Barn Renovation

Restoring the tumbled down barn
  • This is the barn as it looked shortly before the roof collapsed. I had tried to keep up with the loosening tin roofing but during one repair attempt I was working from a ladder attached to a rope over the roof with the other end tied to a tractor. I had tied a loop and knot in the rope to raise the ladder to a new position. While I was on the ladder the knot slipped and the ladder with me on it slid down the roof until the slack was taken up. I managed to hang on as the ladder stopped, otherwise I would have fallen onto a cattle chute made of oak 2 x 6's some 15 ft. below. I never went back on the roof. For lack of maintenance, the roof eventually fell in.
  • To remove and salvage the tin roofing from the collapsed roof I made a levered clamp to grab the edge of the tin. A cable routed through a pulley and lever arrangement squeezed the jaws shut. The other end of the cable was hooked to a tractor. After I set the clamp, Sheila operating the tractor pulled the sheet off the roof. A movie of the operation can be seen here .
  • Here is a shot of the roof after the tin roofing had been removed and before the demolition had begun.
  • In order to save the concrete walls from damage from fire we hired a back-hoe to remove the debris and pile it some distance from the barn. This picture was taken while the demolition was in progress. In the center of the picture you can see one of the original calf pens.
  • This is a picture taken after all the debris was removed and the floor hosed off. In the center you can see the remnants of the calf pens. The calf pen floors were of poor quality and were broken up and removed before pouring new floor in the entire barn.
  • This is the satisfied general contractor-owner for the renovation project.
  • This is a view of the barn with everything removed. The remnants of the still-to-be-buried burn pile can be seen at the left. The fire was impressive, but almost smokeless, with a thin column of flame rising high in the air.
  • Standing in the window opening is Lee Theron who laid two courses of concrete blocks on the walls to make more head room in the new building.
  • Neighbor John Huber Is bringing in the the gable end truss, to be set on the rectangular truss seen overhead. John had rigged a boom for the front end loader for his tractor to provide a higher lift. This rig has hoisted many trusses in the neighborhood.
  • The last regular truss is going up. Son Steven and Brett Huber are on the wall, Luke Huber directing with John Huber driving.
  • The last regular truss is up. Brett Huber is on the wall, Luke Huber next, me, John Huber and Lee Theron seen through the window opening.
  • Son Scott, Jim Huber and Brett are waiting for the gable end truss to be delivered with Luke guiding the far end.
  • From the standard view, the roof framing is complete.
  • Brother-in-law Tom Flaig, me, Scott and Lee hoist up the second sheet of roofing. It was a frosty morning and the metal roofing tended to frost over making slippery footing.
  • Lee Threon and daughter-in-law Andrea, with me on the roof hoist up the last roofing panel to finish off the roof.
  • Progressing nicely, here is the barn with the new roof . Gable end panels and window frames were still in the works.
  • In the following spring the windows are all in and a ready-mix truck is delivering one of three loads of concrete for a new floor.
  • The standard view in winter. Electric service and a new overhead door with a remote operated opener is installed. A nice looking building. This is the last barn slide. Click here to go back to the barn home page for a couple of fun movies.