Vintage Barns Dismantled and Reassembled - Feasibility Studies - Consulting - Restoration - Preservation
 

 


Photo courtesy of Vermont Historical Society

The dismantling phase

The Barn People prepare to dismantle a barn by first photographing the structure as it originally stood. We then very carefully measure the barn and make sketches to record its essential character. Blueprints are later drawn from these sketches of the original framework, stating the location and size of each timber. These drawings are then labeled for coding purposes.

The exterior roof cover is then removed. This may be slate, old tin sheeting, asphalt or wood shingles. These materials cannot be reused. The roof sheathing boards are then removed, exposing the rafters, which are one of the barn's most compelling features soaring high above the ground floor. The exterior siding is then removed. This may be clapboard, wood shingles, or vertical boards often commonly referred to as "barn board". We save as much of this barn board as we can, but due to years of exposure to Vermont's harsh winters, the yield is often small. We sell the premium antique boards separately. They require considerable labor to restore.

Farmers seldom had the time or the money to replace the exterior skin, so many old barns have a decidedly seedy appearance. But within the tattered shell with its leaky roof and brittle barn siding, is the exposed splendid framework of solid, warm, mellowed timbers, which succeeds functionally as well as aesthetically.

This framework is now wire brushed by hand to remove most of the hay, cobwebs and years of accumulated dirt. All nails and hardware are then removed. The entire frame is now exposed, which always proves to be quite exciting for us. We now brace the frame for dismantling the large sections with a crane. All the wooden pegs, which hold the timbers firmly in place, are then removed. Any missing timbers, which made up the original frame, are now drawn on to the blueprints for later replacement at our shop. The entire frame is then labeled to correspond with the labeled blueprints.

The rafters are now lowered to the ground by hand. A crane is then utilized to lower the large heavy sections of the frame to the ground. These are carefully taken apart and loaded onto a flatbed truck for shipment to our shop. All during this dismantling process great care and attention to detail has been taken to assure that there won't be ugly scarring or breakage to the timbers. We don't want to spend hours at our shop repairing or retouching timbers that were carelessly handled.

Click here for a photo gallery of the dismantling phase.

 

The Barn People, 2218 US RT 5, Windsor, Vermont Tel: 802-674-5898