We first began this project by pawing through piles of inadequately labeled piles of rotten timber.

The rafters were in rough shape. Many of the tails had been cut off when one of the plates was replaced many years earlier.

Over many years water leaked into the barn, often running down the braces and rotting out the shoulders where the braces bare in the posts.

Shown here is a strange looking post foot repair, prior to surfacing, designed to avoid mortises and several knot clusters.

Seth Kelley scores one of the new plate timbers before surfacing with a broad axe.

Three of the barns four tie beams had severe rot at both ends. We decided to shift the joinery and scarf only one new end to these ties.

The eave walls are being assembled before the raising.

With the eave walls up and the ties in place, the first of the fifty foot long purlin plates is flown into place with its posts and braces.

A lintel was used to strengthen one of the purlin plates.

In the foreground is the post with the strange foot repair shown earlier. This post also required repairs to four shoulders. The long inlayed dovetail repair on the eave wall also features secondary dovetailing hidden inside.

Since there was no indication of the original rafter position, we staggered new rafters with those that had been repaired.

The frame assembly nears completion. Only the interior posts and second floor system are missing in this photo.

The homeowners had piles of the original boarding that they had hoped to reuse. Most of the boards were so rotten and thin that there was barely enough to cover the roof.

One of the damaged rafters was recut to serve as the transome girt.

Since we finished this project the family has begun to paint their barn. One coat down….