# Restoring an old barn- worth it?



## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

Hi, I'm new to these boards. My husband and I just bought a 5 acre farm in Illinois. We'll be moving in 2 weeks and we are very excited to be embarking on this adventure with our 4 kids! We are complete novices, my husband was raised in Trenton, NJ and I've always been a suburban girl myself, but we are determined to change our lifestyle and give our children the kind of life we think they deserve.

The property we bought has a big old beautiful barn on it, but it is in need of some serious work. The roof on one side is very damaged and some of the beams have rotted. The other side is in better condition but would still need a new roof. We found a guy that will tear down the old barn for $2000 if he can keep the wood. He'll haul away all the debris, break up the concrete foundation and bury it for us. This is a good deal from what we can tell, but we both feel so sad to tear down the old barn. Does anyone know what we'd be looking at as far as costs to restore it? We're probably just being romantic about it, but we hate to see it go.

Thanks-
Leah


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## moopups (May 12, 2002)

What size timber do you need to replace? How much square footage of roof material do you need? What can you get the material for? Calculate the cost includeing the disposal of the rotted lumber, the question may answer its self. Wood is very high right now with no drop in sight.


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## CraftyDiva (Aug 26, 2003)

You might want to check the going rate for "Old Barn Wood" before you sign anything. What's the cost if you keep the wood?


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## mikell (Nov 8, 2002)

Get an estimate to fix it and figure the cubic feet of area to replace. The old barn may not be as bad as you thought. I spent 6k for repairs and a new barn would have been 25k.

mikell


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

"A BIG OLE BARN" can vary in size a whole bunch. I have an average ole barn that it 56 x 48 We had some concrete foundation repaired, A couple new large doors built. Painted metal pole barn siding with white trim all around. A new metal roof on a 16 x56 part of the roof. One end needed some heavy frame work which we salvaged from another barn that we removed the haymow from. That was two years ago. Metal has went up since then. Total cost was about $8000. It was either that, or watch it go to ruin. We needed the space. Am glad we done it. It really upgraded the looks of the property.


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## Hoop (Jan 1, 2003)

I too would shop around to see what it would take to resurrect the barn. Perhaps it will cost far less than you think......and you'd have the ambiance of an old barn plus all that storage!

Should you decide to keep it, count me among those who think nothing but a metal roof should be used!


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## shakeytails in KY (May 11, 2002)

It's hard to say without actually seeing it. A lot of times if the roof is history the rest of it isn't worth saving but not always. We have an old barn on our place that's a bit too small for what we want to use it for. DH and I were thinking of reworking it to meet our needs. This barn looks good from the outside, but when we _really_ looked at it, we realized that it wasn't structurally sound enough to bother fixing- rotted posts, etc. For us, since we do our own construction, it will be cheaper to bulldoze the old and build new. I must say that our old barn doesn't have much "character", if it were a big old bank barn or had a gothic arch roof I'd spend the bucks to save a little piece of history. If you really like the barn, call around and see what it would cost to repair it. If there are Amish in the area they might be willing and able to fix it as well. I know there are companies that specialize in this type of work, check state and local farm publications.


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## countrygrrrl (Aug 4, 2003)

I'd sure rethink giving away that wood, if you do tear the barn down, what with prices what they are these days. I've been using all kinds of old wood that came from this place --- some of it, in fact, taken from an old barn I'm tearing down myself (not nearly the size of yours and lacking in any character, I might add).

Right now, I'm using some old posts and beams to build raised flower beds. I've used other wood to finish off a grape arbor and a deck. I have other wood that will become a part of my back-porch-to-be. All in all, I'd guess at least several hundred dollars worth of wood, if not more.


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## mysticokra (Feb 5, 2003)

Checkout the links at the barn journal. You may find some restoration help there. See http://www.thebarnjournal.org/


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Condition repairability are the issues. How big is the barn? When it comes to barns people often have a distorted view on big. If it proves to be to expensive to repair, I WOULD NOT pay someone to take it down. Around here you can usually find someone who will do it for free for the wood. If thats not the case call the local fire dept and ask if they want to burn it down? I would keep that as the last resort. Give people the chance to get that old wood.


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

I just wanted to edit this post. My nice husband made these links better below, so skip the ones I did here and go to his. Something about jpg vs bmp  I don't know. He is "unregistered" a few posts down.

http://home.comcast.net/~kth818/barn1.bmp

http://home.comcast.net/~kth818/barn2.bmp

The first picture is the "good" side of the barn. The second one is the side that needs work. Both have concrete structures and stalls underneath.


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## rambler (Jan 20, 2004)

1. In the future, you might consider using .jpg file format for your web photos. I about fell asleep waiting for those 2 large meg bmp's to download - would have only needed a few seconds to download a jpg. Was ready to forget it & move on, but they finally got loaded - coulda made popcorn.....

2. Barn could have been saved about 10 years ago. Big holes in the roof means there is major damage all the way through to the bottom concrete. You would be in for a large materials bill, and an even bigger labor bill. Me, I'm all for saving old buildings, and would like to suggest that yourestore this one.

But, it will be $30,000 to get it sort of back to shape. Double that to make it really good.

What would you use it for if it were restored? These old barns have a low 1st floor with a lot of concrete & pillars & low ceiling in the way to use for much of anything. The upstairs is very high, but a thin wood floor means you can't drive anything heavy on it, and rather flamable.

If you can't define a good use for it (and it's hard to use these for anything but livestock & lots of small square bale storage due to their construction), and if you can't do the bulk of the labor yourself - realisticly this building is too far gone to bring it back. IMHO

I haven't visited this site in quite a while, but they used to have a 'barn again' section that will help you determine your options. Or suggest ways to dispose of it, or have it reassembled somewhere for historical use.

www.agriculture.com

It's run by a farm magazine, & I had issues with their management of the site, so like I say have not been there in a while.

--->Paul


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## Jena (Aug 13, 2003)

I am currently using barns in far worse shape than that one, but granted with more or less intact roofs....well at least in the parts that are still usable!

That barn appears to be sitting straight, not leaning that I can see. You say there are rotted beams. How rotted? Broken? Are these beams or rafters? Are they still in place more or less? Are internal parts of the barn leaning substantially or unstable (I have one with the whole hay mow half falling down)?

If this were my barn, I'd patch the roof with some tin and call it good. If I had extra money I might even put a whole new roof on it. If there is internal damage, I'd do some patching and propping.

I'm sometimes surprised at the good barns that people feel are damaged (not saying this one isn't). I've seen darn good barns destroyed because someone felt their barn ought to be totally water tight, draft proof and pretty!

Looks like a pretty good barn to me.

Jena


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

.....................I wouldn't be in any great hurry to demolish your barn. It very well maybe that you decide to have it torn down. ...OTOH... It looks like to me that the lumber in the Roof portion could be salvaged and Utilized to build a New roof support structure by Lowering the Height down somewhat . I have no idea if it's feasible but I'd sure get to know some of my neighbors and ask alot of questions before I had it torn down. Even ....IF...you decide to have it taken down I'd leave the Cement support walls as you might want to build anew structure in the Future . LOts of possibilities .....fordy.....


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## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

if its still standing and the beam structure is relitivly sound, Id fix it.

BTW, shop around, weathered barn wood fetches some high prices in the craft/artist world. 2K for a whole barn, this guy is robbing you blind. I wanted to tear down my neighbors barn he said he wanted removed, i said "oh ill do it for free lemme have the wood!" (I wanted to build with it) he laughed and said he turned down 5k for someone to rip it down and keep the wood... he was aiming higher.

if its really old and the planks and beams are chestnut wood.... mmmmm boy.


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

Thanks for all the input- you've given us a lot to think about. Rambler, I'm sorry if the pictures were in the wrong format. I'm not too experienced with photos and probably should have left them out.

My husband and I were both very hesitant to just tear it down, so I was glad to get some confirmation of that feeling. We will look into possibly saving it. Thanks for the link to the barn website- I found 3 local contractors who specialize in barn repair. 

The man who offered to take the barn down for $2000 was actually charging that for breaking up the concrete foundation and burying it and hauling away all the debris. He said he'd take down the barn for free for the wood. So if we leave the foundation the way it is, he'll take the wood away for free.

As far as further detail on the barn, I guess I'll have to wait until we move in so I can look at it more closely. I've only seen it twice, but the man that sold us the property seemed convinced that it had to come down, so we didn't really think to question him until recently.

It would be a pretty large barn for our needs though. We only want to have a few animals to begin.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Leah IL said:


> It would be a pretty large barn for our needs though. We only want to have a few animals to begin.


I think others can also vouch that there is no such thing as "too big" of a barn! LOL!  So don't let that be too much a consideration in your decision. Homesteading plans change rather quickly! Also, I think others will agree that in most cases, your barn is more important than you house!  

This barn is certainly going to take a lot of money to repair; but on the other hand, they don't build barns like this any more and it might be worth the historical value to keep it if you can afford to do so. It would be a far better value to put the money in that barn than to tear it down and put up a steel building. You loose so much!


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## stonerebel (Dec 30, 2003)

Do not give that wood away for 2k. There is big money in old wood like that. If you feel like you can not fix the barn yourself, you can surely tear it down yourself. After you tear it down shop that wood around and you can make enough to pay somebody to build a new one. Vintage wood flooring can go anywere from 8 to 12 dollars a square foot, thats no chump change my friend.


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## Jena (Aug 13, 2003)

Old barn wood might be worth something somewhere, but I've never been able to find a buyer for it anywhere near here (central IL). The only ones I found were on the east coast and only wanted certain woods (oak not being one of them). I think they said they'd take the wood, but only if I took it all down and brought it to them (not cost effective).

I would not get my hopes up for having a fortune in old barn wood. It is not that easy to sell it. 

Barns also ad to your property taxes, which is something you might want to look at when deciding what to do with barn. 

Jena


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

mysticokra said:


> Checkout the links at the barn journal. You may find some restoration help there. See http://www.thebarnjournal.org/


I was also going to suggest looking into historical barn restoration because, OH MY, if that barn were on my property there's no way I'd let it be torn down!

What a big, beautiful barn. I hope you'll be able to save it. Here's a few links I found for you:


http://www.agriculture.com/ba/stateba!.html

http://www.agriculture.com/barnagain/statewide.html

http://www.iowabarnfoundation.org/federal_tax_incentives.htm (Did you know there are federal tax incentives for restoring barns?)


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2004)

http://home.comcast.net/~kth818/barn1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~kth818/barn2.jpg

Here's some jpegs for faster viewing. Scary thing is, we're better with computers them we are with barns.


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## countrygrrrl (Aug 4, 2003)

Jena said:


> Old barn wood might be worth something somewhere, but I've never been able to find a buyer for it anywhere near here (central IL).
> 
> >snip<
> 
> ...


Yea, but you can use it yourself, which is what I'm doing -- !!


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## pcdreams (Sep 13, 2003)

barnes. but If I had something that size on my property I'd be doing my best to get it fixed up. It will cost some $$ but probally far less than it would to build a new one of that size.


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## countrygrrrl (Aug 4, 2003)

OMIGOSH! I just went and looked at the pics, and that's a nice barn!

The barn I'm tearing down is wood and old corrugated tin --- not nearly that size and not at all pretty like yours!

If it were me, I'd go through and start repairing it. If money is an issue (because likely it will take some money to repair it properly), just go through and figure out the most impt things to fix, and fix them --- or do temporary fixes, like Jena's suggestion of patching the roof, while conjuring up the ways and means for permanent fixes.

Really, if I had a nice old barn like that, I'd be working on it all the time to fix it up. Mine is just pitiful and ugly and way small.


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## cloverfarm (Jun 1, 2004)

What was the former owner's reasoning that it needed to come down? Was there something specific that happened? Or was he thinking, oh, by the way, it's not modern anymore, kind of an eyesore ...

One plus of a big old barn -- someplace for the kids to play basketball!

My in-laws have a big barn with a shingle roof. It has not held up well and probably needs to be replaced with metal.

Good luck deciding ...
Ann


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## rambler (Jan 20, 2004)

I live in an area that has a lot of rain & snow & humidity. 'Here' for a roof to be in that condition, water has been seeping in & rotting the rafters for a long, long time. They will be in much worse shape than anyone here is thinking, and you can't easily 'patch' this as these long rafters are critical to the structure of the roof, snow & wind load. You would need to replace or sister a lot of long rafters way up high - expensive in materials & labor.

Then put new girts across every 2 feet, and tin it. Certainly do-able, and I would to save the barn.

But then there is the mention of the rotted beams. I'm assuming the big 12" or so yellow pine beams these barns are typically built out of. This is serious structural damage. These barns are built with a tinker-toy frame, _every_ member is real important to holding the whole structure together. A couple of those big beams rotted through & you need to replace them. You'll have to find a donor barn - can't just go to the nearest Home Depot & order a replacement beam.  These things are big & heavy. Hard to take the old out, as you dismantale part of the ban - then have to insert the new.

I have a big old barn like that built in 1909. Didn't even have real concrete back then, used a limestone slurry that you (or the mice) can dig out with a fingernail between the fieldstone & blasted rock they hauled in with stone boats & horses during the winter. One cornerstone still has the hole in it where the dynomite failed to go off...

When I was younger & dad was around, we tinned the roof of the barn. We did it ourselves, as we could find no one willing to go up there that high & do the job, unless we paided extreme goobs of money. It was a big job, and we did it in time that the roof was tructurally sound. You are far from that condition.

They built the thing without chainsaws, cranes, or even bolts. If you have access to the knowledge, a large group of friends who aren't afraid of heights & promise not to sue you, you can have a barn re-raising and do it the old-fashioned way again. 

But, Think long term, think realisticly on what it will cost you, and go from there.

If you shop around you may find someone to either pay you or to do it all for free, rather than it costing you to remove the barn - if that is the path you choose. Depends on who is around you - market conditions. Any Amish folks within a few 100 miles of you? they love this type of stuff, but don't advertise or that kind of thing - you need to seek them out.

Be real careful of promises to remove the concrete for you. Best to do an eskro (sp?) account, as very often the wood goes away, and there never seems to be time to come back & finish the concrete work.... Hummm.... I would not jump on the first offer I had for removal.....

It sounds like you would not want to tackle this job yourself. Have a few builders bid on the job - if your experince is like our barn tinning, the few that show up & see the job will either triple their quote or suddenly have a real busy schedule that summer.....

How it went for us. Lots of things to look into, think about.

I'm all for saving the barn - just think it through carefully, as it could easily become a money pit if you try a 'simple patch' on it. You can't get insurance on it in this condition, so anything you store in it isn't covered either, and so on & on....

--->Paul


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## countrygrrrl (Aug 4, 2003)

rambler is right.

 

Which is sad because it is a wonderful old barn

Water can, will and does wreak havoc on a structure. I have a 1994 trailer on my property that I got for a song. It's in wonderful condition, except ... since I moved here, a bit over two years ago, I've been bit by bit repairing water damage. Had I not put a new roof on (tin, with a healthy overhang of almost a foot), I would have given this place 3, maybe 4 years til it was rendered entirely ruined by water.

You're looking at a lot more years of water damage.

Still, it's sad. I'd love to have a big old beautiful barn like that on my property. But, once something's had the water get to it, there's almost no turning back.


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## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

The roof does look pretty bad, but the outside looks like it is in good condition - it's even painted! 

Leah, I'd check around & see if there are any amish folk around the area, & if so, give them a call. They are experts on this sort of thing, & if it is fixable, they can certainly do it. 

It's a shame that the barn has been let go to this condtion - certainly not your fault. Of course, it does cost money to keep things fixed up, but what people don't realize is how quickly things deteriorate - especially once the roof starts to leak.

I'm thinking it's going to cost a pretty penny to fix this barn, but if you have the $ - do it! It will be well worth it, as anything that is built new now, is not meant to last like this old beautiful barn.

If the main structure has not had too much damage, I would think it's fixable.

And looks can be deceiving. 2 years ago I had the amish out to reside my barn. While doing that, I decided to have some old "rotten" sill beams replaced. The way my barn was built, they had to replace piece by piece instead of jacking up the whole side of the barn. Those "rotten" pieces took some muscle to get out. The outside of the beam looked all rotten, & chewed up from insects, but the majority of the inside of them was undamaged, very STRONG wood. I am glad that I had them replaced, but had I known the minimal damage actually inflicted on them, I would have to think long & hard as to wether or not to replace them!

Good luck. I hope it is savable. Let us know.

By the way, there is no such thing as "too big of barn"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :haha: You will find that out in a few years!


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2004)

Wow, that is a wonderful old barn! Obviously, the roof needs extensive work and there is most likely a fair amount of related interior rot/damage due to water. 

Is repairing that barn 'worth it'? When all the dust settles, it is probably not a wise investment to restore the barn. How practical is a barn of that type and of that size for a novice homesteader on 5 acres? How much will a restored barn add to the value of the property? How much will the barn add to the tax bill? How much will the repairs cost? All of these question would have to be answered. 

There are certainly other possibilities... like using part of the foundation and the salvaged lumber to build a smaller barn.

cheers,


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

I would HATE to lose a beautiful old barn like that. But, that said, do you really need a huge barn like that for just 5 acres? No doubt, the farmer who built that barn used it for more than 5 acres of land. Unless I needed that big of a barn, I would probably tear it down. But, if I had tons of money, I'd fix it. If nothing else, just for the beauty of it. On 5 acres of land, the contributory market value of a huge barn like that is questionable.


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## FolioMark (May 10, 2002)

Michael had a great idea. If this barn is anywhere near an Amish settlement go and see them and talk to some amish builders. Im sure they would be willing to come around and give you a good honest appraisal of the condition of the barn and make some suggestions as to what you might have to do and pay to save it.
Its a really nice barn, it would be a shame to tear it down. Hope the house is in better shape. Good luck.


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## GeorgeK (Apr 14, 2004)

If you want to tear it down and feel the wood is not worth the time, sometimes the fire dept will do it for free as a training exercise, then somebody with a bull dozer could bury the remains for a lot less than $2000


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## cloverfarm (Jun 1, 2004)

FWIW I notice the roof peak is not sagging.

This looks a little like my in-laws' barn. They have cattle in the bottom part, store machinery (some of the littler stuff -- corn planter, sometimes hay baler or wagons -- on the main floor) and then have the lofts for small square bales of hay. The barn was actually set up for loose hay and still has some ropes and pulleys up in teh roof. We used to milk cows in stanchions set up in the bottom floor and had an addition for the milk house (bulk tank etc.)

Good luck deciding
Ann


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

I personally cannot even believe that 'tearing down that old barn' ever crossed your mind.
It would be an utter sin to demolish such a beautiful historic structure like your barn.
We are losing useful and great barns like yours by the thousands each year. Someday, there will be few barns left, a sad testament to the great icons of our past agricultural heritage.
That barn, if reroofed and maintained, has at least another 200 years of life left in her.
The barn does need a roof immediately, and that will be a signigicant expense if you don't reroof it yourself.
There are lots of timber framers out there, replacing a few timbers wont cost you what you think it will. This is also something you can do yourself, if you want to take the time. There is a ton of books available on timberframed barns, and how to restore them. Call your state preservation group for help and direction. In Indiana, we even have a group called Barn Again!, which saves these old beatuies.
I will suggest that you get some tarps on the roof ASAP. If you can't do that, get a gallon or two of boiled linseed oil, a cheap brush and a broom. Clean with a broom any area that is being leaked on when it rains. When it is dry, generously coat those areas that are affected. Recoat in a few days. This is a water repellent, and will preserve that wood much much better.
I can offer more thoughts, so pm me if you want.
Please, please, please save that barn. If the eaves were touching the ground, I might say it were too late. This is definately one of the best unrestored barns I have ever seen. It is straight, very upright, not leaning and years away from collapsing on its own.
Again, it would be a sin not to save this old barn.
clove


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## Jena (Aug 13, 2003)

I still say the barn is probably sound...patch the roof!

If you just left it alone, I bet it would take 30-40 years before it started leaning and much longer before it actually fell!

Lumber was much stronger way back when. It can withstand a lot more rot and damage and still remain viable that the weak wood available today. 

One of my barns has at least two or three main posts off the foundation (a large rock for each) and a broken beam just below the peak of the roof. When the posts shifted, the hay mow fell in on one side, and brought down a corner of the roof with it. We use this barn all the time. It is currently housing bunch of sows, holds weaned calves in the fall and various other things. We don't use the mow or the back corner that crumpled, but it is still very servicable. We will keep using it until it becomes totally unusable, which I bet won't happen for at least another 20 years or more. It's not worth repairing, but it sure isn't worth abandoning either! The barn is insured.

Jena


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## aussie (May 18, 2004)

If youdo tear it down why not use the good wood to build something.
I tore a shed down for friend used the wood to build a shed for my self with some new wood.
Try too find wood forold barns to fix it I would hate to see a lovely barn come down.
good luck.


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## barbarake (Oct 23, 2003)

I don't think the barn looks that bad. (Of course, you guys didn't see my house before I started on it  )

The rafter boards and rafters themselves look pretty straight. The roof doesn't sag and it doesn't look like any rafters have actually collapsed. Actually, other than the roof, it looks pretty good.

Old-fashioned buildings hold up a lot better than you might think. My house (the one I'm renovating) had been moved. Therefore the chimney (through the middle of the house) and the front porch and a back room had all been torn off. Back door was missing and it was completely open to the elements (no tarps over roof or anything) for several years.

But the house is solid wood - i.e. no drywall, plywood, etc. Yes, it had gotten wet - but it also had air circulation so it dried quickly. I didn't have to replace any boards at all. I did reinforce a couple just to be safe - but everything was still solid. (And - yes - I did have some experts look at it.)

You say this is made out of oak?? My house is pine - which (after 40 or 50 years) is hard as iron. I don't know how well oak holds up. But I wouldn't be so quick to tear it down. 

And you might not think you need such a big barn. Trust me - you cannot have a barn that's too big.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I have an old gambrel roof barn in fair condition that I have been unsuccessful in giving away. The old barns look good but they are impractical in todays farming. I would consider cutting the top storey off the barn you have salvaging any reuseable lumber and I would install a a truss system with a corrugated metal roof if I needed the storage. Otherwise give it away if you can find a taker. The cost and the effort to maintain such a structure is impractical.


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## blpiano (Oct 26, 2020)

Leah IL said:


> Hi, I'm new to these boards. My husband and I just bought a 5 acre farm in Illinois. We'll be moving in 2 weeks and we are very excited to be embarking on this adventure with our 4 kids! We are complete novices, my husband was raised in Trenton, NJ and I've always been a suburban girl myself, but we are determined to change our lifestyle and give our children the kind of life we think they deserve.
> 
> The property we bought has a big old beautiful barn on it, but it is in need of some serious work. The roof on one side is very damaged and some of the beams have rotted. The other side is in better condition but would still need a new roof. We found a guy that will tear down the old barn for $2000 if he can keep the wood. He'll haul away all the debris, break up the concrete foundation and bury it for us. This is a good deal from what we can tell, but we both feel so sad to tear down the old barn. Does anyone know what we'd be looking at as far as costs to restore it? We're probably just being romantic about it, but we hate to see it go.
> 
> ...


I think you’re getting low balled...

if the wood is heart pine, hand hewn timber...

might wish to add some zeros to his offer...

the lumber is sought out...

ou generally can’t find that sort of wood these days...

ive has several offers for my barn, two story 30 x 60...

probably bigger, never measured...

my point being...

I’d think long and hard unless the building is a hazard...

Personally, I love my barn souch more than my the house...

it has the same lumber, both buildings over ninety years old...

good luck...


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Hey blpiano! Welcome to HT!

Since this thread is from 2004, I think the OP has already done something with the barn. 
Ya gotta watch the dates on threads - especially those under recommended reading......


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

When we bought our original farm it had an old barn sagging and falling down but the timbers were sound. We straightened the structure, Poured a cement foundation and floors; put on a new roof, Lowered the mow floor to make room for hay upstairs. Built goat pens and later built on an addition for horse and hens. Later on he built another addition for horse mowers and hay rakers. Everything he did was with second hand material , including windows salvaged from other old structures people were discarding. Nails, cement and shingles we bought new. That barn served us well for 32 years! At the price of building new these days I would repair what I have if the wood is sound.


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