Barn Roof Replacement

After many years of having to patch the roof each summer due to new leaks from the winter months the Board of Directors of the Trotwood-Madison Historical Society decided to have the roof replaced.  We have made major improvements to the inside of the barn and some of these improvements were already deteriorating due to water from the leaks in the barn.  If you walked through the barn, it looked like bucket city.

After getting contractors to inspect the barn and give us estimates of what it would cost to replace the roof, the Board of Directors held a special meeting and selected AAA Restoration, LLC as the contractor to put a new roof on the barn.

The first major task was to replace one of the beams on the southeast side of the barn (the beam to the left of the worker standing on the walk board).  Over the years water had leaked on top of the beam in numerous places.  The beam had significant rot in numerous locations and had to be repaired or replaced.


To safely remove the beam, every rafter over the beam had to be supported and the rafters had to be disconnected from the beam.  The supports that ran from the beam to the large upright beams that supported the roof beams had to be removed so the beam could be safely removed.

 Although the task seemed to be impossible to do, the AAA Restoration crew managed to safely remove the beam without damaging any of the items stored in the south loft of the barn.  To remove the beam from the barn, they had to slide the beam over the cross beam on the north side of the south loft.  This was not an easy task considering the small clearance (area between aluminum walk board and diagional beam) between the cross beam and the roof; length of the beam which was wider than the center section of the barn (beam had to be moved to center section of barn to get it out of the barn); and the weight of the beam.

While some of the workers were inside removing the old beam, some were outside manufacturing a new beam.  The beam was constructed of  2X10 treated lumber.  The boards were nailed together then long bolts were use to hold the boards together.  The manufactured the beam to look like the other beams which were made by the Wolford Brothers when they did work to stabilize the barn during our first restoration efforts of the barn.  

Installing the manufactured beam was definitely more challenging than removing the old beam.  Just as in removing the old beam, the new beam had to be carried into the center section of the barn and raised over the cross beams on the north side of the south loft.  When removing the old beam, the beam had to be cut so the old beam was shorter than the new beam and was easier to remove.  Since the new beam was wider than the center section of the barn, the beam had to be taken up at an angle.  But, before we could do this, we had to remove items from under the lowest cross beam on the south end of the north loft.  After much maneuvering, the beam was finally installed.  I don't know if the smile on the face of the worker was a smile of accomplishment; pride in doing a great job; or a smile of relief for a difficult task successfully accomplished.

After the beam was installed, the task of removing the old metal roof was started.  This turned out to be a more difficult job than anticipated.  The old roof was a standing seam galvanized roof.  It is virtually impossible to separate the individual sheets of roofing so the crew took a sawsall and cut the original nails and the screws used by the Society A team to help hold the roofing down.  They did a section at a time; folded the sections down; used a sawsall to separate the folded section from the roof; lowered the folded section to the ground; and stacked the sections so we could load them and take them to A&B Iron Works for recycling.  The recycling of the metal roof will be used to help pay the cost of the contract.

After all the metal was removed from the west side of the barn, the task of leveling the rafters; repairing the tails of each rafter; installing fascia; installing 2X4's across the rafters to hold the decking; and placing the decking on the roof began.  This also was not easy task, but the crew worked diligently to get it done and the results are simply amazing.  We now have a relatively level surface to put the metal roofing on which should last for years to come.

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The west side of the barn now has a new metal roof.  The overhangs on the south end of the barn has new decking and the metal roof has been started.  The overhang on the east side has new decking and the metal will be added after the east side roof of the barn has been completed.  The crew completed the decking and added felt to the decking on Friday, April 6, 2012.  Some of the crew are not from Trotwood, but live working on roofs.  They took a much deserved break and went home for the Easter weekend.  Their work has been great so far and the crew seems to take great pride in what they have accomplished.  We can hardly wait until the work is done.

The next update on the barn will be after the work is completed.  With this update, I will include a slide show showing various stages of the work.  Again, it was not easy task, but a task done well.