Zach Klein's Blog

My progress towards building a home using a salvaged barn frame.
A four-season bunkhouse for all of us Beaver Brookies who spend so much time up there.

1. I bought a barn frame from a salvager. My frame once stood in Mount Cobb, Pennsylvania. Recently, on some documents, I noticed that the barn was referred to as “Mack Barn” — Intrigued by the namesake, I dug deeper and learned that the barn once stood on a dairy farm owned by Johann Mack, who made horse-drawn wagons in the barn. Of course, several of Johann’s sons moved to New York City in the early 1900’s and formed the Mack Truck company, creating the world’s first bus which was used for giving tours of Prospect Park. The Mack company became a pioneer of the truck industry.
2. An architect cataloged every frame member and produced plans for putting it back together.
3. The posts and beams were transported to a joinery in N.E. Pennsylvania to be power-washed, inspected for rot, repaired, and treated to be used in a livable space.
4. In collaboration with a barn expert, we sketched up a new purpose for the 30x40’ barn frame. 
5. We excavated into a Beaver Brook hillside and laid concrete footers to build foundation walls on top.
6. The foundation has been poured, a steel deck installed to carry the first floor concrete slab, and some basic plumbing roughed in.