Beefin' up BOB!
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:13 pm
Several of the beams in BOB's floor have rotted and I have been wanting to get them replaced for quite awhile. I went to the mill over a year ago and picked up an oak 8"x8" 16' long to replace the worse beam first. Unfortunately my barn crew buddies were busy with projects and work of their own. Last week we all agreed this was the day to do it.
We started off by removing the siding on both sides of the post at the nail line to give us room to work.
Once the siding was off we got a good look at the damage. The post had not only dropped 4" but had also kicked out about 3 1/2".
This made a very noticeable drop in the roof line.
We then removed the floor, or what was left of it, in that spot,
Once the floor was removed the beam pretty much fell off the footer.
We tied the post off with ratchet straps to hold it in place and bolted oak planks to the two posts to tie them together.
Then we placed jacks under the planks to raise the posts high enough to get the new beam under it.
One we had it up in the air it was time to lift the beam in place. We also tightened the straps to bring
the post in the three inches it had kicked out. Unfortunately we could only move it in about two inches.
However it was plumb and the one inch over hang would not hurt anything other than appearance.
Once the beam was set it was anchored to the footer with 3/4" rebar to keep it in place. Since the footer
was wide enough we also placed a 3"x8" piece of oak under the inside post to shore it up.
Once the post was where we were happy with it we tied it into the new beam with 1/8" thick brackets and lag screws.
This winter I will order a couple more beams to repair some of the other areas. We prefer working on this stuff when the weather is cooler and a couple of the guys are layed off for the winter so my guess is the next beam replacement is about a year away.
Meanwhile, I have two loads of siding in BOB waiting to be nailed up.
We started off by removing the siding on both sides of the post at the nail line to give us room to work.
Once the siding was off we got a good look at the damage. The post had not only dropped 4" but had also kicked out about 3 1/2".
This made a very noticeable drop in the roof line.
We then removed the floor, or what was left of it, in that spot,
Once the floor was removed the beam pretty much fell off the footer.
We tied the post off with ratchet straps to hold it in place and bolted oak planks to the two posts to tie them together.
Then we placed jacks under the planks to raise the posts high enough to get the new beam under it.
One we had it up in the air it was time to lift the beam in place. We also tightened the straps to bring
the post in the three inches it had kicked out. Unfortunately we could only move it in about two inches.
However it was plumb and the one inch over hang would not hurt anything other than appearance.
Once the beam was set it was anchored to the footer with 3/4" rebar to keep it in place. Since the footer
was wide enough we also placed a 3"x8" piece of oak under the inside post to shore it up.
Once the post was where we were happy with it we tied it into the new beam with 1/8" thick brackets and lag screws.
This winter I will order a couple more beams to repair some of the other areas. We prefer working on this stuff when the weather is cooler and a couple of the guys are layed off for the winter so my guess is the next beam replacement is about a year away.
Meanwhile, I have two loads of siding in BOB waiting to be nailed up.