ABOUTBarn Restoration
The average age of the barns that we restore is around 150 years old. Our clients are stewards of antique works of art. The barns have had many owners and, if maintained properly, will have many more owners. When a barn is repaired, the repairs should be consistent with the original architectural details as when it was originally built.
For purists, we can supply antique timbers and barn board so that even the lumber that we use is the same age as the barn we are repairing.
When we use new lumber we often get it milled by the same sort of sawmill as the original barn. The contrast of old and new wood is appealing. As the wood ages the area that was repaired becomes less and less apparent.
We are experts at cutting “scarf joints”. These joints essentially make a timber longer. They enable us to repair just a portion of a timber, rather than repairing the whole thing. Some timbers in barns can be over 40’ long. Repairing only the rotten portion leads to significant cost savings.
We know how to cut many different styles of scarfs. We always do our joinery in a style that is consistent with the original architecture of a barn.
In a perfect world, we would use all recycled timber, use 100% mortise and tenon joinery, and use antique nails to bang the boards on with. Unfortunately, that is not in every customer’s budget. We are not such purists that we are against simple joinery and steel fasteners to get the job done. This scarf is a simple “1/2 lap” that is glued and lag bolted from the outside of the building.
When we use metal fasteners we try to keep them out of sight. They are often buried in walls or hidden on tops of beams.
We love challenging structural repair projects. If there is one good wall standing with a decent foundation under it, we can fix it!
