100 Year Old Dairy Barn Turned into Winery by One of the Top Custom Builders in Northern VA

EDINBURG, VA, January 19, 2013

When a historically sensitive building was going to be turned into one of the areas many fine wineries, Craftsman Construction was brought in to Design & Build this project. The building consisted of a old dairy barn and silo located on the old army base in Vint Hill VA. The old barn had been converted into a listening post during the war. Here men and women would listen for enemy radio traffic and try to break the enemies codes. The building was very important to the war effort and old photos of the building show it surrounded by Barb Wire fencing and patrolling MP's

After the war the building sat empty for many many years. It was used as office space for awhile then storage space before finally being boarded up. The Vint Hill Economic Development Committee tried to find someone to give this old building new life. It was at this point that Chris Pearmund a local Winery owner, along with his business associate Ray Summerell had the idea to turn the old building into a Craft Winery.

Craftsman Construction was brought in to handle the renovation and repair to the old barn and to turn it into a functioning winery. One of the first goals was to keep as much of the original building as possible. Craftsman Construction brought in there Engineering and Design team to survey the building for structural issues.

The winery would have to work within the confines of the existing structure. Working on this building posed many challenges. First we had to have the building cleared of asbestos, this product was used quite extensively during the war years.

Once the building was cleared and made safe, our demolition crew went to work. We had to gut all the interior walls down to the studs, so we could assess the structures integrity. We found that a lot of the original support columns had rotted away at the bottom, also the army had cut out a lot of the original barn roof supports to make room for office space. A structural engineer had to be brought in to design a system of supports to keep the roof from collapsing.

Once our carpenters repaired the sagging roof we turned our attention to the barn loft. The client wanted to cut out a large section of the floor, so customers could look down into the production area to see the wine being made. Again we brought in or engineer and designed a system of bracing to allow the removal of the floor without compromising the structural integrity of the building. All the old floor beams that we took out where saved and reused in the remodeling. To keep the view as open as possible from the loft we designed and built a guard rail system made out of stainless steel cables.

As a winery the building had to meet the needs of the wine making process. Special rooms had to be designed and built to store the wine in there barrels for aging. A central production area was also needed to sort and crush the grapes as well as bottling the wine after aging.

All the old wiring and plumbing had to be removed as it was dated and not up to code standards. We brought in our electrical and plumbing contractors to bring the building up to current standards.

One of the unique aspects of this project was the energy efficient materials and systems that we put in place. The clients wanted the building to be as energy efficient as possible and asked us what could be done to decrease their energy bill. Craftsman Construction suggested that the old leaky building be insulated with SPF insulation (Spray Polyurethane Foam) throughout. Another suggestion was to install a Geo-Thermal heating and cooling system. Even though these improvements were expensive the clients saw the wisdom in their use. Craftsman Construction was given the go ahead and we brought in our insulation contractor to Spray Foam The entire building. This was a huge undertaking as a dairy barn is a pretty sizable building. Our Geo Thermal contractor had 20 wells drilled then installed all the piping and controls for the system. Again a large undertaking, as this system had to not only heat and cool the building but also refrigerate the wine storage lockers and barrel room.

Craftsman Construction then turned its attention to finishing up the project by installing all new cement board siding on the exterior to match the barns original siding. The old silo was patched up and painted.
A new tasting room was built with a custom made bar and all the public spaces where covered in cedar board siding for a very rich feel. Finally new tile flooring was installed.

"Craftsman Construction was very proud to be involved in giving this old barn new life. It was an interesting project that allowed us to use our talented craftsman to make a great finished product said Jerry Jackness, President of Craftsman Construction."

We have been monitoring this project for awhile now to see what kind of energy consumption they are using. It is hard to believe but this commercial building with all its equipment running and refrigeration uses less electricity than an average house. We are very proud of this fact.

Craftsman Construction is a custom home builder and remodeler specializing in energy efficient building solutions. Craftsman Construction provides a wide range of services. For further information contact us at the following: Phone 540-984-4907 Fax 540-984-4906 Email jerry@craftsmanbuilds.com On the web http://www.craftsmanbuids.com