dealers that also sell metal roofing.

Good luck with your barn!

Mark

 

[rambler]

Lumber yards. The box stores (Menards, Lohes, Hme depot, ...) or if you are in a more agricultural area, shop the building suppliers/ builders.

If your roof sub-system is in good shape you can place 2x4's arcross the roof every 2' and screw the metal to the 2x4s. You can leave the old wood shingles as is.

However, if you mean the beams up on the roof line are rotted, you need to address that first, as others said.

--->Paul

 

[Mark4510]

I think I would mirror the concern that it might not be safe up there so check that first.

There is a shed manufacturer in our area that buys metal roofing in different sizes in large lots and its not uncommon if he has odd lengths lying around that he will either give them away or sell them. Sometimes he actually has a fair amount in the same color. You might check into that if the budget is limited.

Best of luck,
Mark

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> Actually, I'm still trying to figure out how they're even up there, since there's no subroofing. </font>
Isn't there skip sheathing, i.e., boards that look like furring strips (or wider) running perpendicular to the rafters?

As others have said, make sure the rafters are in good shape before doing anything.

Out house is over 100 years old, and it had skip sheathing, with wooden shingles covered by a standing seam tin roof when we replaced it with plywood and architectural shingles. We had the roofer go down to the rafters because I was not sure the rafters could hold a new roof. The rafters had bowed over the past century so our new roof has 'character'. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I also discovered there was no ridge beam, the rafters met at the top and were pegged together.

My advice is to get a pro in to make a recommendation.