The "Barn"- the problem

So this is my first post to blog about our barn restoration project. This barn has  a name and year embedded in the cement floor that says " Walker, 1909". My understanding is that the original barn burned at some point and another was reconstructed on the original stone foundation. The barn is a "bank barn", which means it is built into the side of a hill. On one side, you can drive right in to the upper level or hay mow/storage section of the barn. On the other side, you enter the bottom of the barn, which is where all the cattle would have been housed. Also, earthquake activity a couple of years ago did damage to the cement floor along one wall.

The barn has some major issues at the present time, and the video included above was actually an audition tape Francis made for one of Mike Holmes programs-- he said he was looking for a unique challenge and this certainly fits the bill! Anyway, we never heard back from Mr. Holmes, and so we are going to have to tackle this project or rather Francis is taking it on.

Earlier this year, we had two people come and look at the barn to help decide how or what needs to be done to repair the barn. You see, the whole barn has shifted about 8 inches off the foundation on the one side, and part of the foundation on the other side has crumbled and fallen in. This is mostly where a window in the foundation wall has let in rain/snow/water over the years.  The corners or the barn are not bad, but the middle section is the part that has shifted. The one person advised us to shore up the leaning side to prevent it leaning further and repairing the foundation should help. We had someone come to see if they would be willing to help "lift" the barn and put it back straight-- didn't hear from him again, so take it that he's not up to the challenge. Francis has been watching videos of barn restorations and has developed a plan of action....

• he is resituating support posts so he can repair some of the floor joists that are broken - he started that aspect this weekend
• the old horse stalls are being taken down to make room for the new supporting wall that will be built
• two stalls are being rebuilt to accommodate horses for the summer
• he will build a new supporting wooden wall underneath the floor of the barn along the entire long side that is "leaning"; this will take weight of the barn off the leaning outside wall
• he will put up beams on an angle that go from a cement filled sonotube in the ground up against the leaning wall to prevent it falling any more ( these will be angled beams from wall to ground)
• the foundation areas will be repaired
• the leaning wall will be removed ( as the new inside wall will hold the barn up
• a new wall will be built back onto the foundation of where the leaning wall was
• the configuration of the interior is being changed/rebuilt- it will eventually include 4 horse stalls, tack room and feed room

He has already added new jack posts under the main beams running the length of the barn( summer 2015). Some idiot who owned the barn many years ago, had removed some of the steel posts as " they were in the way" or something. This was done while the barn was full of hay! This is what likely triggered the whole demise of this poor old building.