OT: Moving a small barn on my property

[crzypete]

Hi everyone, This is a bit off-topic, but I thought it would be of interest to the group so here it goes.

Anyone who has visited my property knows that the landmark to look for in finding my driveway is the barn which is almost on the road. It was probably in a fine spot when the barn was built, Jockey street was a dirt road with horses and carts. But now with these new-fangled conveniences we call auto-mobiles this barn is way too close to the action. Not to mention way too far from our house to be very useful. The Barn is 16 x 26 and is so close to the road it makes entering the road from the driveway potentially hazardous.





From even before we bought the property we had a dream. A dream spurred on by a very important ace up our sleeves. A dream to move the barn to another more usable location on our property.

Planning has been in the works to put the true skills of my Father-in-law Jim to work. You may remember him from the action packed feature Film Junkie posts "truss-man" and "Billy Goat Beam Lifter", but he really shines when it comes to moving buildings.

My posts are behind schedule a bit, as some work has already been done. The move is scheduled for columbus day weekend which by my count is next weekend. Lots of fun to come.

Peter

[Jeff]

See you next weekend. - Jeff

[nektai]

This is going to be fun. Wish i could be there

N

[crzypete]

Jeff, So Glad you will be able to make it. Nektai, wish you could be here.

Last weekend I cut some branches from an overhanging tree on the new site, and snapped this picture from the shop. The new site is to the left. As would be my luck, the new building site is exactly where we dumped all of our extra topsoil from the shop build.



Last monday a familiar friend showed up- Joe PIta my excavator from the shop. This time he was only dragging his backhoe.


He quickly cleared the site and lay stone with a step for the alaskan type slab which will support the building.


Here is a closeup showing the step- About 5". He originally had it greater, but the top of the slab-to-be was just getting too high. Now we will have a 5" thick slab with a 10" thick edge.


Pete

[crzypete]

On Thursday my mason- a new one, dropped off some crappy looking lumber. I took the lead and framed it up friday.



As with my past experiences, masons bring rain and rainbows. Hopefully our pour will not be so lucky

[crzypete]

Hello Junkies,

Here is the update from this weekend. EVerything is moving forward. The mason dropped off steel and is coming tomorrow to place it. We spent time cleaning the barn to the corners.

Last year we had an amazing effort to empty decades of trash from our two barns. The town ran a big garbage pick-up day and we took full advantage of it with much help from friends and family. Our barn was nearly empty, and yet a year later it still had stuff in it. Additional treasures from the original clean-up and lots of leftover materials from the shop construction. Here was our view on Saturday. The plankson the left are some 16' 2 x 8's which I picked up at my local sawmill- the one who ran my siding. They are part of the moving plan.


we lugged a whole bunch of stuff to our other barn, threw out a good couple of bags of stuff, recycled a pick-up truck load of cardboard at the dump and kept stocking a free pile by the road which has been diminishing as cars come by. By this afternoon we had acceptable results.

[nektai]

Now that i can see the floor I have a question.

The building sits on a block foundation with what making the floor of the barn? Is it a wood floor? I did not realize how much is getting left behind for the highway department to deal with.

[crzypete]

Nektai, the barn is actually a two story barn. The downstairs is all being left behind including it's ceiling- the wood floor of the upstairs.

It is constructed of a number of materials: wood with stucco over it- as you see in the picture in the first post, concrete- down low, and rock stacked without mortar. It is a real hodgepodge.

Our current plan has two options:

Option 1 is cutting the barn flush to the floor and jacking it approximately 6", bringing it down the driveway and placing it on the building with a new sill plate.

Option 2 is to cut it 6" up, skip the jacking and make a thicker sill plate to help alleviate the loss in height.

Pete

[nektai]

I am not qualified to comment on the choices that you posed.

Is the highway dept. going to flatten what you leave behind?
What happens to the rubble of wood, stucco block and stone?

[crzypete]

Nekta, Ideally the HWY Department will level and take away all of the rubble from the downstairs and bring in some fill top grade out the road. It is in their interests to do this for two reasons. 1, the building is so close to the road that after any significant snowfall they have top send out a front end loader to remove the snow that is between the road an the barn. 2, since the building predates the paved road, I actually own what would be considered right-of-way of the road. On my survey of my property there is a distinct abutment around the building into the right of way. My surveyor said they will reclaim this once the building is gone.

Yesterday I worked alongside the mason staking the form and adding rebar and a center runner which serves as a scree support as well as forcing the concrete to crack along a straight line. Here was the end of the day yesterday


Tomorrow i join the mason crew and we pour the slab. This is none too soon as the moving crew is fast on our heels- they show up friday.

Pete

[dadude]

you got this junkie's attention, looks great and looking forward to action packed levitation shots! good luck with the move

[nektai]

How about a live web cam as it rolls down the driveway?

I would pop popcorn for that one.

[crzypete]

I'd set up a webcam if I had the technology handy...... almost worth buying it for this project.

Today was the big pour and we got right to it this morning. There were three of us on the ground.


The mason had the driver pour a initial pattern around the form to help keep all of the mesh and screed support in place.



He used a metal screed to flatten the pour



getting near filled up


He then floated the surface- first with a titanium float, then a little later with a steel float


The final finish is handtroweled and looks to have come out nicely.


The weather report is beautiful and we are full speed ahead toward the big move this weekend.

Pete

[dadude]

nice work, be nice to that barn and it will be nice to you

[crzypete]

Today it began. I looked up around noon and found this rig in my driveway



Pulling quite a load


Hanging off the back.


When a guy has this license plate, he is the right man to be on the task.


We got right to work. More in a bit.

Pete

[crzypete]

Jim used the native foliage to blend in to the natural environment to sneak up on the barn.....


Jim uses the winch to unload the beams.


They are loaded onto what he refers to as a "dolly"


This package is rolled into the barn and will serve as the carrying device for the back of the barn.


We are joined by Jerome, who helped hang the trusses, the big beam and took many great photos during my shop project. Here he clamps two beams together to get more length.


Jim requested 16' long 2x8's from my sawmill. Here he is trimming them to fit the width of the building.


The 2x8's are nailed together in pairs and bolted through the posts of the barn. The bolts are 1/2" all-thread (that's threaded rod for you lay-people)


Working on the project.


at the end of the day things are all cleaned up. The i beams are in place and extended, the crossbraces are all bolted in place and we are ready to move on to the lead dolly.


Our crew expanded tonight and we are ready to go tomorrow. The first day of work was a great success.

Pete

[dadude]

awesome! can't wait to see today's pic's, Jim is the real deal, and his assistants... forget about it

[nektai]

I am glad to see that the building has a number of license plates! Perhaps you should put on on the outside and take a victory lap through Galway.

[crzypete]

Big things happened today. I am exhausted, but will work my way through some pictures to keep up with my obligations.

The first order of business was jury-rigging the trailer to provide a pivoting towing platform. Jim has a trailer that is dedicated to this task, but home being 4 hours away did not make it feasible to have it here. Jim, Jerome and Jeff- the three J's bodged this contraption up while I worked on putting a sill plate on the slab


To affix the beams to the pivot, Jim uses chains whch he tensions with two of his beautiful toe jacks.


The building gets cut free with a chain saw and we are underway. We cut about 6" off the building for clearance. I am building 4.5" of sill.


The building moves forward and things are going well- until it bottoms out when the dollies come off the platform.


After we try several misguided plans- including digging a clearance trench for the back of the building Jim uses his airbags to jack the beams and we move the dollies back to gain some rear elevation


During our attempts of freeing the back of the building we end up removing some of the sheathing- this will not really be a problem......as you will see.


Jim uses the winch to move forward in a controlled fashion- he has a bit of a lead foot when it comes to driving that big 'burban.


moving


And around the corner


did I mention how beautiful the weather is here- absolutely perfect


heading down the driveway


At the end of the day- it looks crooked, but everything is fine. We are a bit close to a tree on the driver side and need to reposition in the morning. We cut some trees on the left and have another come-alonged out of the way. There will be some more pics from today, but this seems like a nice survey of our progress.


We have decided not to turn the building around at the bottom of the driveway. Instead, we are going to move the doors to the other side of the building.

More tomorrow.

Pete

[dadude]

Bravo! I know it ain't over yet but holy crap! hats off to the crew, thanks for the update, nothing better than small traditional post and beam structures, friends of ours relocated a "tobacco shed" which is their sitting room.