Bummer, but here's the silver lining. You assessed the situation accurately, and made a wise decision. You scrapped the conversion idea before spending an arm and a leg doing a conversion that in the end would not have provided many good serviceable years. AND, you saved a butt load of money by not paying that contractor to do the conversion. I'm guessing the contractor would have bulled into the job, even though he knew the building was inadequate, simply so he could collect some $$$, while you would still be left with a sub standard finished product. Yay YOU!!!
