Preserving a Pole Barn

[nisif]

Hey All,

I recently bought a house that has a pole barn on the property. According to records it was built in the early 80s. I'm currently adding gutters and diverting water from the barn.

I was planning to repaint the bottom boards below the siding. Picture is attached. The wood is not rotted although it is weathered. Any other recommendations rather then simply painting that will preserve the wood for as long as possible? Maybe apply flashing over the wood? Better sealant then exterior paint? Appreciate any suggestions...

 

[Stuart in MN]

Looks like you need to shovel away the dirt where it's up against the lower boards, and slope it away from the building.

 

[73surffisher]

If the boards aren't deteriorating, scrape them and paint them with a good exterior paint, , but like Stuart said, it wont do any good unless you slope the dirt away from the structure

 

[chaosracing]

Get the dirt away as mentioned above. An easy solution is to find matching siding and just remove the bottom screws from the existing siding and slip the new piece under the existing siding and over the wood. Probably the easiest option.
Option 2 is to pressure wash the existing wood(after removing the dirt), scrape or sand the wood, apply a good exterior primer (I would go to a real paint store, not HD or Lowes) and then use a good quality exterior paint over that.

 

[nisif]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll sand, scrape, prep and paint the wood with good paint as mentioned. I like the idea of tucking additional siding under the original but if a thicker gauge aluminum flashing would do it may be more cost effective and easier to find. I plan to do both to fully protect it.

The barn is on positive grade fortunately and I have already installed an underground 4" pvc drain along one of the sides to divert water 20 feet away from the barn.

The side pictured has the most boards (4 of them) exposed. On one side only has 2 boards that are visible above the ground. Guess it's time to start digging.

I'm renting a trencher and bobcat for other projects in the near future so I can use them for this as well.

After i expose all 4 boards would it be ideal to lay gravel or rock around the perimeter instead meeting it with dirt?

Maybe chips and dust type rock? I need to consider any persistent animals that may want to dig under the board and burrow under the slab. Some rock may be easier to dig up.

 

[kbs2244]

I would guess that is treated wood.
That may affect your paint choice.

 

[tncatadjuster]

I’ve had good luck with a small weak pressure washer and being careful about distance and tip. Beats scraping, I’m sure some will chime in to never use one on wood, but if your careful it’sgreat. Let it dry and use the best paint you can afford from a quality paint store, tell the oldest guy in there what you are doing, I do like Oil base for this application.

 

[rusty1]

...don't use paint, stain that wood, it gets into the grain and never peels like paint,..lasts longer than paint...you can get all kinds of colors,...

 

[chaosracing]

...don't use paint, stain that wood, it gets into the grain and never peels like paint,..lasts longer than paint...you can get all kinds of colors,...

Depends on the stain. We stained our pool deck with Olympic 2 years ago, its half worn/flaked off already.

 

[meboatermike]

But he will not get the wear on the sidewall of a building that you get on a deck

 

[chaosracing]

Still, not all stains are the same. Penetration is key. When we stained our deck, the boards were new, but still got sanded and washed. Should have had good penetration, yet we did not. The stain is also coming off in areas that have no traffic as well.

 

[meboatermike]

True, some stains just lay on the surface I guess. They should be made to penetrate.

 

[James-W]

I have never had any luck painting or staining boards that are old and weather beaten. Paint will peel in a short period of time and stain won't stay very well either. If it were my building I would do sort of what has been mentioned above. I would leave the wood there and try to find some metal siding like the type that is already there. If you can tuck the new metal siding under the old metal siding and put it over the wood, it should last a long time. I suspect that at some point time you will want to update the building but until then this repair should work out well.

 

[chaosracing]

Two other options to consider. A wood preservative (Like Thompsons or better) or used motor oil (diesel motor oil is better for this) can be used, but if you plan on putting dirt against the wood again(or stone) be aware that either of these can leach out.