Tearing down the old barn!

[First one]

I've never done anything like this before and could use any tips you have to offer. The barn is att. to the side of the house and about 2' away from the pole barn. The sills are all gone and the roof has a pretty good sag in the middle .The size is 30'x60' . I'll try and get some pic's on. I'm going to start taking off some of the old shingles on the end away from the house then some of the roof boards, but leave the beams . I'm going try and take the roof off first and work down. I could use some advice if you have any. I don't want to tear off the side of the old house or flatten my pole barn (or me!!)

 

[MikeInEburg]

I've taken a couple of barns/sheds down and discovered that they generally don't fall easily. Being in close proximity to house, I'd start with the roof and work toward the ground. Good luck!
Mike

 

[grnspot110]

I've done it in the past for the lumber. Basically, reverse from construction, provided you want to save any materials. ~~ grnspot110

 

[First one]

I just got the sm. shed down 10x12 that was on the side of it . Took the forks and slid them under the roof and picked up , came apart easy . Now that it's done ,I'll start on the barn. I'll strip off some shingles and see how far I get. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Argosy]

What type of construction is the barn?

I'm with MikeInEburg. Buildings can look pretty rough but still don't come down easy.

 

[First one]

What type of construction is the barn?

I'm with MikeInEburg. Buildings can look pretty rough but still don't come down easy.

The barn is a post and beam around 90 years old . Has ceder shingles ,then a mix of asphalt and asbestos over them. What a miss. The roof has leaked for years before I bought the place and the roofing boards are pretty bad in some places. I put up a second floor in half of it ,so I can use a step ladder to get to the top inside to cut the boards . It's way to gone to get up on the roof from the outside.The floor and sills are all gone, and some of the beams look as though they may be pretty bad also. I'm working on it now and will keep checking to see if I'm doing it wrong (still alive with nothing more than the loss of a little blood and skin)

 

[brin]

I would try to think 3 or 4 steps ahead as you tear it down...In other words..If I do this what will happen and keep thinking that as you go....something like each action has an opposite reaction and then no telling what else, especially if you are inside or close on the outside...take your time and be careful..not worth injury...Is it ?

 

[First one]

I would try to think 3 or 4 steps ahead as you tear it down...In other words..If I do this what will happen and keep thinking that as you go....something like each action has an opposite reaction and then no telling what else, especially if you are inside or close on the outside...take your time and be careful..not worth injury...Is it ?

brin, thanks for the warning. I left the end wall standing,for now and took out the roof section between the rafters near the end. I think if I just keep moving towards the house taking out each roof section, but maybe leaving the rafters up until I get a few sections ahead ? The second floor is only half of the barn, so after that it might be a little tricky. After I get the roof off , than the next step would be removing the second floor, than what? I guess start taken the walls down between the posts . I should be able to save some of the beams by taking out the pins to take it apart , I hope anyway.I looked up between the house and barn, and saw that there is very little holding it there. Another thing I've got to deal with is my fuse box is on the outside wall of the house inside the barn,I'll have to get that moved inside before I get to close to the house, or at least build something around it until I can get it moved. Still looking for any tips that might make it easier if there's such a thing. thanks

 

[PA hayseed]

Some of those beams may look a little rough, but milled back down and they make very nice lumber for furniture or a rustic styled addition. Good luck, demo is hard work (can be). Even harder trying to separate the good lumber from the bad.

Good beams go for nice money. Just saying. If you bother to save it, make sure to tarp it.

 

[Tony_S]

Has ceder shingles ,then a mix of asphalt and asbestos over them.

Asbestos is bad stuff. From what I understand, disposing of it [properly] is no trivial matter. You'd be wise to investigate the ramifications of dealing with it.
This could involve some serious PPE.

 

[First one]

Asbestos is bad stuff. From what I understand, disposing of it [properly] is no trivial matter. You'd be wise to investigate the ramifications of dealing with it.
This could involve some serious PPE.

Ya- know, I'm putting all Asbestos shingles on pallets right now until I find out just what I have to do to get rid of it . I knew when I picked up my clamp on forks they'd come in handy for this job .Has anyone had to deal with getting rid of asbestos materials lately ?

 

[JimRB]

Last house I saw torn down a few weeks ago had an asbestos abatement company clean up that mess before the house came down. Lots of plastic involved along with respirators rated for asbestos and tyvec suits, I think. No idea about how you get rid of the hazmat though.

 

[mojoinco]

Watched the abatement process on 'This Old House' a couple of weeks ago. Open your wallet.... Same with lead, it now had a national testing requirement from the EPA. We are having windows installed soon and had to have the window area inspected (home checking kit is not acceptable). Went ahead and had the whole house done. Found out that Mexican tile usually has a lot of lead in it (which ours did). Otherwise good to go. Found that only old high end paint had lead in it (stands up to mildew very well).

 

[AHNC]

I've done some of this. Given that you are so close to the house and new barn I think I'd take a loop or two of cable and wrap the perimeter. i'd then run a couple diagonal guys out to make sure that if that thing decides to go, you can keep it in the perimeter or the barn and not in the perimeter of the house. It happens so... Are you looking to save the beams by driving out the pegs and disassembling that way or are you going to just cut them flush. There are companies that will pay you for your barn and take it down. Well, there used to be. 90 year old wood is pretty terrific. Is it chestnut?

You may find it is to ricketty to bring it down piece by piece. Nothing in that barn is worth so much as a fingernail and given that the structure is all ready weakened there is no telling which way it will want to go. Good luck and be real careful.:thumbsup:

 

[First one]

I've done some of this. Given that you are so close to the house and new barn I think I'd take a loop or two of cable and wrap the perimeter. i'd then run a couple diagonal guys out to make sure that if that thing decides to go, you can keep it in the perimeter or the barn and not in the perimeter of the house. It happens so... Are you looking to save the beams by driving out the pegs and disassembling that way or are you going to just cut them flush. There are companies that will pay you for your barn and take it down. Well, there used to be. 90 year old wood is pretty terrific. Is it chestnut?

You may find it is to ricketty to bring it down piece by piece. Nothing in that barn is worth so much as a fingernail and given that the structure is all ready weakened there is no telling which way it will want to go. Good luck and be real careful.:thumbsup:

I've got 7 days straight to do this in, taking the last of my vacation time. Went out and started removing shingles , Wow, more than I thought . I'm getting a 10yd'er dropped off Sat. It's going to run me $150 to get it and $160 a ton to haul away. I'm going to try and burn the wood.
I started by cutting between the rafters until I got to the place where the roof was sagged in and the beams were broken. Didn't seem too safe at that point , so I cut some of the boards out and left some. I put a chain around two of the roof rafters then to my tractor thinking that I'd pull easy and that section of the roof would come down onto the second floor. The roof did come down onto the second floor, but also a couple of the beams came with it. Glad I wasn't inside when that came down.
I looked at where the the beams broke and could see that where they had been pegged they had cracked though awhile ago . I've got half of the roof still up. Getting too dark now so I'll call it good for tonight. I was bummed to see the beams break, but at least I live to try again.:laughing:
I would like to save the beams if I can. I guess I can do that after the roof is down and the sides striped off. Not sure what the beams are made of.

 

[Reverend Blair]

Yeah, save the beams. Old wood, even softwood, is worth a few bucks or good to re-use. Barnboard (the siding) is sought after by artists and decorators in some places too, so you might want to check on that. If it's currently in style they'll pay a premium. If not, it makes excellent firewood.

I'd cable it so it can't fall onto the other buildings, then go at the roof from underneath, cutting it out in manageable segments. You might want to invest in a high-quality reciprocating saw for that, if you haven't already. Having to do it from underneath makes it harder, but not as bad as falling through the roof.

I'd work across and take down the rafters as they come free. I know of no easy way to do that except for making them fall in the direction you want.

You should also support the walls so they can't fall on the inside until you want them to. I've had a small, non-supporting wall tip over on me and it left a bruise. A supporting wall for a barn would do a lot more damage than that. Your wife will be angry if she has to plan your funeral and finish tearing down the barn at the same time.

 

[First one]

I was able to get a few pic's of the old barn. This is one with the roof half off. In the pic you really don't see just what bad shape the barn was in. I'm not able to put a cable around it because of cost , so I'll take things slow and easy for now.
I'm trying to save the beams , but I'll see if I survive getting the roof off first. As you can see, where the barn was sagging the most is where all havoc broke loose. While taking out the weak part of the roof ,I used a chain to pull down two of the roof rafters so as not to be under it from inside. That's when the section of the roof landed on the second floor and took out half of the top beam and two of the beams , splitting one along the side. The second floor is pretty shaky right now ,but I'm still able to work off of it. I guess I'll just keep taking out roof sections like I've been doing. Having the tractor to haul off the wood to burn is a blessing and a half, just got to watch out for nails.

 

[First one]

Here are the other pic's

 

[wedge40]

Brings back memories/nightmares. And the barn I was tearing down was free standing. Once you get the roof off it goes pretty easy. I was lucky because we could rip the roof off from inside the barn. We just used sledge hammer to pound the sheeting up off the rafters and let them fall to the ground. 4'x8' sheet of plywood with tar and shingles weighs a lot. LOL

I dont envy you when you get to the house.

Wedge

 

[First one]

AAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!:mur::mur::mur::mur:
This is getting better and better the more I get into it.:smiley_aafz: It wouldn't be that bad if all I had to do was take it down. It's things like dealing with electric wires and having to get a fuse box changed over to a breaker box and moved inside($600 or more) the house, oh ya and the 10 years of **** I so much couldn't part with that I'm finding I can now !!:laughing::thumbsup: Sorry for the whining' I just had to get it out before I jumped off the **** thing !