Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Old barn - New life

[pals444]

Here we go again! New home, new project.
Late last year we moved to a place southeast in Norway. Great place with much more space. So far there has been some work to get organized in the house. But this years major project is to give the old barn a serious upgrade. First clean it out, fix what can be fixed, and then make it into a functional and hopefully good looking garage / workshop. It’s a big project with a low-ish budget, so we’ll see.

Here’s the property:


The barn:


Inside:


I have a job to do. Some may argue that building a new garage is less work, and they will be right.
But that’s not the point. I want to keep it, make it better, and looking like it’s always been there.

Great to be posting here again!

 

[GlennSullivan]

Absolutely beautiful site / landscape. I guess my first question is how do you get rid of the big ramp up into the garage?

 

[txvwnut]

Man that’s a great looking place. Please keep up with the progress pics.

 

[pals444]

Absolutely beautiful site / landscape. I guess my first question is how do you get rid of the big ramp up into the garage?

Thank You. There is a height difference of about 60 cm from the existing barn floor to the driveway. The short distance to the house makes it too steep. Lowering the floor of the barn is an option, but not a good one. But the driveway goes all the way around the barn, and opens the option of new doors on the other side. Easy to level the height of the driveway there. So that’s the answer.
I will post drawings as soon as they are finished.

 

[MacTexas]

Following

 

[rzims]

Wow, that place is VERY cool! will definitely be following along on the journey

 

[1Garageman]

I have got to see this develop into a great workshop!

 

[STINEY]

Here we go again! New home, new project.
Late last year we moved to a place southeast in Norway. Great place with much more space. So far there has been some work to get organized in the house. But this years major project is to give the old barn a serious upgrade. First clean it out, fix what can be fixed, and then make it into a functional and hopefully good looking garage / workshop. It’s a big project with a low-ish budget, so we’ll see.

Here’s the property:


The barn:


Inside:


I have a job to do. Some may argue that building a new garage is less work, and they will be right.
But that’s not the point. I want to keep it, make it better, and looking like it’s always been there.

Great to be posting here again!

Oh, definitely tuning in to see the progress on this. What a sweet looking barn! The whole property layout is pretty darn sweet for that matter!

 

[FTWingRiders]

Beautiful place! I love an old barn makeover! I’ll be here for progress and pictures!!

 

[pals444]

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.
The project will look something like this. I need to stretch the building 3m to get enough space for the new workshop. That makes it a total of 16 meters long, and 6,5 meters wide. 2 cars will fit in the middle section.
This look is quite common for norwegian barns, often with one section in brick/stone.



Next move is to apply for a building permit. I don’t expect any trouble, but you never know.

 

[pals444]

As you may have noticed, there is a tree very close to the barn. Unfortunately too close.


So today it had to go. I’m not happy about it, but it would have been a potential disaster to leave it there. I hired a professional to do the job. Once it’s down I can take care of it myself, but felling is high risk.

 

[FTWingRiders]

I hate having to take down a healthy tree, but sometimes there’s no choice. Once the addition is done, will there be room to replace it with something smaller?

 

[pals444]

I hate having to take down a healthy tree, but sometimes there’s no choice. Once the addition is done, will there be room to replace it with something smaller?

Oh yes. There is room enough for a small forest if we want. But first this project

 

[BSAschields]

Nice place . Cant wait to see what you do with is ... Barn and house ...

 

[VolksWomble]

That place looks fantastic. I used to be in Bergen and Oslo quite often for work but never got to see very much of the rest of the country. I hope to fix that soon. In the meantime I’m looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[roger440]

Fantastic location. Look forward to seeing this develop.

 

[GlennSullivan]

Thank You. There is a height difference of about 60 cm from the existing barn floor to the driveway. The short distance to the house makes it too steep. Lowering the floor of the barn is an option, but not a good one. But the driveway goes all the way around the barn, and opens the option of new doors on the other side. Easy to level the height of the driveway there. So that’s the answer.
I will post drawings as soon as they are finished.

That sounds like a good plan and the existing entranceway could be turned into a double door for personal / small equipment access (garden tractor).

 

[Jayman17]

Hi great looking project! Next time you are taking photos could you include one of the exterior window header trim on your house? It looks interesting from a distance but would love to see a close up shot. TYIA!

 

[littlebean]

what a beautiful location and sounds like an interesting project as well, looking forward to updates

 

[Nolift911]

Looks like a fantastic project - will be following for sure. Do you have a ROM in mind for timeline?

 

[pals444]

Looks like a fantastic project - will be following for sure. Do you have a ROM in mind for timeline?

Thank You.
I should be a bit careful to answer here. I dont think I’ve estimated a correct timeline for any of my home projects, ever. And since this is a tight budget, I’ll be doing most of the work myself. My job also keeps me away from home for periods of time.
But the plan is: It looks like the building permit will take 2-3 months. By then the barn should be cleaned out. New foundation and walls should be done by august. Roof sealed by october, and ready to park the cars under a roof by november. Winter months is for inside work, and then finish the exterior by next spring. So a year+ from now.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

pals444, Welcome...or welcome back - whichever is appropriate. Can you post more "Before" pictures? I'm sure they'll be interesting especially after you complete the work.

Are you native Norwegian? Possibly a relocated American or from elsewhere?

 

[Nolift911]

Thank You.
I should be a bit careful to answer here. I dont think I’ve estimated a correct timeline for any of my home projects, ever. And since this is a tight budget, I’ll be doing most of the work myself. My job also keeps me away from home for periods of time.
But the plan is: It looks like the building permit will take 2-3 months. By then the barn should be cleaned out. New foundation and walls should be done by august. Roof sealed by october, and ready to park the cars under a roof by november. Winter months is for inside work, and then finish the exterior by next spring. So a year+ from now.

Awesome! I like the timeline - aggressive! Don't worry we will all keep you honest!

 

[pals444]

Hi great looking project! Next time you are taking photos could you include one of the exterior window header trim on your house? It looks interesting from a distance but would love to see a close up shot. TYIA!

Of course! I really like these windows. They are made by a local carpentry workshop. True to the century-old style.
A couple of exterior photos and one from inside, taken today. Winter is reluctant to leave

 

[pals444]

pals444, Welcome...or welcome back - whichever is appropriate. Can you post more "Before" pictures? I'm sure they'll be interesting especially after you complete the work.

Are you native Norwegian? Possibly a relocated American or from elsewhere?

Thank You, Dan.
I’m very much a native Norwegian. But in my childhood I was lucky to experience a year in New York, when my mother got a scholarship at a university there. So I do have a connection to the USA. Most norwegians speak english very well though.

Exterior «before» pictures from today below. As You can see it needs a lot of TLC. I’ll prepare a tour inside for You later.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for the reply pals! Interesting, I did not know that Norwegians tend to speak English so well. Hell, a LOT of Americans son't speak English all that well, ha ha!

I love our barn as it is. Love it being traditional - well traditional here in the States - barn red. Will it likely stay that color or will you change it to match the house? I'm curious (nosy really) why is it elevated from the house? Was there a reason for that back in the days when it was built......when was that by the way? I apologize if you've already mentioned it and I missed it. What is job #1 when winter is over?

 

[jollygreengiant]

Oh yeah, I'll be following this one for sure! I love old barns, and seeing one in Norway is super cool!

 

[DCJets]

Norway is super cool. Especially in winter. Are you planning for insulation? I am well aware this would not comply with age and style of the building, but workspace during wintertime would also be smart.

Especially the northern lights are quite used to english. Dutch people as well.
This might be due to movies usually not having been translated into their languages. So already as youngsters they had to cope with english when watching tv by 50 percent and in cinema even more.

 

[tj675]

Very cool barn! Can’t wait to see what you do with it.

 

[pals444]

Thanks for the reply pals! Interesting, I did not know that Norwegians tend to speak English so well. Hell, a LOT of Americans son't speak English all that well, ha ha!

I love our barn as it is. Love it being traditional - well traditional here in the States - barn red. Will it likely stay that color or will you change it to match the house? I'm curious (nosy really) why is it elevated from the house? Was there a reason for that back in the days when it was built......when was that by the way? I apologize if you've already mentioned it and I missed it. What is job #1 when winter is over?

The property deserves a careful approach, and I think the barn should look like it was always there. Traditional colors are red with white trim. I haven’t decided about the roof yet, but same roof tiles as the house is an option.
The different elevation might be because they kept livestock, and had a manure pit below the floor. The manure was collected from the outside.
This picture is from early 50’s:

I believe the barn was there when the house was built in 1906. Not verified, but plausible.
When winter is over the first job will be to secure the building and make room for the workshop foundations.

 

[DCJets]

Great project. Already following this, being curious what's coming up.

Question: those drawings above do not exactly show your barn, but a similiar one? I recognize different doors, facing the house. So it cannot reflect the existing situation. Nor can it be the intended change, since the doors would be in the wrong side then. Also seems half of that drawn barn being made of stone/bricks. As per above photos, your barn looks like a completely wooden one.

 

[pals444]

Question: those drawings above do not exactly show your barn, but a similiar one? I recognize different doors, facing the house. So it cannot reflect the existing situation. Nor can it be the intended change, since the doors would be in the wrong side then. Also seems half of that drawn barn being made of stone/bricks. As per above photos, your barn looks like a completely wooden one.

Sorry. It's easy to get confused as the drawings doesn't show the surroundings. I'll try to clear things up:
The drawings show the build as I plan it to be when finished. This will be the side facing the house:


The white / stone end of the building will be new, the rest renovated. All doors will be new. Hope this explains it

 

[DCJets]

Ok, got it. A quarter of the existing barn will be removed, but being rebuild including the addition. So when it's all done, two third of the barn will be made of stone. That's to become the workshop, most likely to allow work in wintertime. The middle section will be used as garage while the eastside separation will be storage?

This separation ist already existing? So construction work solely affects the westend?

 

[pals444]

This separation ist already existing? So construction work solely affects the westend?

The separation exists, sort of. But needs a total renovation. The rest: You got it

 

[DCJets]

Almost. Wrote 'two third' but meant 'two fifth'.

 

[pals444]

Easter holiday, and really looking forward to some days off. Maybe get some work done at home. Weather is ok, and the snow is slowly melting away.

Outside: tidy up the pile of wood, pallets and roof tiles stored there. That’s the easy job.
Inside: 100 years of dust and stuff to be cleaned, sorted and either disposed, stored or moved. On this side of the barn there is a room used as a workshop.
Entrance, with some old electrical wiring. No power in the barn yet, though. Disconnected years ago.

This room is full of stuff. Some of it interesting. Mostly ****. But I like this kind of ****.


The rest of the barn is stuffed with everything they didn’t throw away in the old days

There is barely space for some of my garage stuff. Most is stored in the basement, waiting for the day this project is finished.

 

[DCJets]

Impressive! Further southeast we had maybe a week with snow.

Now we can see the farside driveway. Or a small portion of it. But sufficient to understand the higher level.

The barn itself has two stories of attic, but none really usable for safe storage of material. Except boards...
Some of the stuff, they did not throw away in the past, meanwhile has some value. Trading it on platforms like eBay could become kind of a pain. But better than disposing it now, might be a handover to Fretex or similiar.

Seeing the old electrics, I well understand, why it had been disconnected long time ago. I really love these rotating switches, but continue using it in a barn, with all the potential moisture around?

 

[pals444]

Some progress outside. Uncovering the west side of the barn. It has been used for storage of old materials, firewood and about 400 roof tiles.

A closer inspection of the foundations.
Not quite how we would do it today, but it’s been here for a 100 years, so maybe not as bad as it looks.


Well, some renovation needed.

 

[pals444]

Time for an update. Project is not on schedule, and it will remain so. I’m ok with it.

The building permit was more difficult then expected. Short version, I will need a geologist. That delays the project with months, and makes it more expensive.
A decision was neccesary. I’ll keep the original outline, and make it a total renovation in stead. This doesn’t need a permit. The extension can wait as long as I build the workshop first.
Logistics is another issue. Where does all the stuff go when the barn is not there? Solution: Two stages. Move everything to one side, work on the other side. Repeat.

Cleaning out:


Opening the floor:


Moving outside panel to separate the build.




Removing the rest.

 

[LWB]

Wow! Good luck with the renovation. Following along.