Project “Complete the Barn” is Underway
Friends and family have been invited to help finish off the barn interior on Saturday Sept 30. I just sent the invites out yesterday and already we have some people signed up – even my friend Kathryn and her husband from Maryland are coming! I think we are really going to have a blast and I am looking forward to it with great relish.
Between now and then I need to buy all the raw materials and Dawn and I hope to have some of the electrical, some of the tack room framing, and stall mats already installed. That should help everything else proceed a little better. No matter how much or how little gets done I think it will really be fun for everyone.
My plan to to have teams, each hopefully with a leader who has a little experience. But it could be that we just all learn together. The number of tasks we will try to complete depends on how many people can come, but here is the list:
- High Priority
- Putting in the four stalls and periphery walls for the two storage areas. We'll have tongue and grooved 2 x 6 boards and the door and stall fronts have metal channels that the boards go into. I am planning on getting kits from classic-equine. I hope to have the first course run and the stall mats already in place. These are meant for Do it Yourself-ers and so hopefully they will not be too much of a pain.
- Installing the automatic waterers (happens afer the stall fronts have been installed). I am using Nelson waterers for four stalls. The electric and water feeds are already roughed out. Still, this job is a little tricky and requires some patience, attention to detail and expertise.
- Putting in the wiring/lights/outlets/baseboard heater(s) – The circuit box is installed and has a feed to the power company. Nothing else is there though. A few of us are pretty good at electricity so this should be straightforward. I hope.
- Installing the hot water heater, utility sink – requires rudimentary plumbing skills and the ability to keep the curse words to a low volume.
- Medium Priority (more carpentry)
- Finishing off the tack room and wash room, with "roof" over tack room
- Putting in a 12 x 12 loft
- Low Priority
- Digging post holes and putting in some posts (I would rent a Bobcat for the post holes)
- Taking down some high tensile wire fencing and replacing it with electric tape fencing.
- Putting in a small retaining wall beside the barn
- A little planting and mulching on the hill by the barn
As I get the raw materials and things lined up, I'll be updating this blog. I am really excited. This is great!
The Barn. Day 19 – Phase I is done!!!
 Phase I – the shell – is complete Click for larger image |
The barn shell is done and it is WONDERFUL. The door trim finally came last week, and the builders came today – a Saturday – to finish up the siding (around the new door trim), the loft door (they found a great way to clad the slider under the loft door. Looks great!) and other touch ups. It came out better than I could have dreamed. I need to take some morning shots of the *front* – these all show the rear of the barn. The front is even better with the loft door and glass in the doors. It is perfect.
I am going to set up a real photo gallery, but in the meantime, below are pictures of the Builders (Joe, BJ, Dave). Thanks fellows – you sure were nice, professional, skilled and a joy to work with.
The electrical had some problems (remember, the electrician/plumber is from a different company and that has not been a good experience) but finally passed inspection. I am pretty happy just to have that done, but the good news is that the power company should be providing power in a few weeks. And we already have water. Wow!
So, the next step is to spread the rock in the back – which I'll do tomorrow – and then start saving and prepping for the stall mats. One step at a time. For tonight, I'm celebrating!!
 The Builders – Click for larger image |
The Barn. Day 17,18 – Trim and Concrete
Well, Phase I is coming to a close. It is almost time for me to go take a bunch of photos for a photo gallery. Most of the trim work is done now, except for pieces still waiting on that darned stall door trim. I am still unsure of when that is getting here, but my guess is in about a week. The front door was put together with the windows and it really looks great. The loft door is in and the door is mounted and looks fine, but the slider board under it is plain old pressure treated and it looks pretty bad – unfinished. I am going to see if Joe the builder has any ideas on that when he comes back. This has been my only disappointment in the barn so far. It would be nice to have it clad in white but worse case it may need to be painted. But I cannot imagine leaving it as it is.
The concrete has been poured and is curing. I did not want to mess with going inside for a while – I want the concrete to set up as nicely as possible. But from peeking in the window it looks pretty neat. I hope it is thick enough to manage heavy equipment like a truck or tractor coming over it. Ronny (from the barn builder) seemed to think so when I asked about that months ago. So, I'll have faith he is right.
No pictures tonight – I have to work and am trying to get my spirits up to do that. Working the extra hours is getting a little tough. I sure am sick of seeing web programs on my computer screen. Pays the bills though. I look forward to seeing the farm in a few days. Something I really enjoy.
The Barn. Day 16 – Oh, what a beautiful morning
 Day 16 – Click for larger image |
Yesterday the builders came back and put in a french drain around the lower side of the barn. Expensive, but I know I will never regret it. The hillside slopes so steeply towards the stalls there. They also finished the work on preparation for the concrete guy, who is coming Tuesday I believe. Loads of rock came for the back area (I need to spread it once I am sure I won't mess up the builders). The plumber/electrician came and tested the water lines and did some other fixes. All seems well on that front.
The project (phase I – the shell) is nearly complete now. The only hiccups left are getting the door frame for the one stall door (they say it will be *another* 7-10 days. This screws us up and is pretty irritating.) and figuring out how best to run the electricity from the power pole in front of the barn to the meter box. I have a call in to the electric company for that.
I am going to take some internal and periphery shots, but for now, I had to get this morning view from the front porch. Awesome.
The Barn. Day 15, Plus Horse Breeding Day
I did not get home until after 9pm, so I could not take pictures tonight, BUT the barn is gorgeous. The siding is close to finished. Some remaining exterior items: the front door needs windows and cladding, the one stall door needs to be mounted (I called yesterday about the trim replacement and they swear it is "any day now"), and the loft door needs to be installed. But in general, the bottom line is that everything is amazingly beautiful to me. There will be a good bit of interior work to do after the concrete is poured in the ailseway/tackroom/washstall, but it still looks so terrific. I cannot believe it. The builders are going to do a little extra drainage work outside which I think can keep me from even needing gutters (we shall see). The plumber/electrician comes tomorrow so I can test the water lines and make a list of cleanup items for them to do before being paid. That saga is not yet over.
My extra cushion is about used up, so after this is done it'll be fall before I'll save enough for the next step. Still, I feel lucky that things are turning out so well with the construction. I'll take more pictures tomorrow.
The other big news of the day is that we had Cori bred today and it looks like we hit the window of opportunity perfectly! The vet did an examination yesterday to say she was almost ready, so I called the stallion owner in Pennsylvania and ordered semen for today. It was on a plane by 1pm and Dawn took the afternoon off just so she could drive to the airport to pick up the shipment then drive another 2 hours to the farm. Mom and Dad and the vet were waiting. The vet inseminated Cori and said that the examination for today looked terrific. We'll know in 19 days if she is pregnant, but all of us feel very positive about it. What a relief. Sara, who plans to buy the foal, is really excited. Heinse, the stallion, is one of the best stallions in American in my opinion. Yet he is very hard to breed to since he produces very little semen and the quality degrades significantly after 24 hours. So this is a bigger deal than with some other stallions. You are quite lucky to get a Heinse foal. Fingers crossed!
So, today was a very very good day in horse land.
