Tilting Barna Building

dermotp

I have a barna building which is tilting backwards about 5" towards the boundary concrete wall,the floor of the building did not move only the upper part of the building I was thinking of using a scissors jack against the concrete wall to straighten the building but I,m afraid I might damage the wall instead,anybody have any ideas what else I could do instead,any ideas would be appreciated.

10-10-20

Sounds like it needs bracing rather than a scissors jack. Was this a sudden failure? You didn't state the cause of the lean - is it wind-loading, foundation or a structural failure such as wood-decay? What type of wall is behind it and how much area do you have surrounding the building?

Photos might help too.

Lumen

I'd take a wild guess at roof spread but pics would help.

dermotp

10-10-20 &Lumen,,Thanks for your reply,the tilting happened over time, I have a washing machine in the building and I,d say the vibration from that caused the tilting,there is a concrete block wall lined on the outside with bricks,the floor of the building did not move,I have decided to brace between the uprights rather than use a scissors jack against the back wall as idon,t know how strong the wall is?

20220302_105942.jpg

10-10-20

I'd call that a garden shed rather than a building. :)

As you probably know, those sheds are self-supporting where the walls act as lightweight structural members and internal frame members are kept tight and braced by the horizontal ship-lap exterior wood. The ship-lap is the key component in the rigidity. The structure of the whole frame is then maintained by nails in each of the corners and this whole structure is what maintains the whole thing upright and keeps the roof on. In your case, you have fitted a new roof and this is added weight on the frame structure.

If we look at the movement of the frame we can see a tell-tail on the right-side of the nearest corner. There the ship-lap is opening up at the bottom of each plank as the wall (with the window) is falling towards the brick wall, pulling the wall with the door with it. That implies that the whole structure is failing as the ship-lap has come loose and the various internal joints are softening.

You could use some perpendicular cross-bracing on the interior to counteract the horizontal forces (after righting it before-hand), or otherwise leave it alone and you might get another 7 to 10 years from it.

dermotp

10-10-20, thanks for all your info, I'm putting bracing internally between the uprights and hoping that will stop the tilting,I was going g to use a scissors jack but decided against it as I,m don,t know how strong the wall is.

Thanks again for your help.

10-10-20

Just looking again, you might also have some failure in the rear bricks which are supporting the base. Inspection of the floor might reveal whether that's happening - ie is there a drop present in one or both corners, or is the base still level, etc...

Meanwhile, cross-brace the shed as per the green lines by hammering cut pieces into place while somebody pulls the shed in the direction of the green arrow. Then use nails or wood screws to support the brace.

If you keep the rain off the sides, you'll get more time from it.

dermotp

1010-20 I will check out if the block supporting the back right side of the shed has failed, and also check level of the floor,I have started to put braces 2"x1"treated rough timber inside,(ie they are going from bottom to top between your red lines)i have one side done now will do the other side.

Thanks again for your help.