Dismantling and rebuilding wooden stable – any advice?

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luckilotti

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Lancashire
hillhousestables.co.uk
Well, i managed to bag myself a bargain (i think?) on ebay the other week – a 10x10 stable.
I have arranged to go and collect it this weekend and am any advice anyone can give as to the best way to dismantle and rebuild it!
The seller didn’t build it but had a company built it 8 years ago – apparently it didn’t take 2 men long....
I am thinking of painting a mark on each wall/join to match it up to when we rebuild it?

But does anyone have any advice or tips?

thanks
 
I've not done this, but a couple of years ago built a field shelter so can give you some tips I suppose.

I presume that the stable is built in 4 complete sections (ie 4 solid sides) and not built from scratch with battens and shiplap, in place?

How is it attached to the floor?

Anyway the way we built the shelter was - stand one end up then align the back and nail/bolt together. Then the other short side. These were squared off before putting the front on. Then the central roof beams, then roofing, then the very large pins were hammered through the base of the sides into the ground. Then the lining board put on last.

So I would say - mark the lining board in order then remove that first. Then have a good look to find how it is joined at each corner, how it is attached to the floor etc. I think I would be inclined to take the roof off before you remove it from it's base. The roof will be giving the structure some stability, but once you remove it from it's base it could shift around a lot and I wouldn't want to be up on the roof! Then I'd say front section off first, but to be honest I'm kind of making this up!

What I'd suggest is googling some stable companies (in scotland Saltire do them for example) and try to find their construction instructions, then reverse it!

Oh and don't forget if there are waterers or electrics etc that they need disconnected first.

Also do you know how you are going to transport it? You'll likely need a flatbed trailer.

Good luck!
 
Masking tape and a biro - label every bit you take apart.

Also might help to take photos of all the joints/sections before you start dismantling, so remind you of how it all fits together again.
 
Thanks - keep it coming !

The seller 'thinks' it's sectional, he seems pretty sure it will fit in my horsebox, but failing that hubby is going to borrow a larger pick up from work.

Not totally sure i am going to be able to collect it this weekend if the gales continue as i dont fancy dismantling it in a gale! i just hope the seller agrees with me on that front!
 
I moved my 2 x 12 stables with me, so i marked each corner A1/A1, A2/A2 etc on both kickboards and stable sections. Also marked the roof trusses so that they went back on on the correct stable.
If you take the kickboards off, you should see that the stable sections are normally coachbolted down into the concrete/brickwork. So take a selection of sockets/spanners to cover both metric and imperial sizing.
Hopefully the sides are bolted together and not nailed....take hacksaws in case.
You will also find things have been screwed down/in as well, so possidrive screwdrivers needed.
I had put mine up in the first place, so knew what to expect, but we still had to use a crowbar to jimmy a couple of panels apart.
Good Luck.
 
We have done this several times, with quite large blocks of stables, the MOST important thing is to get the drains and floor in place before attempting re erection. We marked everything, usuing both Roman and normal figures, every joint had a number, try to take apart in the sequence you plan to re erect, otherwise you might find the roof section on top of a wall! Good luck, I once saw a friend try to do it on the cheap, she ended up with a large pile of firewood, mainly because she tried to do it with a chain saw!
 
What is the roof made of ? Just check it isnt asbestos ,take great care when removing any roof as it is easily damaged and you could fall through .The stable block I bought 30 yrs ago had tiles on 1 side and slate on other so we replaced with lighter roofing sheets .
It is still going strong and has writing inside saying Badminton 1961 so I presume it was a show stable for sale .
 
I have done this and I can tell you it is bloody hard work. We picked ours up using our very large flat bed trailer. I would suggest you take just about every tool you own and plenty of muscle because the stable partitions are incredibly heavy. I did it with just my husband and I, on a windy day - nightmare ! Try to load the trailer in a logical manner - ie how you want to put it back together.

Take the doors off first. Then take the roof off, depending on what material it is, it may be firewood because onduline sheets don't last long and neither will the average felt covering. Then the roof joints come out - but take care, they will be holding the walls up. Then the hard part of dismantling the wall sections, depending on the quality of the build, will depend on how they bolted/nailed/screwed them together. The walls ought to have been bolted to the concrete floor.

The Apex of the roof, is actually a separate triangle of panel, that bolts to a square wall panel... it makes it easier to get on a trailer.
 
Wonderful!
Thanks everyone!!!

I have emailed the seller asking what the weather is like there as here we have winds upto 30mph and i dont think it's ideal to dismantle it in such weather. I am hoping he will agree!
He also thought it would fit in a 3.5 tonne horsebox but i'm not convinced and my hubby can no longer borrow his works van until next week - i hope the seller is going to be ok with all of that! If not i am suggesting trying to dismantle it then collect in the week.

I imagine it will be stored for a while before we have chance to rebuild it so we need to be organised :)

thanks again for all of the advice - if there is any more feel free to add :)
 
in the good old days before portacabins ,I used to transport site sheds about for a local firm. They often used a hacksaw blade to cut stubourn bolts ,sliding it through the joint betwean the sections. Bolt croppers for roof sheat bolts. And yes they truely were a south london "firm"and as I later discovered , " sawn offs for security vans":D:D
 
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