Old barn -> Shop conversion (California)

[polar8]

Welcome to my project thread! A few months ago I bought a house in San Jose, CA and it came with an old barn built in 1919 in the backyard. It was in pretty rough shape, but I decided to restore it rather than tear it down and build something new, primarily because a new structure couldn't have been as large, as per the building department in my city.

I have a few pictures of the barn as it was when I moved into my house, but since the whole thing was covered in vines and really worn down, it's hard to get a sense of what the structure is like. By the time you read this there should be screenshots of my CAD model further down this page if you want a better feel for it.

About me: I am a 25 year old mechanical engineer. I've always had some kind of project going on but this will be my first ground-up construction project. Like every project before it, this one has consumed my life and I spend my evenings reading books and watching YouTube videos on the subject. Since the start I have sought as much help as I can and have been fortunate to meet some really helpful people who have taught me so much. A big part of why I'm posting here is I'm looking for feedback from people more experienced than me. So please share any thoughts you might have.

Barn as it appeared in MLS photos:

HGZKZJm by polar eight, on Flickr

ON0tBqd by polar eight, on Flickr

The inside:

yajrPtqg by polar eight, on Flickr

VJicoYs by polar eight, on Flickr

BhvccjG by polar eight, on Flickr

D5xOtDa by polar eight, on Flickr

 

[J-man67]

Can't see pics... Anyone else?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[colt zantop]

Can't see pics either

 

[polar8]

First order of business was to clean up the inside. I cleared out a mountain of debris and found a wood floor made of beautiful 1" thick redwood floorboards. Unfortunately without a foundation the floor was in rough shape, with 1-foot vertical gaps in many of the floorboards. So I ripped it out, making sure to keep the wood for future woodworking projects. Apparently it's called old growth redwood and is awesome?

zEhOjN3 by polar eight, on Flickr

i4Ba2Vz by polar eight, on Flickr

The floor, removed:

GYlpL1L by polar eight, on Flickr


The barn had no framing whatsoever. Just redwood siding (board & batten) holding up the roof. As a result the roof had started to sag and some of the redwood boards had bowed out. After much deliberation with some more experienced friends I decided the best strategy would be to jack up the roof until it was approximately straight, then pour some temporary columns to support it in place, then either pour a slab or build a foundation and build a wood floor.

Here are some pictures of getting the barn supported. Prior to this it was seriously in danger of falling over.

Clearing brush- so many vines

SpzyoZd by polar eight, on Flickr

Harbor freight bottle jacks. That's how you know you have a fun project.

iHaCFXZ by polar eight, on Flickr

Digging one of the 12 post holes. We put 4x4 brackets and posts on these, and ran those posts up to the roof.

xmPcaUa by polar eight, on Flickr

Some of the siding is removed because we had to get a stump ground out. It had pushed in two of the barn walls and had to go.

GepOSxD by polar eight, on Flickr

I spent a day ripping up the old redwood shingles. This exposed the roof framing which turned out to be in pretty good condition. There are 2 rafters that have some dry rot, and I'll replace them, but the rest looks alright.

7y7GcYr by polar eight, on Flickr

qHOlYr8 by polar eight, on Flickr

 

[polar8]

Sorry about the pics! Fixing now!

 

[typeshige]

Is this out in Almaden? or up in the east hills? Trying to picture where in San Jose would still have a barn!

Congrats! Looking forward to the build!

 

[polar8]

Is this out in Almaden? or up in the east hills? Trying to picture where in San Jose would still have a barn!

Congrats! Looking forward to the build!

Downtown San Jose! If you want to come check it out send me a PM.

 

[polar8]

With the barn now fully supported on those concrete piers we poured, it was time to start prepping for the foundation. I decided on a monolithic slab, 4" thick with 12" thickened edge.

Here's what the barn looks like on its temporary post supports

BAlP6hg by polar eight, on Flickr

The next week was spent sourcing free dirt on Craigslist. I needed a lot of it, but luckily there are lots of people looking to get rid of dirt and they'll deliver it for free:

Kh6z0DE by polar eight, on Flickr

Moving dirt- this took a really long time but was a good workout. Moved about 10 yards of dirt total, and put 10 yards of gravel on top of it.

uSu78bV by polar eight, on Flickr

Luckily my neighbor let me borrow his compactors which was a godsend. I was able to move in dirt at my pace and compact every few inches with the jumping jack. I really went overboard but I wanted the base to be SOLID.

2E3tah6 by polar eight, on Flickr

10 yards of gravel delivered:

oZjAsZt by polar eight, on Flickr

And painstakingly leveled and compacted:

azWMLfR by polar eight, on Flickr

wsxMwF9 by polar eight, on Flickr

chWJVh2 by polar eight, on Flickr

4l5P9QL by polar eight, on Flickr

I went a little crazy on the compacting and leveling. I kept checking my height with the 360 laser and everything was within 1/4" before the vapor barrier went on. Hard as a rock too, I probably did ten passes of watering + plate compacting. I couldn't drive a wood stake into it.

r3XLrT1 by polar eight, on Flickr

 

[polar8]

Today we poured the slab. It was just under 10 yards. I was extremely lucky to find a really great guy who helped me coordinate the whole effort, and who finished the slab himself. I bought a worm drive circular saw off of him on Craigslist, and while I was at his house I noticed he was wearing a concrete contractor's jacket. He had just retired from the trade, but had spent his career pouring crazy things like skyscraper foundations.

I asked him if he could come take a look at my barn, and he agreed. He ended up staying all day and rebuilt all the forms with me. He also helped coordinate the pump truck and ordered the right mix. We had one pumper, him, and myself. I helped him screed, and then he spent the rest of the day floating and troweling as I watched intently and asked him a million questions.

Forms built-

Q4Ubd1m by polar eight, on Flickr

Me tying rebar-

J2e7MAZ by polar eight, on Flickr

Forms in place and rebar down-

dFsR448 by polar eight, on Flickr

Pump ready!

2QkqlkD by polar eight, on Flickr

Pumping-

bBht0Pv by polar eight, on Flickr

Hard troweling-

Y0hzZis by polar eight, on Flickr

Groovy!

k5I5exN by polar eight, on Flickr

A few hours later, the finished product-

i2rR1tQ by polar eight, on Flickr

So smooth-

i2rR1tQ by polar eight, on Flickr

xf8S1uj by polar eight, on Flickr

 

[Bib Overalls]

Still no pictures. If you are using Instagram it does not like the Garage Journal. I strongly recommend Flickr as a photo host. Great resolution and no maximum monthly views.

 

[polar8]

Still no pictures. If you are using Instagram it does not like the Garage Journal. I strongly recommend Flickr as a photo host. Great resolution and no maximum monthly views.

Ugh sorry. I was using Google Photos, then switched to Imgur. I'll switch them to Flickr now.

Edit- switched to Flickr, should be good now. Can you confirm?

 

[Camaro Mike]

Great project, pictures look good.

 

[lieutenant]

What a project! Can't wait for updates.

 

[Larry_AZ]

Is this out in Almaden? or up in the east hills? Trying to picture where in San Jose would still have a barn!

Congrats! Looking forward to the build!

LOL....I was thinking the same thing..."Where is there still a standing barn in San Jose?"

Congrats on the house and the barn bonus.
Spent many days in SJ....friends, Weird Stuff, Great America, getting computer parts to build new rigs....

Subscribed.
Larry

 

[Cris B]

Looks like a great project! The barn has great character and with all that Redwood should look stunning.

 

[TRS63]

Wow, really cool project, that barn will have a lot of character! I suscribe to see the future work here!

Antoine

 

[dirt_dobber]

Absolutely fantastic. Did you keep the redwood flooring? great lumber throughout the old barn. Love the look and great pics!
subscribed!

 

[roscoe2000]

It is great to see old building being reused. Keep the post coming....

 

[coldh2o]

Awesome barn! I have a boathouse in similar condition, subscribed for interest and tips.

 

[beautifulchaos]

Awesome place. Can't wait to see this one come together. Thanks for sharing.

Rick

 

[txusa03]

love San Jose (Silicon Valley). Awesome work on saving the old barn! You have lots of patience and willing to put in the hard work!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Awesome work on the barn!!!!

 

[sapcpo]

Great job on the barn!

 

[typeshige]

It's really nice to see a build in Silicon Valley!!! Subscribed.

 

[Bob275]

That's probably one of the best Craigslist dealings I've heard of. Talk about right place, right time. Bet you are glad you bought that saw and didn't lowball him.

 

[AZ Pete]

Thumbs up! Great that you can save the barn.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[-Brent-]

This is AWESOME! This stuff is right up my alley. Keep up the good work. That loft area is really cool.

 

[polar8]

Making some progress on the framing. Just to recap- I am building the frame from the inside out, one stick at a time. Everything except the roof (and one "wall", for permit purposes) is getting trashed.

I drew up the framing plan in SolidWorks:

Screenshot_4 by polar eight, on Flickr

Starting to put the first wall up, pulling out the temporary support posts as I went:

IMG_9286 by polar eight, on Flickr

When that one was supported I moved onto the next walls:

IMG_9318 by polar eight, on Flickr

And just kept going around until the roof was fully supported by the frame:

IMG_9321 by polar eight, on Flickr

The current state:

IMG_9392 by polar eight, on Flickr

IMG_9390 by polar eight, on Flickr

 

[dw1]

Doing a great job, looks good. Any idea how old the barn is?

 

[turbowoodworker]

Your first pictures reminded me of driving through SJ in the early '60's. Lots of history there. Glad you could save that barn and that redwood.

 

[readhead]

Good looking build. Just wondering though, are you and everyone you know in witness protection?

 

[fergus]

^^^ What he said.

Nice work. I can appreciate saving the old buildings for sure. You're already made yours nicer than the last two places I've worked on! Keep it up.

 

[Bib Overalls]

I've been posting on the Garage Journal for a long time and as best I can recollect you are the only member here who is enrolled in the Witness Protection Program. Your secret is safe with us.

 

[sublime68charger]

Great save on that old barn!

Keep the pics coming!

 

[JimL]

Neat old building!

 

[captain14]

Good to save the old building. Are you doing all the labor besides the concrete pour?

 

[AFBud78]

Any updates? This is too good to miss out on.

 

[GJoustra]

Wow, I bet the new concrete makes the place look brand new! Thanks for saving the old barn!

 

[Squashfest81]

That is a gorgeous building well worth saving. A shop made of actual wood with character.

 

[diiulio]

Looks good. I like the idea of keeping as much of the original barn as possible even if it is for permitting/building dept reasons. I miss the redwood out there. Lived in Larkspur (Marin) for a little while and worked in SF. Miss that place.