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Western EC Iowa | We have an old round topped barn that was used a a hog house years ago. Measures approx 28x60 and has a hay loft, which I would like to remove to make the building more useable. My question is, can I just take the loft out and leave things be or do I need to do some bracing up above the loft? The curved wall and ceiling 'studs' are all one piece with just one hole in them where the floor 'truss' is hooked in, the loft is supported by steel beams down to concrete pillars that are on the floor. I'd like to put a big door in the end and there is another slider on the opposite end, but on the side and would either fill that in when we steel it or put in another overhead door. Any tips would be appreciated. The old girl needs a makeover outside and may just as well do the whole thing while we are at it. Thanks, Ben |
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Floyd County, Iowa | Without pics, I'd say you will have to brace it. If it's how I picture it in my head, the loft floor joists are acting as collar ties (similar to the bottom chord of a trussed rafter). Without these, the barn has no interior cross bracing to hold the sides in, which in turn holds the roof up. Usually the old round roof barns had knee braces, also. They were attached to the loft floor joists about 6 to 8 feet in from the wall, and went up to the arched rafter. If this is how it is, there are ways to brace it to allow the floor to be removed, but it depends on the barn design and how much you want to put into it.
Might be I'm looking at the wrong mental image in my memory bank. |
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Western EC Iowa | There are no knee braces, but otherwise you are on the right track. I didn't mention that the rounded pieces are 1.5 x 4 inches and on 2 foot centers. Suppose a 2x4 or 6 horizontal above the loft floor a few feet would be OK or would something like a roof truss be better? If I could work off the floor and do the work before the floor came out, that would be great. Thanks, Ben |
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Floyd County, Iowa | Really hard to say from this side of the 'puter.
Wood stud walls on ground floor or clay block, or concrete block, or poured concrete, or do arched rafters go clear to foundation like a quanset (have seen all the above)?
How high is the ceiling now?
How much do you want to raise it?
Will you still want to use the "new" loft/attic area for storage?
Going to line and insulate it?
Pics, both inside and out, would help. |
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Western EC Iowa | Here are some pics. Sitting on a poured wall. The loft is about 10 feet from the floor, I would like to be able to get tractors in for sure, so probably 13 minimum and I want an overhead door. So probably 15 feet to the bracing. I am guessing the peak to be about 23-24 feet. Not going to line, this will be only storage. Thanks for the help and hope you didn't get blown away...
Oops, sorry for the sideways pics...
Edit again - fixed the pics and spelled storage right. Pic 6 is where the stud meets the loft floor.
Edited by SamsDad 5/22/2011 17:16
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S.E. Iowa | Fron the looks of it ,you may have a Louden design Fairfield Iowa hog or more likely a Dairy or cattle barn. The windows in it look to be the Louden design. These old barns are getting fewer and farther apart every day. They are an inportant part of ag history and really maked the first stages of modern farming. We have a Louden farrowing house built like you barn with a hip roof design. Interior construction is almost identical to yours. Since it has only a 11 ft wide 8ft high door opening on each end, we hope to rise the interior by eliminating the center of the loft floor and make a new door that will maintain the original look from the outside but allow us to park tractors , hay racks, gravity wagons ect when the weather calls for it. I kind of feel that as rare as these buildings are getting I think its important to maintain the outward appearence if possible while still keeping them useful. |
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Litchfield MN. | I am doing the same thing between trying to plant and watching it rain.
Hired a contractor to cut in the end wall. To hold the building together after floor removal he put cables at each rafter at the height of the door. I took out the floor myself after the cables were installed. My barn is 30x70, the new door is 24x16. I am also only useing it for storage and will not be finishing the inside.
Included some pics of the project so far, excuse the mess, as I said it's a work in progress.
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Western EC Iowa | I thought about cables, that would be easy enough to do. What size is the cable? That would preserve the interior aethetics as well. I'm not an architecture geek, but i love the inside of these buildings. We also have a long cattle shed that has round roof rafters that criss cross upside down to form a truss for the upper rafters(also round top), never seen another like it. Thanks for the photos. Ben |
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| I'm in the process of the same thing also, my barn is a little different structure, but same idea. I hired Dave Ciolek ( http://userdata.acd.net/ciolekdavid/ ) as a consultant to tell me how to properly do the conversion, I ended up hiring him to do the work. He was as competitve as the local contractors, but he had the experiance the locals didn't (they were a little leary of doing it). He is from MI, but I know he is going to be back in Northern Iowa in June.
Here is mine, I just got the block walls cut out today:
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Litchfield MN. | I believe they are 5/16 cables. would have thought that a larger cable would be needed but the contractor assured me that 5/16 was good, he's done several others this way so I took his word for it. |
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Western EC Iowa | I went and looked at the window frames, they are Clay. Doesn't mean you are wrong, this thing was old when I was born, so don't have much history. I agree with you on the appearance, the door could only be seen in the yard, the rest can be seen from the road and is only about 150 feet from the house, so we want it to look good. Biggest problem is more projects than money, but this one is next on the list. Thanks, Ben |
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Floyd County, Iowa | Ben- you have mail. |
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| SamsDad - 5/22/2011 21:34
I thought about cables, that would be easy enough to do. What size is the cable? That would preserve the interior aethetics as well. I'm not an architecture geek, but i love the inside of these buildings. We also have a long cattle shed that has round roof rafters that criss cross upside down to form a truss for the upper rafters(also round top), never seen another like it. Thanks for the photos. Ben
They used 7/16" Stainless on mine, along with building what would be the bottom chord of a truss and adding webbing to make a truss in mine. I would be a little worried with only the cables, they are great for tension, but don't do a thing for compression. Depending on what the wind is doing and snow loads, you may need compression and not just tension.
My two cents worth! |
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Round top barn hay loft removal
