Saving an Old Saloon from 1890's Guidance (1 Viewer)

[NicksFJ40]

I recently purchased some property in Colorado that has a couple old wood buildings one of which is a saloon/brothel from the late 1800's. I would like to save it with out having to take it apart. I was thinking I could bolt and sandwich the walls between 2x8 and try to slowly jack it up to repair the foundation. Then try to replace the rotten logs. Any one do anything like this before? Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance
Nick

 

[45Kevin]

Cool project.

You could label all the logs etc. and dismantle it.
Then repair the foundation and rebuild it, replacing the rotted logs as you go.

I've seen a number of old buildings restored like that. Never done it myself though.

Do you plan on opening for business again once the restoration is complete?

 

[NicksFJ40]

Ha ha, I’ll see if anyone is interested. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to take it apart. Been trying to do some research.

Nick

 

[snobdds]

As noted, you will spend less time taking it apart and putting it back together with a foundation and new interior support. That's the best way, and you will have a pretty nice little gust cabin.

How handy are you?

 

[PAToyota]

Pretty cool project!

A lot of the "how" would depend on the actual conditions, your skills (generally handy?), and your resources (money and equipment). I agree with the above - if there are rotted logs or ones that need to be replaced, it is likely easier to disassemble, fix, and reassemble. Particularly if things are not solid, trying to lift the structure to fix the foundations could turn into a catastrophe. And fixing the log structure to stabilize it while the foundations are out of alignment is just an exercise in frustration.

It does look like the upper portion is framed (not logs)? If so, that could potentially be lifted off separately rather than disassembled. As a Preservation Architect, I'm affiliated with the Preservation Trades Network (link) and the Association for Preservation Technology International (link). These are both great "hands on" organizations - as opposed to "book learning" types - PTN in particular. You may want to start by seeing if there are any members local to you and contact them for local resources.

 

[NicksFJ40]

Thanks for the info, lifting the saloon does worry me do to the size and that it is now leaning. I plan on getting a tractor which can help me remove and lift logs into place. You are correct, only the walls are logs, the roof and second floor are framed. The other issue with lifting is the small framed structure that is attached at one end. In regards to skills, I think I can handle this, if not, I'll have plenty of seasond wood for this years camp fires. I was trying to locate some type of CO historicle group or some thing symilar.

Thanks again for all the info.
Nick

 

[snobdds]

Don't burn the logs, I will buy them off you if it comes to this...

 

[half k cruiser]

Just don't take a black light in there ! Sometimes it's better not to know.

 

[PAToyota]

It's hard to tell from just pictures, but I'd say there are definitely better uses for that than firewood.

 

[pjohnson]

Call these guys...
Barnwood Living

 

[NicksFJ40]

Ha! I definitely will not have any black lights inside and I won’t burn it. I’ll rebuild it, just looking for the best option. I have another month or two in pergatory (aka California) until I can move there permanently. I’ve been trying to do some research on either cutting and seasoning trees from the property which are aspens or buy them ready to build. There are mixed reviews about the use of aspens compared to other species. Anyone have any good DIY web sites, there aren’t too many of them.

I plan to search out some old windows and reinstall the stove which I found in one of the other buildings. I want to turn it back into a personal saloon.

 

[Michael B]

That’s a beautiful project. If I were closer you would have a volunteer !

 

[bkfj40]

I’ve been involved with a few log projects. The last two that we did, we designed some steel beams that we threaded below the good logs and used bottle jacks to raise up the structure. Poured a foundation and then placed new logs below and lowered it back down.

A few key learnings along the way:
1. Determine what your final use is. For the one that was done most recently, we went ahead and added two more feet in wall height and glad we did that since the doors were really short and the floor to floor height was really short
2. Digging the foundation by hand sucks. If you work in from the side with equipment you will be better off
3. Plan on taking one more row out than you thought since the bad wood goes up higher than you thought


Good luck!

 

[daner]

Any progress on this cool old building?

 

[NicksFJ40]

Thank you for the info bkfj40. 76 FJ40 a volunteer would be awesome. I really don't want to disassemble the saloon as suggested, Its probably the best way but I'm afraid to open that can of worms. So what I thought of doing is: The neighbor down the road cut down a bunch of trees so I started milling the logs to 3" x 6" and will sandwich the log walls using all-thread and (square nuts just for looks). After securing the walls with the planks I was going to run cables from one wall to the opposite wall and use a come-along and turn-buckles to square up them up. Then replace the rotten logs before jacking it up, probably in sections. Any thoughts? In the bottom pic, you can see the claw foot tub legs which is the only thing left in the Saloon, if only that tub could talk.

View attachment 1815137
View attachment 1815138

 

[NicksFJ40]

BKFJ40, do you have any photos of your projects you can share? Especially the beam threading and jacking.

Thank you
Nick

 

[Casey E]

I have done a very similar project. We ran larg beams across the width, jacked it up and added a whole floor underneath.whole project was actually pretty easy.

 

[NicksFJ40]

Casey E, was project as long as this structure? I was wondering is I can lift it in sections with any issue. Do you have any pics you can share?

Thank you
Nick

 

[Casey E]

Sorry Nick for some reason this didn’t notify me you responded. I do have pictures but I haven’t seen them in 15 years and have no idea where we stored them.

Are project was around 40’ x 20’. We used 4 beams about 28’ long and had 4’ sticking out each end. We would jack up 6” and crib it, then another 6” and repeat till we where over 8’ in the air. Took less than a day to jack it up.