raising a pole barn height?

[hoosierhog]

just curious if it is possible to raise the height of a pole building.
my shop is a 24x32 x 9 and with the over head door its tight to
get my ford 4000 in there. i also have an issue with the concrete
floor sweating and it has flooded only 1/4 of an inch and only 1 or
2 times since i've lived here but i was thinking. if i striped the
building and back filled 6 - 8inch thick pad of gravel then built my
barn back using the existing trusses, perlins, girts and headers.
the barn needs a new roof and it needs a vapor barrier so that
needs replaced any way. but i was thinking of using sister posts
and making it tall enough id have 12ft door clearance and adding
an enclosed lean to on one side to give me more square footage. i
would reuses any metal i could and i have a good source for cheap
or free lumber not to mention i've been hoarding material to
renovate this biulding for a while. so other than the vapor barrier ,
concrete, fastners and some metal and doing the work my self i
think it would be cheaper than biulding a new shop. so what do
you all think is it possible, is it cheaper to do it this way, what is
your opinions.

oh it also has 4x6 posts and 8ft spacing if that makes a difference.

 

[Tim(nj)]

Before you do anything, make sure your posts are not rotten below ground level. Even treated posts rot off, especially in concrete.

 

[Phil in MI]

If you have the grond space why not just build a new building and modify the existing building as necessary to correct the condesate and flooding problems?

Phil

 

[Dick2]

That's what I was thinking. Build a new building to your specs in a location that doesn't flood. Use the old building for storage; I've never been to a farm that couldn't use more storage space!

 

[da.bees]

The answer lies with wherether the existing barn could serve well for a different perpuse. Sounds like you have or can get material to build a secound barn. When you consider how far along you could be on a new building when demo was complete,it makes building a secound one good investment of labor.

 

[hoosierhog]

no more room home site is only 10acres and with all the other out buildings and neighbors i don't have more space to build another building. now the biggest issue with the current structure is the flooding. the barn sits 100ft behind my house. the ground around the house slopes toward the barn. And there is no pad or increase of elevation what so ever around the barn. is a straight shot and only the footer and a 2inch lip of conrete as a barrier then the water floods the barn. so how do i fix that without back filling and raising the floor. but if i raise the floor then my door height drops so the small tractor does not fit let alone the big ones. but i would consider keeping the current structure if i could stop the water problems.

 

[armand tatro]

I would agree with a 2nd. building! However I would raise the grade at least one foot above ground level and plan on a 14' tall by 16' wide door opening and at least a 16' side wall to have clearence for the overhead door. Is the Ford 4000 the only tractor the only tractor you have or do you have another tractor that would fit thru the 9' door on the shorter door assuming you keep the original building? Build the 2nd. building and enjoy both of them! Also if you remodel the existing building and add a leanto the leanto would be too short to use unless you used that area for your shop tools and eqipment and office area. Armand

 

[RKT]

As a Farmer and Contractor, I"ve been on both sides of quite similar predicaments. Here"s my conclusion.
You will NEVER be satisfied with reworking what you have. You will be far better off building a new structure the way you want it. Sure, it will be more expensive, but in the long run you"ll be much happier. You"ll probably have to go to the bank, but you"ll probably have a break on some taxes, too.
You said that what you already have needs a new roof. What about what"s attached TO that roof? Those boards have probably gone thru decades of stress from wind, snow, dry rot, who knows? Are you sure that you want to spend all this time & money reusing materials that are past their prime?
Your labor will triple with any rehab project. This extra time could be used for something more productive, don"t you think? Plus, the extra time that you"re spending on this strenuous task is exposing you to a much larger chance of injury, causing you loss of work and income.
As I began in this reply..."I Been There, Done That!!!" My Father had the same mindset as what you"re pondering. I"ve moved chicken houses, hog houses, barns, jacked "em up, put lean-tos on "em...you name it. Never Again. trust me, it"s not worth it.
(forgive any grammer or puntuation errors).

 

[johndeerefan]

Sounds like you need a bulldozer to create a "swell or low lying" area between the house and garage to divert the water away. I had to do that for my garage as well because the existing grade from the house sloped towards the garage. We backed up mid ways to the house and created a gently sloping ditch that really only amounted to about 6"-1' deep, but you can hardly see it and I mow it just like the rest of the yard. It is just enough to divert the run-off water. You don't need much to stop it.

 

[chucksoliver77]

I think with a little engineering you could build a dormer over the bay that you want to raise. then you could raise that area as much as you want and leave the rest of the building as is. Chuck

 

[altmodisch]

If you have enough space on front or rear of buiding change the structure by adding a raised entrance section of 16 or 18 feet. This would allow a new door height, and your new approach would turn water away from the building.

 

[armand tatro]

To solve the existing drainage problem do you have acces to a underground drain tile outlet? If so I would trench around your existing building 8 to 10' away from your building and install a drain tile sloped to your outlet and back fill with 1 inch bedding stone. Where youe door entrance is I would use 6 inches of readmix on top of the bedding stone starting at 6 inches below grade. Please dieregard my post about the 2nd. buling but consider using my sidewall height and the leanto suggestions. The perimeter tile should solve your drainage problems assuming you have a good outlet. Armand

 

[altmodisch]

You may be interested in changing the structure to a monitor style barn. You can use much of your material over , raise your door height, change your floor grade and lay out a new floor plan also you can install a over head rail system to attach chain hoist to.

 

[paul]

You know the answer. A second building put in the right location to keep water away, and the right height, is the answer.

You basically are rebuilding what you have, bad roof, too short, too low. You are not saving anything by taking it all apart, and trying to rebuild based on a few 4x6 old poles that are too short and too thin and likely 1/2 rotted.

Sounds like you have access to materials, start a new shed. Old one will work for storage for a time yet.

Paul

 

[prawnfarmer]

If the garage door is located on the end-wall (24ft direction) you might consider a low overhead kit and replace original door with a torsion spring 8'-6" tall door. If located on the sidewall the header may keep you from gaining height.In that case you might consider installing a sliding endwall door for the tractor as you can have a full 9ft clearance as no header is needed & your track board is attached to the exterior. In addition to what RKT said, another red flag here is that the building is 9ft which might mean the original poles are only 12ft long with only 3ft is in the ground - assuming original building spot was perfectly on grade. Increasing building height with only 4x6 poles seems pretty risky for wind loads. I'd bet the poles only had .40 cca treatment rather than .60 cca, too.

 

[Spook]

I've got a neighbor that raised his whole barn up 4 ft. Lots of work, but it can be done.

 

[retired farmer]

Trade the tractor off on a smaller one. Don't need a big tractor for ten acres.

 

[waltdavies]

Get a very long drill bit like the electrician use and drill down into the poles to see how good they are I would bet that they are rotted out from the concrete level down.
Walt

 

[Bigdaddy4430]

Ive done exacctly that to the same size building.Cut the posts off at ground level bolted 8' posts with 3/4 threaded rod to the bottoms with about a 3 ft lap.Works great,insulated it, tinned it all by myself.2 yrs later added a lean on the east side tore the wall outNow have a 26 x 42.The only thing i dislike is the post that that was in the middle of the wall i tore out is kinda in the way but its manageable.

 

[hoosierhog]

I live on the farm closer to 160

 

[hoosierhog]

Correction to spelling : I live on 10 but farm 160 in crops and another 70 in hay . My ground is all spread out

 

[Pops1532]

If your time is worth anything you'd be money ahead to build a new building.

I agree that if you keep the existing building you need to create a swale so surface water will run around your building.

 

[massey 333]

Two ideas,if you door is in an end wall,go in and rebuild your end trusses(raise your bottom plate up)dad did that,took 10 ft.door made 13 ft. high door for combine.The other one is jack whole building up(cut post off ground level and pour new concrete post under them.Dad and GF raised(4ft.) and moved a 50x80(three walled) cattle shed(20ft.sideways)and set on concrete wall and post with nothing more then a MH 44-loader and building jacks.But yours is a small building(footprint)for the money you might put in it unless you can't stand a larger one.