Turning old farm building into workshop

[RGBG]

Hello folks, I’m fixing up an old stone building and hopefully turning it into a workshop. I will be very grateful for any advice, I’m in no way a joiner, roofer, or brickie! As you can see from the pictures I have roof timbers to replace, trusses to make, roof batens to instal and tiles to lay and that’s just for the roof!

 

[Inspector]

That one might take more than a couple weekends. Allowed to make a new shop by any chance?

Pete

 

[RGBG]

That one might take more than a couple weekends. Allowed to make a new shop by any chance?

Pete

I’m thinking it’ll take me the winter. I work at sea, month on month off so I’m banking on having 3 full months to do it.

 

[Adam W.]

The roof will take you a very long time if you're going to do it alone, but you need to tackle it first.

I'd do a portion of the roof first and set up underneath that for making trusses in the dry. Water proof the building as you work along from one end to the other. That way you have a shelter to work under.

 

[RGBG]

The roof will take you a very long time if you're going to do it alone, but you need to tackle it first.

I'd do a portion of the roof first and set up underneath that for making trusses in the dry. Water proof the building as you work along from one end to the other. That way you have a shelter to work under.

That’s my plan. How would you make the trusses? I have a chop saw, table saw and circular hand saw but I’m not sure how best to cut the trusses so they interlock.

 

[Ollie78]

Get the roof watertight and the walls in good order.
Then build an inner insulated work area.
This method works well and is how my workshop is constructed inside an old barn. Not such a nice old barn as yours more a tin and block shed but the principle is the same.
My ground floor is timber frame and celotex with chipboard walls ( t and g floorboards). The upstairs room is made from cassettes of 2 full sheets of 11mm osb and 45x95mm timbers and filled with 100mm rockwool like budget Sips panels. Both work well.

Ollie

 

[RGBG]

Get the roof watertight and the walls in good order.
Then build an inner insulated work area.
This method works well and is how my workshop is constructed inside an old barn. Not such a nice old barn as yours more a tin and block shed but the principle is the same.
My ground floor is timber frame and celotex with chipboard walls ( t and g floorboards). The upstairs room is made from cassettes of 2 full sheets of 11mm osb and 45x95mm timbers and filled with 100mm rockwool like budget Sips panels. Both work well.

Ollie

I’m not completely sure how to do the roof yet. About 2/3 is sound or can be repaired, the other third is rotten or gone. The problem is the sound part is old plaster and lath which I don’t think I can do on the new bit. Matching the new and old part of the roof so that they are even for the roof tiles is an issue. I can’t put sarking boards on the new part as that raises the tiles higher than the plaster lath part. I was thinking of just using tile battens and a membrane but not sure about the water tightness of that.

 

[Spectric]

How would you make the trusses?

Copy the old ones, but you could use bolts and dog tooth washers rather than woodworking joints to make things easier. Remember roof tiles are heavy and the roof trusses are structural. Using sarking boards will make for a better roof, also just start at the worst end and do the lot.

 

[Adam W.]

That’s my plan. How would you make the trusses? I have a chop saw, table saw and circular hand saw but I’m not sure how best to cut the trusses so they interlock.

You have the tools, but you would need to take one of the original trusses apart and copy that to make templets to use on all the others.

Measure the width of the building and ensure the width of the trusses are the same and set up a production line downstairs and cut all of the components. Best not take the whole roof off in one go as that's a massive project for a beginner. Best to start with 5 trusses at a time so that you get into the swing of it.

It also looks like you might be able to get away with repairs or just new rafters on some of the trusses. Replace the wall plate (that's the bit of timber the trusses sit on) and the lintels as you go along.

It doesn't look too bad really and will look a lot more doable once you tidy the floor and get a few trusses up.

You haven't picked the best time of year for such a project, but as you work offshore you should be used to a bit of weather.

You've got a valley, so you need to look at what's going on with that too. It's not a straightforward roof as it relies on the adjacent roof for waterproofing......It's a lot of work and will easily eat up your three months.

 

[RGBG]

Just not sure how to cut the end so they interlock.

 

[Adam W.]

At the Apex?

Look at the old ones, they will tell you.

 

[RGBG]

At the Apex?

Look at the old ones, they will tell you.

I’m just not sure how to physically cut the notches so they join. I can cut the smaller side with the circular saw set to a shallow cutting depth but how do I do the longer side? My table saw is really just for logs it has no guide.

 

[clogs]

unless there are planning restriction....
rip that lot out and use insulated steel panels.....40mm is a min.....the thicker the insu the longer the spans can self support.....
with a few C section purlins the roof self supports.....saving loadsa time and effort...
then u can worry about ther rest...
with that roof angle no worries about snow load......just make a v/good job of guttering.....
the guttering needs to be industrial sizes......

 

[Adam W.]

View attachment 170595I’m just not sure how to physically cut the notches so they join. I can cut the smaller side with the circular saw set to a shallow cutting depth but how do I do the longer side? My table saw is really just for logs it has no guide.

It's a bog standard half lap, easily done with a good hand saw.

You can do it with a circular saw by setting half the depth of the timber and cutting grooves on the face of the rafter and remove the waste with a chisel and plane to finish.

It might be quicker with a hand saw thobut.

Make a templet to cut the angle accurately with a circular saw if you go that way, or get one of those fancy Festool short tracks that do angles and the nice battery saw to go with it. Mafell do one too if you feel well heeled.

 

[RGBG]

unless there are planning restriction....
rip that lot out and use insulated steel panels.....40mm is a min.....the thicker the insu the longer the spans can self support.....
with a few C section purlins the roof self supports.....saving loadsa time and effort...
then u can worry about ther rest...
with that roof angle no worries about snow load......just make a v/good job of guttering.....
the guttering needs to be industrial sizes......

It is tempting but it’s a 200 year stone building with the original pantiles still largely in place, it’d be a shame to replace them with something modern. It might come to that if its taking me forever but I’d rather not.

 

[RGBG]

It's a bog standard half lap, easily done with a good hand saw.

You can do it with a circular saw by setting half the depth of the timber and cutting grooves on the face of the rafter and remove the waste with a chisel and plane to finish.

It might be quicker with a hand saw thobut.

Make a templet to cut the angle accurately with a circular saw if you go that way, or get one of those fancy Festool short tracks that do angles and the nice battery saw to go with it. Mafell do one too if you feel well heeled.

Don’t think I’ll be buying anything Festool any time soon unfortunately. I’m trying to avoid doing it by hand as there is a lot of them to do, but yeah it might be the only way to do it well.

 

[Adam W.]

The Festool track thing just sets the angle anyway and a ply templet does the same thing for a fraction of the cost.

Once you get set up, you should bash 10 finished trusses out a day, so that part will get done super quick.

Battery saws are really good to have on a roofing job, as there's no lead to tangle.

Do all the cuts on the face, not the edges.

 

[RGBG]

The Festool track thing just sets the angle anyway and a ply templet does the same thing for a fraction of the cost.

Once you get set up, you should bash 10 finished trusses out a day, so that part will get done super quick.

Battery saws are really good to have on a roofing job, as there's no lead to tangle.

Do all the cuts on the face, not the edges.

What do you mean by doing the cuts on the face not the edges? Start on the face of the plank and cut to the edge? Is this to stop a chewed up edge?

 

[RGBG]

You can see the building at the back here, I think it’s quite a nice old building and it would be a shame to have anything other than pantiles on it. Unfortunately that will cost me time and money!

 

[Blackswanwood]

What do you mean by doing the cuts on the face not the edges? Start on the face of the plank and cut to the edge? Is this to stop a chewed up edge?

This shows the basic process. Rather than using a roofing square as a guide make your own at the required angle from scrap plywood.