old barn

[egel]

Hi! I would like to try the 12x16 shed in Jack Sobon's book. I was telling my neighbor about this project, and he said they were going to push their old barn down. Is it worth the time to take this barn down or do I saw some new timbers and start from scratch?


                                              egel

[Raphael]

  Really hard to say without seeing the barn, but  I'm all for preserving and reusing old timbers as much as possible.  The drawback to old timber is it'll be a bit harder to cut and might not be as straight and square as new timbers.  The plus side is they should be quite stable so nothing will change in the period between cutting and assembly.
  I'd rescue as much of the old timbers as possible and if they prove to be to wonky for a first project save them for future use.

[egel]

Raphael, the old barn is 50x60 with a loft . the roof is still good so the timbers look good except at the bottom were the cattle rubbed on them. most of the timbers are 8x8.

[Dave Shepard]

I personally would try to salvage some of the old wood, even if it is only roof and siding boards. A barn that big may have enough long timbers that you could also recycle some of the beams. Trying to work around the old joints may be difficult. If you could build the whole shed out of recycled wood you could end up with a new old building.


Dave

[Don P]

I'd look carefully for powderpost beetle damage even in a barn that stayed dry. We can have barns that look great at 20' and are just about dust. I do like working with old wood, just not too old. If the wood is at all questionable it goes to non structural use. I've used it for decorative beams and posts, trim, stair parts, cabinets.