New door day
Being a focal point for the whole building, it deserved something nicer than a plywood slider.
The decision was made to transition from worn asphalt shingles to a steel roof for a variety of reasons, one of the major ones being fire resistance.
Stripping begins
Once the shingles were stripped, we replaced any compromised boards, and built/sheeted the lower eyebrow roof structure.
Waterproofed, and strapped pre-sheetmetal. Strapping not only afforded us an airgap between the existing structure and the new roof, but it allowed us to straighten out the sags and character lines of the 86 year old roof.
As you can see, a lot of shimming and levelling was required to blend out the lows and highs.
Roof flying along!
Not an easy roof to do, but the professional crew tasked with the job made it look like a snap
💯💯💯
The challenge with an old building like this, is renewing it with materials that are true to the original form. In this case, it meant getting custom roughsawn fir lumber milled up specifically for this project. The cost is slightly higher than an off the shelf product, but the authenticity is worth it.
Trying to blend old and new
Any exterior patches required were reclaimed wood from elsewhere in the barn, as trying to stitch in new product would have been very difficult to make look authentic
Patchwork
The structural engineers required us to double up all the collar ties at the peak, fastened with GRK structural screws
You can see the replaced rafters and patched floor boards in this picture, as well as the doubled up knee braces - another engineered requirement. This is the North East wall that was so badly damaged, and the only upper rafters we needed to replace
The original posts had been removed and replaced by mismatched standard lumber sometime in the history of the barn, so we replaced all the existing wooden posts with 8”x8” fir posts.
The north-east corner of the barn was the worst of the degradation. The roof had failed, allowing water in which in turn rotted the rafters, joists and walls. The same issue contributed to the foundation settling, and the whole structure had sunk 6” into the earth.
Before anything could be replaced, the entire structure had to be braced and reinforced for safety.
Here you can see the drastic drop in the window line, as the last section of 4 windows has dropped up to 5”
After it was braced and declared safe to work in, we jacked and lifted the sagged section back into place. The two center windows in this photo were lifted more than 5.5” back into alignment.
Any rot or structural damage was cut out
Removing all the windows and window frames was required to building scaffolding around the exposed side of the building. All the rotten or previously cut rafter tails were cut out
So after meeting the lovely people at See Ya Later Ranch, we got approval to begin the restoration beginning on June 1st 2019.
The first steps was the less-than-glamorous stage of removing the wall and ceiling boards, and disposing of the original sawdust insulation. The presence of rodents and various other critters meant that no safety steps could be skipped, and that anyone on site would have to be insured and aware of the risks. Full exclusion suits, dual stage respirators and a strict hygiene routine was the key to minimizing exposure. It’s not a ideal wardrobe choice for summer in the Okanagan, but it is better than Hantavirus.
As you can see - a lot of high tech, cutting edge tools contributed to the success of phase 1.
The original lumber used; tight grain Fir
Overall the condition was found to be fairly consistent with the original diagnosis, no real surprises were found lurking under the skin. The dry climate of the Okanagan really keeps rot and decomposition at bay. Lots of the sawdust insulation I removed could have passed for 3 weeks old, rather than 86 years old. Next up, shoring and reinforcement!
One day on our way back from a hike, Charlie and I decided to stop and check out an building that had always been interesting to me. Years of disrepair and neglect had left the beautiful old structure looking a bit worse for wear.
This is when we started to dig in
The barn was built in 1933 by Major Hugh Fraser, as a classic Dutch Gambrel style barn. Primarily constructed out of fir, the quality of materials and build craftsmanship was apparent despite the current condition.
