new project-saving 18th Century Granary

[Tom King]

I got called to come took at an 18th Century Granary that needs some help.  It belonged to Nathanial Macon and now there is a park there that belongs to the county department of parks and recreation.  It needs some help pretty quickly, or will be lost.  Work that was done on it probably 50 years ago wasn't done correctly, and all needs to be redone, including log work, timber framing, and a new Cypress shingle roof.  Who else you going to call when this is 10 miles from home for me.  Preservation North Carolina sent them to me, like I need something else to do.

 

 

[Coop]

Tom, I googled granary and it says it’s a storage building for grain. Why the enormous roof over hang? That’s a neat but unusual looking building. 

[wtnhighlander]

Seems right up your alley, Tom!

[Tom King]

Big overhang to keep the grain dry.  Nothing was more important for being able to eat through the Winter and plant next years crops than keeping the grain dry.  This one does have an unusually wide overhang, but that's just one more reason to preserve it.

The logs are all scribe fitted tight to keep threshed grain from spilling out through openings, although settling and poor quality replacements are leaving big gaps now.

There are some really amazing granaries in Europe, especially in and around Austria that are more hundreds of years older than this one.  Nothing was more important to a community than keeping their grain safe until next season.

 

[curlyoak]

On 7/29/2023 at 10:53 AM, Tom King said:

Preservation North Carolina sent them to me, like I need something else to do.

An important historic structure. I feel the world of historic preservation got lucky to have you on this project. All of us here will be watching your excellent skills and ability. All will enjoy the refurbishing. If I lived nearby I'd ask if I could help. Good luck!

[Tpt life]

I wish there were people who would come if you were to start a school Tom. If you could plan with and oversee six or seven committed young folk, those places might have people to call on as you work less over time. 

[Tom King]

I get asked to teach people all the time.  I'm not a teacher.  When I work, I'm cranking, and not talking. 

 Like I told the lady that asked me about that last time: I've been doing something that I've never done before most days for almost 50 years now, and have accumulated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment in the process.  I can't tell you when I start any day exactly what I'm going to do, or how I'm going to do it.  Tell me how I can teach that, and maybe I would be able to, but then where are they going to get the investment of tools?

My plan right now is to pitch a tarp over the whole thing that is maybe 10' above everything, if I can talk the local electric co-op into coming to set a couple of poles.  They've helped on similar jobs before, and always enjoy doing it.  It will take about a fifth of the 25k budget the county set aside for this to start with for the tarp and 7/8" Stablebraid, but the 60x60 custom made tarp to my specs (out of stuff like a circus tent)  is guaranteed for five years.  They should be able to raise more money while we stabilize it, and at least it can stay dry for a while.

They didn't keep a roof on it, so that's why it's going go ground now.  We visited there 35 years ago when our children were small, and it was in pretty good shape then.  We have some pictures somewhere here in drawers full.  The house there needs a roof on it too.

Here's where it is:   https://www.visitnc.com/listing/ZAx5/buck-spring-park

Preservation North Carolina may be willing to help, but I can't get ahold of anyone in the correct district this weekend.

I only did the first site visit this morning, and the county girl couldn't meet me there, so I will have to get anything approved by them, and have no idea where we are on it right now.

[Mark J]

I was thinking the roof over hang was for pulling a wagon up along side?

16 hours ago, Tom King said:

the 25k budget the county set aside for this

That's the scariest part, 25k isn't going to cover much.  Are you going to have to fight with the gov for funding, too?

[Tom King]

I went back over early this morning, took 83 pictures, and made some simple drawings with a lot of measurements.  The East and West overhangs are about 10 feet, and the North and South about 6'.  I think it was all about keeping the grain dry.  

The fields down by the river were rich, flat ground not much higher than the river.  The water table must have been high enough for crops not to completely depend on rain.  The ground was fertile from silt deposited on it by river flooding.  It didn't flood every year, but the years it did flood, the whole crop could have been lost.  To be safe, they needed enough grain to last two or three years.

The 25k is what the girl that works for the County Department of Parks and Recreation told me that they had put aside for it. They own it being in a public park that they own and operate there.  She knew enough about it to tell me that the steps needed to be fixed.  That won't even put a new Cypress shingle roof on it, but it needs more than that spent on replacing structural elements that aren't simply acquired or replaced.  My job, as is my usual job by my own motivation, is simply to keep it from falling down in the meantime.

I did temporarily fix the second story exterior door jamb, close the door, and pulled up the fallen siding board the best I could from the inside, this morning.

 

[Tom King]

Here are some sample photos of other old granaries.

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/wooden-granary

[Tom King]

If anyone wants to keep up with this, I have a thread going in the Timberframing forum on the Forestryforum.  There are people there with different experiences that are needed.   Wheels are rolling on it, with my first visit just this past Saturday, but still not fast enough to suit me.  Preservation NC is up for it, and says grant money is available.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=122700.0

 

[Tom King]

18th Century scribe fitted logs.  You don't see that.  They have been calling this a Corn Crib.  I explained to Preservation NC that they wouldn't have needed to or gone to the expense of scribe fitting the logs for a corn crib.  A corn crib needs air circulation to finish drying the corn.  A granary needs to keep the grain dry and keep it from spilling out through the cracks.  The floor is a complete replacement. They're now calling it a Granary, and are putting extra effort into getting behind saving it.  They told me grant money is available.  This might be the only 18th Century granary left.  Every farm had a corn crib, but not many granaries.  In Eastern Europe, granaries were for a whole community.

I'm meeting the guy there tomorrow who has blueprints of the building when they did the replacement parts in 1974-5.  He also has pictures of it before they did anything to it.

It's getting more interesting all the time, and a number of people are fired up about it.

 

[Tom King]

Just met with the great guy who had the blueprints and old pictures.  Original joists were logs, so fits my idea that it was a granary.  It would have needed a stronger floor than the replacement there now.   They did no engineering on it, and didn't change the notching pattern, which makes the longer cantilevers weaker, and only strengthened some going to 11x11's to replace the 9x11's.  The longer 9x11's were where you would think they were-broken.

He likes my idea of pitching a tarp up over it, and has connections with the local electric company saying he's sure he can get them to set a couple of poles and help get the 500 pound tarp up there.

The scribe fitted logs are almost all originals.  Perfect candidates for Dendro.

I never got permission to set a support under the most critical point that is in imminent danger, so we set one anyway.

 

[JohnG]

On 8/2/2023 at 2:36 PM, Tom King said:

I never got permission to set a support under the most critical point that is in imminent danger, so we set one anyway.

I like it. Sometimes bureaucracy needs to be ignored in order to do what’s right. 

[Tom King]

I got a response from the lady at Parks and Rec this afternoon about the permission I asked for several days ago about setting that temporary support under the falling beam end.   She said I'd need to fill out the Parks and Rec Volunteer form, and go to the county lawyer to sign a release form.

I'm glad I've already done it.  This is 13 miles away.  County Lawyer if probably 35.  Nope.

[Tom King]

Pictures coming from a 1930 restoration on it.  I didn't think the shingles in those 1974 pictures were original.  

It's a good thing there are still some old people around that took interest in this type of thing a long time ago, and are still here.

[Tom King]

I've figured out a relatively simple system for jacking the whole roof and upper floor up to be able to change the cantilever beam system.  The floor joists for the top floor very conveniently extend out both sides of the long walls.  They will be a big help, and are plenty big and strong enough to be a Big help.  The rafters will need supports under the outer ends too, but that's simple.

While that part if jacked up with weight off the lower walls and floor section, it will not be a hard job to jack up the lower section to change the sills.  The bottom floor joists that were replaced in 1973 are in fine shape, and project under the lowest of the logs.  That part will jack easily with just jacks under the floor joists.

It's going to turn out very lucky that those upper joist extensions are there.

 

[JohnG]

Any recent developments on this project?

[Tom King]

Thanks for asking.

This is owned by the Warren County Parks and Recreation Department.  It's one of the poorest counties in the state.  It's up to the county commissioners to do something about it and they aren't going to do anything even though Preservation NC said they'd help fund it.

It's one of the many old places that has an ownership problem and I've spent all the time I can on beating my head against walls to save them. The lady I met with wanted me to tell her exactly how much it would cost to restore it.  She said they'd approved $25,000 for it and they didn't want to spend any time on it.  That wouldn't buy the log we need to make the Cypress shingles out of.   It won't take long for it to rot down and they don't care. 

[JohnG]

That’s a shame. 

[curlyoak]

If Preservation NC would take complete ownership or co ownership the city and state would benefit. The only chance is a change of ownership. Sad.

[Tom King]

It's on a large piece of property used for public recreation use.  There are trails through the woods and a place on the lake where anyone can go fishing.  They have a nice new building for large groups to meet that they rent out.  It's right in the middle and it will never change ownership.  The county commissioners are largely uneducated people and have no interest in putting any effort into saving a slaveowners anything.

https://www.visitnc.com/listing/ZAx5/buck-spring-park

https://www.warrencountync.com/Facilities/Facility/Details/Buck-Spring-Park-5?_ga-ft=Z0eejg.AA.AA.AA.AA.HY6GCUkFSHWqHn-uHrF-5A..0

[Coop]

It looks like there would at least be some liability involved in case someone was injured due to the deterioration? Tearing it down would be a shame. 

[Mark J]

If it was dismantled I wonder if any of the lumber could be reclaimed?

[Tom King]

Nothing worth all the work and trouble to do that.  Termites, old house borers, and powderpost beetles have been through all of it.  Not enough to destroy the structural strength, but it would be too much work.  I think every timber has the pith in it, so a lot of checks and splits.  The owners would never allow it for liability anyway.

They've put yellow tape around it on temporary poles, but I doubt anything else gets done with it.