Take Down - Put back up.

[theboman]

My brother did this. Identical to size that had been standing nearly 30 years.

He stripped off all the metal. Unattached the trusses (that's where I helped). A rope/chain and a tractor did most of the work, we guided things along.

This is where I learned what concrete does to posts. Any post in the ground had rotted nest to the top of the ground, all the posts not concreted were solid and in pretty good, the posts were 4X6 treated or trees of similar sizes (I think oak and popular).

He stacked them all up and repaired anything that needed repaired then build a block foundation on a footer and rebuilt at a better location (level). He used the metal sides as the interior walls, ceilings in the paint room (for when he paints things).

 

[ldabe]

Theboman,
Thanks for the input.
I have heard about the rotting associated with cement before. I am not sure if these posts on the building I will be doing has cement around the posts, or as a footer. There is a concrete floor that was poored after the building was put up. So there is at ground level (above ground actually) three sides of the post that have concrete up against the post. But also, this building is only a little over a year old.

Also, the place it will be reconstructed is mostly sandy soil. I don't plan on using concrete around the posts.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Theboman,
Thanks for the input.
I have heard about the rotting associated with cement before. I am not sure if these posts on the building I will be doing has cement around the posts, or as a footer. There is a concrete floor that was poored after the building was put up. So there is at ground level (above ground actually) three sides of the post that have concrete up against the post. But also, this building is only a little over a year old.

Also, the place it will be reconstructed is mostly sandy soil. I don't plan on using concrete around the posts.

You going to hear good and bad about concrete against the posts. Soil conditions and PT post retention rates play a big part. One of the builders that I worked with in the past used precast pads on tamped soil for a footer. He would pour concrete around the post. He claimed that water would drain through that "seam" between the footer pad and the pour.

The one thing I would do it make sure that the posts have some means to minimize uplift, especially with sandy soil. That could be galvanized angle bolted to them with stainless fasteners or predrilled blocks of PT lumber.

By the way, when you get to putting the barn back up, determine the type of treated lumber if applicable. For PT, make sure the fasteners are rated for it. The newer ACQ will eat hardware.

 

[ldabe]

Qrtrhrs,
Thanks for the tips, I appreciate all the input I can get.

 

[frwinks]

we took down a 30x40 barn a few years ago.. the bonus was that we had to work around the guys inventory of lawn care products while at it ( it was too heavy for my NH to move out....


I tried a number of different pullers and found that the smallest one worked the best (without damaging the tin). There were a few stubborn ones that got tweaked, but worked great for the most part... buy a few of them though...after about 1000 nails, they get a lil' tired...lol



my lovely, happy helper...


end of day one


by mid next day we were ready to pull the truses, with the help of a few buddies, we got them off in a couple of hrs..




day three, we pulled all the posts and moved the barn to it's new location, about 50km away. We were lucky as the posts were only backfilled with clear stone, 4ft down, so we were able to save them full length without chipping away concrete or cutting them at grade. Just use the 3pt to lift them out and have the biggest guy around haul them away...


it took us three days, with only my gf and I on day one pulling all the tin. I'm convinced we would've had it done in two days having more people on day one. It's a fun project and if it's saving you thousands of $$$ and saving the structure from the wrecking ball, then everybody wins IMO
at it's new home.... still to be put up

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

To easily remove nailed wood framing (girts, purlins, bracing etc.) during dis-assembly, get yourself one of those big plastic-headed lead shot-filled 10 lb. dead-blow sledge hammers.
They help prevent the lumber from splitting when knocking off boards.
I always find that trying to use a crowbar or wrecking bar to pry off nailed lumber, the wood usually splits. With a pole building, you can get behind most of the framing in order to swing the sledge. Works fast too and you'll preserve more lumber for re-use.

 

[newbury]

To GUARANTEE removal of nails, screws, staples and other fasteners nothing beats a Milwaukee Sawzall.
I had a 16x12 deck nailed down 24 years ago w/ annular ringed nails. They don't pull out.
I had a 15x10x8'H shed I replaced the plywood sides on, well nailed, by me 22 years ago.
Get that sawzall between the support and the flat material and it's like cutting butter.
For the deck I tried pulling out a few nails, then just cut it all.

 

[PBinWA]

You may want to buy these tools:

The Malco tool is kind of light duty and doesn't last too long but it might be worth it to sacrifice one of these for the project. You can ram them in and cut the nails pretty well:

Amazon.com: Malco SNCXXX Siding Nail Cutter: Home Improvement

This tool also looks nice and heavy duty:

Amazon.com: Knipex 6101200 8-Inch High Leverage End Cutters - Bolt Cutters: Home Improvement

 

[frwinks]

You can ram them in...

I don't think you want to be ramming anything into the thin gauge tin they use nowadays... I tried all those listed above, and found the little pry bar the best tool for this job. Depending on how much of this material you'r planning on reusing, the sawzall will chew up some of the tin or the wood...

 

[foggy1111]

Idabe....I recently had a pole building put up on my land. The crew screwed the metal on the sidewalls but nailed the roof.

The crew had a "nail puller gadget" which they used to pull about two nails. I wish I had a pic for you....but if I remember right they had a claw to grab the nail head with a chain on it which was atttached to a pipe which had a wide wood base....which was in turn countoured to match the ribs in the steel.

I wonder if other crews would'nt have such a gadget you could see or borrow? To me, taking out all those ring shank nails is going to be a problem without the right tools.

FWIW.....we also had a pole building moved several years ago (errr.....like 40 years ago). Was a piece of cake moving it with an implement truck. Simply cut the poles off with a chain saw and attached to new poles along side....if I remember right.