Wide Open Space 2

We hired a RATT (Rent A Team of Teens)  from the youth group Daniel attends, to help us move the lumber from upstairs to downstairs.   We are exceedingly grateful for their strong backs, cheerful attitudes and endless energy.  

Dave Conlee - the fearless, wonderful youth group leader

Daniel and Dave carefully, neatly stacking!

 Goin' out the big doors.... out and around 

Big, and dirty, space.

Daniel Winn, Lawrence Timmons,  Lucas Simpson

Sweeping, vacuuming and hammering down nails.

It is nearly impossible to capture this room with my little camera. 

Wide Open Space

We have successfully removed the grain bin/ramp form the barn loft, and moved the lumber downstairs.  I am going to let pictures tell the story.

 

                                                                                           Hundreds of nails to remove and pick up.                                                                                                                                     

Some beautiful 24 foot 2 x 12 boards!

  The inside of the grain bins      All the corners of the grain bins were lined with metal that came from the cans of linseed oil used to give the barn its first coat of paint.

Grain Bin Removal

It has become increasingly obvious to us that we need remove the grain bins upstairs in the barn to make it all one big open room.   Preston and Daniel have been working on it for a few months now, when they have time.  It is hard, tedious work.  We are accumulating quite a stack of nice lumber, which we are saving for some still to be determined project.   My contribution to this project to to take pictures documenting, not really the destruction, but how it was constructed.  It is bittersweet, to be sure, to be dismantling this bit of history. 

 

First remove the hay chute,"stairs" and the top layer of the decking.

 

94 years if dirt, chaff, and oil

Back breaking work

Taking out the nails, stacking up the lumber

 Now the second layer ... 1x6 shiplap

 

...and under that 2x12s, some of which are 24 feet long

Under neath all that is the grain bin structure,
for those of you who always wondered what it looks like:

 

Which feeds into these, downstairs

 

More to come ......

A Stairway

The next project on our list of things to do with the barn was a stairway to the upstairs.   Old ladders were the method of access to the  wonderful space there, or the big doors through which the haywagon would pull into the upstairs to unload its cargo.    Preston decided that his labor of love and hope Christmas gift to me would be STAIRS.   He used lumber taken from other parts of the barn (horse stalls...) which we have removed.   Much of this lumber is original barn construction Fir of amazing quality!  We would not be able to afford to purchase such lumber today.   I wonder if we would even be able to find it.
 
These stairs are along the south wall of the barn, on the dairy side.

 

Dad and Mom and Suzanne checked them out and pronounced them wonderful.   

Dad was particularly pleased with how easy they were to use.  

Then for Valentine's Day  he finished the project by putting up railings and hand rail.    All that remains to do is cleaning, some sanding to smooth the rough edges and maybe some stain to make the end cuts look old.

  I love this new addition to the barn.  It make the barn loft beautifully more accessible for work projects and events.  I deeply love Preston's willingness to work hard on these projects and ask me for my opinion on what would look best.   

South End of Barn Repair

The end of the barn that faces the south has been needing  attention for years.   Windstorms, sun, rain, snow have taken their toll.    Trim was falling off, siding splitting, and window doors falling apart.   So why haven't we done anything about it?  One reason was time, another the height.  We solved the time issue this summer by Preston deciding not to get an summer job. A decision that has its drawbacks financially, but had benefits in a myriad of other areas of our lives.  One of which was projects in the barnyard.  It took all summer to gather the courage to tackle the sound end.  This meant renting scaffolding and climbing up on it.   It was hot, tiring work  replacing siding and trim, climbing up and down the scaffolding, and keeping your concern about being 40 feet from the ground under control.  Near the end, when Preston was having to climb the highest and was wearing down God provided encouragement.  This was the point of the project where there was  4 scaffolding moves to finish the last little bits of painting....at the top.  One evening Daniel called from football practice to ask if he could go watch the girls volleyball game in Milton-Freewater.  Preston said "Sure, after you come and help me move the scaffolding"  Daniel countered with, "Can I bring some friends to help?"  Preston agreed.  Daniel brought 3 of his football player friends (who also wanted a ride to the volleyball game). They helped that night and agreed to come back the following night and help again.   Thank you Jacob, Matt & Elliot. (My only regret is that I didn't take pictures. )  Then the last day Preston finished up what needed to be done where the scaffolding was about the middle of the day, he was going to wait until Daniel got home to move to the last area that needed painting, but our pastor Bill Dobos dropped by, and helped him move the scaffolding to the final area.   The following morning I was able to help him take it down for the last time and load it up to take it home.   AHHH what a FEELING to have this job done!!  Everyday we & especially Preston gets to see that view of the barn and have a deep sense of satisfaction and pride from a job well done.   I believe that his ancestors from Jesse Z. Winn to the present were keeping Preston's & Daniel's (and others) guardian angels on their toes and are smiling.   Following are pictures that give you a feel for the size of the project

Before:  notice missing trim around windows, the singles tuck into a hole in the siding to plug a bird hole just below the top most window, the damaged window doors ......

 

                                                                

 

It Is Finished!!!

Scaffolding is load.

AHHHHH