Pole Barn Help

[fletchf]

Making an offer on some property that has a 40x60 out building. I was thrilled with the size until I went inside. Quite a few rafters/trusses on one side are broken and/or sagging. They cut out originals on one end to make it higher and it looks like it put too much pressure on the other end. Easy fix or should I walk away? Could easily add beams with poles to raise it back up but that would sacrifice floor space. Also, any good way to seal around hanging doors to keep critters out? Sorry for the large pictures, was hoping it would re-size them some.

Additional Pictures:
http://www.frfauto.com/pics/barn7.jpg
http://www.frfauto.com/pics/barn4.jpg
http://www.frfauto.com/pics/barn3.jpg
http://www.frfauto.com/pics/barn2.jpg
http://www.frfauto.com/pics/barn1.jpg

 

[mx1alex]

That thing is a hot mess!

 

[seymojo536]

If you're up for it. Best to take all the metal off, tear off those rafters and set new trusses. Then screw the metal back on. And smack the SOB that did that mod right in the nose.

 

[aczlan]

If you're up for it. Best to take all the metal off, tear off those rafters and set new trusses. Then screw the metal back on. And smack the SOB that did that mod right in the nose.

Agreed. You could re-create the original trusses and rebuild them (without taking things apart) that way, but IMO you would be time and money ahead to pull the roof off off and put new trusses up (2 day job for a good crew?).

Aaron Z

 

[oosik]

If I were doing it - tear off the roof, rebuild the rafters, reattach the roof. Unless the building is coming to you free with the land purchase I would certainly want to subtract the cost of repair of the building from the total cost. If this sale becomes a serious consideration - have an independent contractor's estimate of the cost to repair and subtract from the total package cost.

 

[s219]

Wow, it looks like they cut out the bottom chord of the trusses, not realizing that they handle quite a bit of lateral load (tension). What idiots.

 

[Billrog]

Take a good look at the pics. you would need to do more that just rebuild the roof those rafters are not sitting on any beams. Looks like you could salvage the metal and start from scratch.

 

[dave1949]

Take a good look at the pics. you would need to do more that just rebuild the roof those rafters are not sitting on any beams. Looks like you could salvage the metal and start from scratch.

It does look pretty sketchy all in all. I would put a negative value on the building, it's going to cost more than it's worth to fix or remove it, so subtract something from the property price beyond what a repair would cost. It has been butchered and wasn't built that well to begin with.

When I see such things on a property, I wonder what other stupid things have been done you can't see or haven't noticed yet. Beware.

 

[KennyG]

If the poles are good and there is good concrete, it's worth saving. Depending on the condition of the roof, you might be money ahead to replace the damaged trusses and put on a complete new roof. Not that much more cost.

 

[Fossil Farm]

If you purchase it, do not let your insurance agent inside the barn until it is fixed. They would red flag that in an instant.

 

[KennyG]

If you purchase it, do not let your insurance agent inside the barn until it is fixed. They would red flag that in an instant.

If you are getting a mortgage, make sure the appraiser understands what's going on. When I was refinancing they were concerned because I was working on the pole barn and had some missing trim. They were considering requiring it to be fixed before they would close on the load but then they came to their senses. Maybe having about 300K equity in the place made a difference.

 

[kevin37b]

Why is that beam on top of the trusses ?

 

[MacLawn]

Looks to me like the posts aren't so strong. I love to save things, but man, I don't know about this one. Foundation. On a pole building, aka, post and beam, the posts are ye foundation, right Eddie?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

The pessimist in me is not sure that roof was stoutly enough framed even before it was modified. It doesn't look like standard pole barn construction, it looks like it was made up on the spot. The pessimist also thinks that when a metal roof sags the nail or screw holes in the sheeting get elongated and it will never not leak. The pessimist also doesn't like what he sees of the wiring.

The optimist in me looks at the framing and sees it's all exposed, you could sister all of the broken, missing and modified pieces from below and get them back to original strength. There's negligible weight on those rafters when there's no snow on the roof, you should be able to jack a sister into place from below.

There really isn't much to a pole barn, they're designed to be cheap, cheap and more cheap. The roof and trusses probably represent about half of the value. How are the poles? I didn't get a feel from the picture. Are they straight? Is there any rot at the base? Any indication of settling? Based on the rest of the building I would be surprised if they were properly engineered, but if they've lasted this long and are in good condition they may be adequate.

I think it's going to be either a cheap job or a teardown. What I would do is a cold-eyed assessment of what kind of building you would end up with if you were able to restore it to its original condition. Are the posts good? Are the rafters and purlins adequately sized? If so, count and measure the number of pieces that need replacing, and price the wood at a lumberyard. Be honest with yourself about how long it would take to insert a sister, and multiply by the number of pieces. Consider the possibility that you might have to reskin the roof and what that would cost.

If you find you have to re-engineer the building it's a lost cause. If you find yourself contemplating new trusses you're going to be happier taking the building down and starting fresh. Depending on how frugal you are you may find it worthwhile to carefully disassemble the building and reuse some of the pieces. The siding and poles are probably sellable on Craigslist, the untreated lumber can be burned.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Those are rafters, not trusses. Look at pic2 again, there are poles in the middle, and a ridge beam. The side beam looks weak, but it's fixable.

 

[EddieWalker]

It would be an easy fix if you put in a couple of posts.

Eddie