Construction Guide

Many thanks to you and your contractor for entering into the barn raising phase of your “Yankee Barn.”

This introduction discusses the fabrication of your frame and wall and roof panels at the Yankee Barn Shop in Grantham, New Hampshire.

After you approve the Build plans, Yankee Barn Homes orders materials and prepares the detailed shop drawings for our craftsmen who cut and notch your structural frame and build your exterior wall and roof panels, floor system, trim, and options.

I.1.1 Build Plan Approval
One of the most important phases of pre-delivery activity is the review of the detailed plans and package specifications prepared by Yankee Barn Homes. These documents are often referred to as the “Build” plans. It is not unusual to have a few revisions to these plans, and the revisions are added to the plans with a "Change Order." We confirm everything in writing to reduce the chance of errors caused by faulty communication.
Upon approval by customers, these are the plans we use to build your Yankee Barn in our shop.

I.1.2 Crafting the Frame
A Yankee Barn frame starts as huge reclaimed or kiln dried timbers transported to the Yankee Barn beam yard. To prepare the reclaimed timber for use, metal such as nails and bolts are removed, then our craftsmen select the timbers to be used for the frame based on size and aesthetics. All recycled beams have the bolt holes and marks of time. Some homeowners want a rough, weathered look to emphasize the scars of time. Others want a smooth, formal finish to their beams.

Following detailed shop drawings for your frame, each post and beam is cut to length, then notched to make the half-lap joints used to assemble the frame. Each frame piece is marked with an identification code to ensure an efficient barn raising. This is discussed in Chapter 2.
Your frame is finished to your specifications, either rough-sawn or planed smooth with chamfered post corners, then hand-rubbed with the stain color you selected. The frame is finally wrapped and put away until shipment and the barn raising on your site.

I.1.3 Building the Walls and Roof
While your frame is cut and finished in the Yankee Barn frame shop, several building crews construct your wall and roof panels, trim, and options in the protected, controlled environment of the workshop. Our craftsmen build as much of your Yankee Barn as is practical in our workshop; then your Yankee Barn is raised on site, and finished by your local contractor.
Yankee Barn uses the same construction procedures in the protected environment of the workshop as would be used on the site in traditional “stick-built” construction. Most homes take only a few weeks to construct in the shop. All work is protected from weather conditions that can damage building materials. The right tools for the job are close at hand, and help from designers and technical staff is available whenever it is needed.

Wall Panels
Exterior wall panels are constructed on the 24' x 60' wall table in the workshop. Working on the flat surface, all the panels for one side of the house are built and packed in series. This process is efficient and ensures fit when the Yankee Barn is raised on site. The wall panels are framed with studs and plywood. Windows are installed in the panels including the large Yankee Barn roundtop window if selected.

Panels are then flipped over to finish the interior side. The panels are insulated, a poly vapor barrier is installed, and the interior finish is installed.
The wall panels for each side of your house, any additions such as ells, greenhouses, garages, and custom entries are constructed, marked, and packaged for shipment.
“Open” Wall Panels
Yankee Barn Homes can supply “open” wall panels for buildings with less post and beam frame or in areas (infrequent) where “closed” panels are not approved. Though we use the same construction method as “closed” wall panels, “open” panels are shipped with no inside finish or insulation (hence the term“open”).  "Open" panels are available uninsulated, ready for builder insulation, or with Yankee Barn Home rigid insulation.  “Closed” panels have insulation and interior finish installed.
Second Floor System
The Floor System consists of conventional floor joists and subflooring shipped loose to be installed on site.  Optional Wood I-Beam Joists are available for long spans or for layouts that require extensive duct work or plumbing.
Vented Roof Panels
The roof panels consist of rafters, insulation, exterior plywood top, and interior finish fabricated to 8' x 18' panels. Roof panels are constructed in the workshop using a special jig made of heavy steel I-beams. This jig keeps the panels square and true during construction, which makes assembly on site much easier.

For the roof panels, the frame is built, then a vapor retarder, insulation, and the interior ceiling finish is installed. The panel is flipped over to insulate and nail on the exterior plywood top. The panels are vented providing an air space running from the vent strip at the bottom to the ridge vent at the peak.
Trim and Options
Other craftsmen in the workshop cut and stain all the exterior trim and prepare the options you selected such as stairsets, railings and
balusters, wainscoting, and doors.

I.1.4 On the Road to Your Site
Your panels, trim, options, and frame are carefully wrapped and labeled for shipment. A Yankee Barn grocery box is filled with everything necessary for your barn raising from hardware, nails, bolts, spray foam, and window cranks to plans, instructions, T-shirts, and hats. Everything is loaded onto 44'-48' long flatbed trailers and sent on their way to your site and barn raising.