This old barn

[aGuynamedGuy]

My wife and I just purchased an antique home (c1782) in New Hampshire that comes with a mid-19th century barn. Since the property has no actual garage, I'll be using the barn for storage of and some basic working on/maintaining our cars. The barn has a plank floor that's in good shape, and the beam work underneath is more than stout enough to hold our two classic cars, our Tahoe daily driver, tractor, and whatever else we want to put in there.

My question is this; I'm thinking about putting down a layer of tar paper, followed by some kind of waterproof membrane, then another layer of tar paper, topped off by something like the basic RaceDeck XL to provide a smooth workable surface in the center section of the barn (see pics) as well as the area under the side loft for storage/parking. Does anyone have any experience with an application like this?

I won't be doing too much fab work in the barn as I'll eventually build a small garage/workshop for heavy fabrication/restoration, so no welding, grinding, pulling-of-engines, etc. on the RaceDeck. My main concerns are having a flat surface for rolling things around on, and not losing bolts and things between the planks, etc. Our current cars are pretty small-scale (rally-built Corvair Spyder and an MGB), so I'm not too concerned about space. I've already received a quote for the RD ($2500ish delivered), which seems more cost-effective than any other solution I can think of.

Thoughts?

 

[memphisnate]

I would think the biggest question would be how flat/level is the floor that the RaceDeck is going to be put on. Some small variation wouldn't be an issue.

and more pics of the barn and house!!!

 

[FJ 432]

I'm with memphisnate. Screw the race deck, I WANT MORE PHOTOS!!

 

[captain14]

To get a better answer you must post more photos. Lots of photos.

Then we can help you spend more money on your barn floors, vehicles and tools.

 

[RaceDeck1]

Awesome Garage Space!

 

[James-W]

Welcome to the forum.

I am not so sure putting anything down on the wood floor is a good idea. With the wood floor that you have I would think it best to leave it bare so it can dry out when it gets wet. If you cover it up with tar paper and the wood gets wet for whatever reason, it won't be able to dry out.

I would suggest if you are working on a vehicle, put a mat of some sort down on the floor to lean on or to lay down on if you are crawling under the vehicle. That way you aren't laying down on the cold or damp floor.

 

[aGuynamedGuy]

You asked for it;

The house was built in 1782 by a veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill; this was before George Washington was elected president, and while Mozart was still composing. It was once owned by a famous stencilist, and still has one part of the parlor wall showing the original stenciling from 1820ish. The house even has a small trap door in the attic behind the chimney that was reported to be used for the Underground Railroad, although no actual evidence exists to back that up. We're just the fourth family to own the property.

The barn was originally built in 1840-1860, and was moved from across the road in 1920 after the original barn burned down. It is a 3 story bank barn roughly 36 x 48 with a 36 x 12 shed addition on the back gable. Boulder/stone perimeter foundation with 12 posts on footings. The bents are made from beams roughly 12" x 12", but the beams under the first floor are 18"-20" tall. Structurally, it was built beyond overkill, and is in outstanding condition other than a small portion of sill and the eastern gable end needing some siding work. It still contains it's (working) hay crane, all it's original hand-forged hardware. I'll be using the main center section for working on cars and storage of our daily driver. One side under the loft will be storage for our two classic cars, and the other side is a workshop complete with blacksmith anvil, and workbench made from 2 pieces of what appears to be oak 22" x 8' x 4" thick. The loft (goes around three sides) will be for mostly storage, but will have a small woodworking and sewing area. The barn has it's own 100 amp service (not sure if I'll upgrade or not), and has a wood stove in the center part for some semblance of heat. It is not air tight by any stretch of the imagination, so it will need some gaps closed up, and will need a bunch of lights added. I will likely be installing a large compressor (I'll put it downstairs so I don't have to listen to it), so I can have a sandblasting cabinet, and a small painting room (the old tack room) with some filtration/air flow. A lift is not out of the question, but I may hold off and just build a 2-car-ish garage on slab to do the heavy stuff and not worry about the wood floors of the barn.

Right now, our focus will be on the house, and the barn will wait until later next summer, so I have lots of time for planning, dreaming, etc.

 

[gregsolds442]

I think I would consider laying 3/4 or heavier plywood decking down, then maybe some industrial floor paint after caulking the joints. The decking would take any unevenness out of the floor. If you are planning using a floor jack or jack stands, consider a steel plate under each one.

 

[gregsolds442]

And by the way, the place looks AWESOME!

 

[Bighead38]

Cool place. What kind of cars?

 

[Toomanytools?]

Cool history and place, the floor looks too uneven for RD to sit flat. Must be a crawl space under it, if it is well ventilated you could as suggested put down a 3/4" or 1 1/8" tongue and groove subfloor. That would give you a nice flatter floor which you could paint or do RD. Good Luck with it.

 

[memphisnate]

Drooling...feel free to post more as you work on the house!!!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you are not going to cover the whole floor, I would not worry about trying to seal the moisture from below. The biggest issue is getting a level surface.

I think I would consider laying 3/4 or heavier plywood decking down, ...

You are still going to have to know down any high spots. 2 layers of 1/2" plywood, with non-overlapping seams might be better. RaceDeck is not glued down which is good !

A lot of us would NOT cover that floor, except to prevent oil, etc. staining it.

 

[aGuynamedGuy]

Under the floor in the pics is the lower level of the barn (it's a bank barn, so the lower level is accessed through the side and rear yards), then there is the basement under that (4-5' high with dirt/gravel floor). I'm not so worried about moisture from underneath since there is another floor below it, but from things leaking between the planks falling onto the floor below. The lower level will be mostly storage, but possibly some smaller farm animals (goats, chickens, etc.).

As far as current cars; we have a '63 Corvair Spyder that is heavily modified for road/charity rallys, and my wife's '72 MGB ("barn find") that we pulled out of a foreclosed warehouse where it had sat out of the weather for 30ish years. This summer, my wife and I completed a 4000 mile, 7 day, cross-country road trip in the 'Vair, which included a rally from Virginia International Raceway, to Back of the Dragon, Tail of the Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway, and finished with high speed (110-120mph) laps on Talledega!

My next project will likely be an old pick up (late 40's) into which I'll drop a modern drivetrain and drive it everywhere.

 

[memphisnate]

If the main concern is leaks from the main floor down to storage, another option is to attach something to the underside to catch what makes it through the cracks. Unless you wash your car in there or tip over something big, I would imagine the wood would soak up the little bit that hits the wood. There would only be minimal liquid making it's way through the floor.