By Rural Builder Staff
Midstate Contractors, Inc. is a family-owned and operated business in Marion, Ohio, founded by the Hooper family in 1982. According to the About page on the company’s website midstatecontractors.com, the mission of the founder, Jerry Hooper, was “to preserve history by restoring the buildings representing that history.” The page elaborates on his vision, “Today, our family and skilled craftsmen still take pride in the tangible beauty of courthouses, libraries, university buildings, homes and other historic structures. These buildings are representative of the history and people of the communities in which we live and work. They are a treasure and deserve to be restored and maintained for generations to come.”
Restoring a Legacy for the Owners and Community
Because of Midstate Contractors’ unique qualifications, experience, and mission, the owners of the Barn at Stratford in Delaware, Ohio, chose them to tackle the restoration of their historic building, which they run as a popular event space. The Barn at Stratford barnatstratford.org is a busy hub in the town of Delaware. It’s a favorite facility for weddings, corporate events, and other special events, so it was important that it be rescued, Project Manager Rick Collins explained.
The barn was built in the 1840s and was used for its original purpose of housing livestock for nearly all of its existence, until recent years when it was turned into an event space. It’s a sturdy structure built to last, but at nearly 200 years old, its age finally caught up with it.
The building had decayed and needed both structural and roof repairs. The original cedar shake roof had been replaced with a metal roof in the 1950s, but the metals and techniques used then are no match for today’s quality, so after 70 years, the roof was in rough shape, leaking badly, and causing severe wood rot. The rot was actually much worse than Midstate workers expected, but its true condition became apparent after work got underway and they began exposing various areas that been inaccessible and hidden.
The owners knew the restoration would be an expensive and labor-intensive process, but they also recognized that it’s a priceless piece of history, so they, the community, and Midstate Contractors all wanted to see it restored to its former glory.
Modern Code, Modern Materials, Historic Architectural Look
The goal of the project wasn’t just to repair the structure but to upgrade it to modern code requirements using modern materials while preserving the original, historic look. That’s what Midstate Contractors specializes in and, with 40 years of experience in this niche, that’s what made them the perfect fit for this project. Another thing that sets Midstate Contractors apart from other companies is that they’re able to do the entire job rather than subcontract it, which allowed much more efficient scheduling and coordination of the work. And finally, they fabricate many of their components from raw materials to make custom architectural parts, because they need to match the historical look.
While some of the commercial grade materials were used off the shelf, much of it was used to produce custom components. “We just get flat sheets of metal and bend it and form it to what we need to do,” Bart Hooper said. “The wood came in rough form, and we cut it to shape. Some of the special brackets had to be custom made. That’s generally what we have in a lot of projects that makes us different than everybody else. We’ll find ways to make things happen and create it. We have the ability to make it to the width and length that we need to keep its historical significance.”
It took two years of planning before Midstate even started the renovation, as they had to involve engineers and have the state approve blueprints and plans. The actual renovation took about seven months to complete. It began in the fall and finished in the spring. The owners wanted them to work over the winter so it would be ready for summer, their busiest time of year. Events still took place during renovation because it was important for the community that the availability of the event space remain uninterrupted. That meant Midstate had to plan a way to replace the roof one section at a time, rather than having the entire barn roofless at one time.
One of the biggest challenges in the initial stages of the project was determining the scope of the work. Careful, detailed planning is crucial to success, as the quality of the prep work determines the quality of the finished project, Collins noted. “It starts at the preliminary stage,” he said. “It’s developing the scope of work, actually what you’re going to do, because a lot of people don’t know where to start. They come to see some old structure that’s failing but don’t know how to solve the problem. We’ve actually come in and done some jobs that other people have started and they just walked away from. You have to come up with a plan to attack — where to start, what to do. What’s the best way to spend the money that’s available.” The financial aspect is an important point to consider because it does no good to have thorough planning for a scope of work that’s outside the client’s budget. That’s a lose-lose proposition for client and contractor.
Details of the Renovation
Midstate did a full standing-seam roof and post-and-beam renovation. Over time, the failing bents caused the roof and ridge members to sag and push the exterior walls out at the eaves. Previous owners had work done to try to pull the walls in but it failed, so all the timbers from the bent girts to the ridge had to be replaced and new engineered steel plates added to maintain the historical character and meet today’s building codes.
During the project, the workers had to keep the building watertight so events could still be held, even while sections of the roof were open to the elements. To do this, Midstate installed a temporary watertight floor just below the bent girt and began removing the existing roof and framing one at a time. Once each bay or section was safely removed, they began building an entirely new timber framing system using post-and-beam construction. The timber framing, rafters, purlins, and sheathing were built using rough sawn poplar.
On completion of the demo and timber framing, they began installing double-lock standing-seam panels. The panels were fabricated in-house using 24ga. Galvalume in 10’ lengths to maintain the historic appearance. In addition to the roof renovation, the original masonry/stone gable end required restoration, too. Midstate removed all the mortar joints on the south wall and repointed them with new restoration mortar to strengthen the wall and keep it watertight.
A Great Success From Beginning to End
The owners and community were thrilled with Midstate’s work. The owners didn’t wait for the finished project to celebrate the renovation. They made the renovation itself an event. “They even started a Facebook page for this so the community could see progress photos and the very high profile on a on a busy road,” Collins said. “People would pull in and take pictures out of their car windows.”
The project is a great inspiration for other communities that want to preserve important historic structures before they’re lost to history.
The Details:
Contractor: Midstate Contractors, Inc.
Roof Pitch: 8/12
Varied timber frame posts:
Midstate Contractors, Inc.
Trusses: Midstate Contractors, Inc.
Roof Panels: Dimensional Metal Double lock 10’x21” Galvalume 24ga
Gutters: 6” 1/2 round Galvalume gutter by Classic Gutter
Fasteners: Simpson Strong Point Strong-Tie SDS
