Had to raise the Roof

[RickV]

I have a 30'x36' Pole Barn that I had built for my first 5ver. At the time I didn't think about clearances. The Pole Barn has 13' 4" of clearance. When we got our 2nd 5ver there was still clearance but it was getting pretty close. We decided to upgrade after 7 years to a even bigger 5ver because we spend about 5 months on the road every year. Almost every 5ver we liked was at or near the clearance of the Pole Barn so I talked with some friends about the possibility of raising the roof to 14'+. We came up with a plan on how to do it. In the meantime we bought our new Alpine 3790FK a few weeks ago and I just parked it near the Pole Barn until we got everything ready to "Raise the Roof". So earlier this week we did it. I was unsure whether or not bad things would happen but we did it anyway. All went well and now the new 5ver can fit under it with about 6" to spare even with it on the Trailerlegs, length is another thing. I am leaving in about a month for our 5 month tour when I get back I will be adding another 30'X12' to the back of it. Here is a link to all the pictures if you are interested in how we did it.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApPAHyJGqfJSgoRN...RaoJw?e=VLNmdp

[Javi]

Cool, wish I had room for our 5th wheel at the house.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by Javi

Cool, wish I had room for our 5th wheel at the house.

We live out in the Sticks in Flyover Country on 4.5 acres of Oak trees. Left the Big City about 25 years ago.

[wiredgeorge]

My BIL has been into Home Depot recent and I thought he was pulling my leg regarding the price of a 2x4x8 stud. Insane lumber prices. Good job!

[RickV]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

My BIL has been into Home Depot recent and I thought he was pulling my leg regarding the price of a 2x4x8 stud. Insane lumber prices. Good job!

I bought 6 PT 12' 4x4's, 7 PT 8' 2x6's, 3 8' 2x4s and a bucket of screws cost me $341 at Lowes (that is a oxymoron ) we used 10"x1/2" carriage bolts Lowes wanted $3.75 a piece for em, needed 44 of em. Found em on Amazon same brand and everything for $2.00 each. Is there some price gouging going on?

[Gegrad]

Originally Posted by RickV

I bought 6 PT 12' 4x4's, 7 PT 8' 2x6's, 3 8' 2x4s and a bucket of screws cost me $341 at Lowes (that is a oxymoron ) we used 10"x1/2" carriage bolts Lowes wanted $3.75 a piece for em, needed 44 of em. Found em on Amazon same brand and everything for $2.00 each. Is there some price gouging going on?

Next time, check your local Tractor Supply Store. They sell 'em in bulk by the pound, around $2.50/lb, and there are like 7-8 per lb. And half the time the TSC clerks mess the scale up and barely charge you. I got like 30 3/8" x 6" carriage bolts for my kids playhouse for like $10. Ha.

[Sarge2]

Amazing job... my hats off to you Great Idea..

[JRTJH]

Rick,

Nice job on raising the roof... Now, when you get the rear extension "mastered", I've got plans to extend my pole barn 24' so I can get more "stuff" in it...

Once you're done with yours, while you still have all your tools handy and haven't forgotten how you did it, how about heading up here and fixing mine ???? I'll have a keg of cold beer and lots of brats on the grill <G>

[RickV]

Originally Posted by Gegrad

Next time, check your local Tractor Supply Store. They sell 'em in bulk by the pound, around $2.50/lb, and there are like 7-8 per lb. And half the time the TSC clerks mess the scale up and barely charge you. I got like 30 3/8" x 6" carriage bolts for my kids playhouse for like $10. Ha.

Next Time?

[Hankster]

No price gouging, fasteners are one of the highest margin items in a lumberyard. They help offset the low margins typically seen on commodity lumber. It mY not seem so, but lumber especially on contractor jobs is typically below 20% margins. Hard to operate a business on 20%. Opex is usually around 17%

[flybouy]

Very impressive!

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by RickV

I have a 30'x36' Pole Barn that I had built for my first 5ver. At the time I didn't think about clearances. The Pole Barn has 13' 4" of clearance. When we got our 2nd 5ver there was still clearance but it was getting pretty close. We decided to upgrade after 7 years to a even bigger 5ver because we spend about 5 months on the road every year. Almost every 5ver we liked was at or near the clearance of the Pole Barn so I talked with some friends about the possibility of raising the roof to 14'+. We came up with a plan on how to do it. In the meantime we bought our new Alpine 3790FK a few weeks ago and I just parked it near the Pole Barn until we got everything ready to "Raise the Roof". So earlier this week we did it. I was unsure whether or not bad things would happen but we did it anyway. All went well and now the new 5ver can fit under it with about 6" to spare even with it on the Trailerlegs, length is another thing. I am leaving in about a month for our 5 month tour when I get back I will be adding another 30'X12' to the back of it. Here is a link to all the pictures if you are interested in how we did it.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApPAHyJGqfJSgoRN...RaoJw?e=VLNmdp

Looks great! I noticed you have hurricane straps on the trusses.. do you get a lot of wind where you are? I guess a structural engineer could determine sheer strength of the joint but I wonder if you should put steel plates/ brackets just to make sure that isn’t a critical joint in high winds?
I am not at all criticizing your workmanship so don’t think that... I just wonder about things when I’m bored

It does look pretty robust though and adding the second 2x6 on the outside of the beam may very well be stronger then the original design .. my hats off to you!

[RickV]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Looks great! I noticed you have hurricane straps on the trusses.. do you get a lot of wind where you are? I guess a structural engineer could determine sheer strength of the joint but I wonder if you should put steel plates/ brackets just to make sure that isn’t a critical joint in high winds?
I am not at all criticizing your workmanship so don’t think that... I just wonder about things when I’m bored

It does look pretty robust though and adding the second 2x6 on the outside of the beam may very well be stronger then the original design .. my hats off to you!

It was originally built to code. We are in North Central Florida by the time any Hurricane gets near us it is weak, we get afternoon thunderstorms that are worse. I live on 4.5 acres of Oak trees we cleared enough to built our house, a detached garage and eventually the pole barn. Any wind we get is at the tops of the trees it is a natural wind break. Sometimes that is good but in the summer no wind makes it even hotter. That is why we bail from home from mid May to the beginning of November.

[Mike 22rbs]

Originally Posted by RickV

we bail from home from mid May to the beginning of November.

What I'm hearing is you need a property manager for about 5 months of the year.......? Lol

Good job on the red neck engineering,sometimes thats the best way to make it happen.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by Mike 22rbs

What I'm hearing is you need a property manager for about 5 months of the year.......? Lol

Good job on the red neck engineering,sometimes thats the best way to make it happen.

You Volunteering?

It would be nice to have someone here full time while we are gone. We have friends that come by and check on things. If it was this time of the year when we are gone I am sure I could get someone from the forum who lives in the Great White North to Winter on the property.

[digitalpa]

The small picture on the post listing scared the hell out of me. I thought it was going to be a crash story. Whew! Nice remodel job.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by digitalpa

The small picture on the post listing scared the hell out of me. I thought it was going to be a crash story. Whew! Nice remodel job.

Raising it scared the Hell outta me too We changed exactly how we were gonna do it a few times and I could picture in my mind the whole thing coming crashing down. But everything went smooth and my friends who were helping me all knew their stuff and all it cost me besides materials was lunch, and a few beers after we finished.

[RickV]

So I (we) finally got around to adding 12' to the rear of the polebarn. Not finished yet but here is what we have done so far. Because of costs and long wait for wood trusses decide to go with a single steel truss. Finished Picture is just what it we are doing looks like. Plan is to set the truss on Friday got 6 friends coming over to help. Hopefully will have it finished by Sunday.

[RickV]

We finally finished. We had to come up with some marvels of Redneck Engineering but we "Got er Done". Here is a link to more pictures and a short video or two if anyone is interested. https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApPAHyJGqfJSgpY1...EJyNQ?e=k9gM8w

[sourdough]

Great job Rick! Marvels of redneck engineering indeed; seems that when one has the desire, there are many ways to skin a cat - looks good.