Hayloft is Crashing Down! Help!

[GPintheMitten]

It was mentioned before but was it screwed or nailed? I never knew this until recently but joists cannot be screwed by code due to shear stress.

They were nailed. None of joists hangers came away from the rim joists/carrier. None of the nails sheered.

 

[GPintheMitten]

This is really good advice, and I suggest that you follow it. If it was your barn, and you repaired it, that would be no big deal. Liability is pretty much on you anyway, unless the barn is brand new and still under warranty or something. If you're a renter, I would not perform a repair this major, unless I was a bonded and insured professional. Let the owner handle the repairs.

Well, I have mentioned more than once I'm not going to do the repairs. And I'm done with it altogether. All I did was temporarily shore it up to hopefully prevent more sagging or total collapse. Where the owner and contractor take it from here is up to them. His plan is to take off my temporary shoring during his project. I could not in good conscience, leave it in the precarious
situation I found it. Someone, possibly my daughter or one of her students could have walked under it and gotten killed. I dont regret what I did.

 

[radioman]

Your landlord sounds like a great guy. In a sane world he should want to handle the rebuilding, he's the one who will live with it. The Amish fellow is probably thinking "those English don't know how to build." :laughing:

When it is rebuilt correctly, the loft should add a lot of structural strength to the building, loaded or not. And it really isn't going to be expensive to put right. Nobody got hurt, a little excitement, a little sweat, it gets fixed, the way life should be.

I agree with everything here .!

Well, I have mentioned more than once I'm not going to do the repairs. And I'm done with it altogether. All I did was temporarily shore it up to hopefully prevent more sagging or total collapse. Where the owner and contractor take it from here is up to them. His plan is to take off my temporary shoring during his project. I could not in good conscience, leave it in the precarious
situation I found it. Someone, possibly my daughter or one of her students could have walked under it and gotten killed. I dont regret what I did.

sounds like a plan and its exactly what i would have done.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I was very relieved at how the landlord responded to everything. I could not have asked for better.

It was a bit nerve racking the last few days, but I'm extremely grateful that no one got hurt and that the failure wasn't worse.

I'm also extremely grateful for all the support and wise advice from you all. Thank you.

I'll post back in a week or two hopefully with pics of the new improved loft structure.

 

[gengine]

Yes, please post back with updates! as said, that wasn't built for that kind of weight, although most people wouldn't recognize that, especially if there had been hay there in the past. The joists should have been sitting on headers, sitting on the posts, with cross bracing every 4'. The hurricane hangers aren't worth the steel they are stamped from, IMHO. I'm very glad nobody got hurt.

 

[LD1]

One thing I have been wanting to know, and it is hard to describe, but I found a picture.


Were the joists nailed like this

 

[sdkubota]

The landlord might not be so easy to get along with once the insurance tells him they are not paying for anything. Remain guarded with your words and daughters words.

 

[GPintheMitten]

One thing I have been wanting to know, and it is hard to describe, but I found a picture.

Were the joists nailed like this <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=278242"/>

Yes. Good picture.

 

[GPintheMitten]

The landlord might not be so easy to get along with once the insurance tells him they are not paying for anything. Remain guarded with your words and daughters words.

I understand. We are being cautious.

 

[SPYDERLK]

If the "rim board"/headers werent nailed to each-other about every foot, and mearly just nailed at the posts, there was very little resistance to them bowing out. A 2x10 over a 10 or 12 foot span dont take much to bow out in the 2" direction. And the second board would add little strength to that if they werent "laminated" to each other.

The beam UNDER the joists so it dont have to rely on hangers is how it should have been built in the first place.:thumbsup:

Yes. And its not so much a bow as a twist - outward at the bottom. The downforce is brought to bear well off the center of the header. If fastening had been provided to also make suitable use of the joists as tension members this would not have happened. Hangers fall far short in this area.
larry