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

Barn- South End Door Repair

 

The south end of the Winn Barn is the side that gets the harshest weather.  The wind, rain, snow and sun beat on this face.  Because of that the siding, trim and window take a beating and are showing some serious signs of wear. Trim had fallen off, and the teardrop siding had many holes in it.   It is time to do repairs.  We had been able to find used teardrop siding, that was an exact match, in the last  couple of years at Hippo Hardware in Portland, Oregon in anticipation of the need to do this project. The glass windows had already been replace in order to try to stanch the flow of pigeons and other birds.  That was done early on because it could be accomplished from the inside of the barn, thereby not requiring extreme measures to reach them. 

The sliding door on the eastern most side of the face was beyond repair. It was early on the list of repairs, mostly because it was at ground level.  Preston determined that it was best to remove it and replace it with a walk thru door.  My only stipulations was that there was no new wood showing, and that it fit in with the rest of the building. 

  This is the track that the door slid on, the supporting boards underneath it were weakened and not fully carrying the weight of the door or the track, making it difficult to open and close the door. 

Before he could remove the track Preston had to deal with the wasp nests.  It makes the work area a little calmer.  I think he went through four cans of wasp spray before he was comfortable with the situation.

Track down, now for construction! 

Framing was done  with recycled lumber from other places in the barn where we removed dividers or adaptation to the structure that are no longer needed.  We don't want it looking new. 

 

 The siding find at Hippo Hardware came in really handy on this project.

 

Framing is done, as well as repairing worn out siding, now for the new door.
 

Olympic Stain: Navajo Red and Navajo White

The newly constructed split doors are leaning up on the end of the barn ready to be hung, while Preston works on painting trim.     These doors were entirely constructed from the good wood out of the sliding door that was removed.

                     

Looks pretty good, don't you think?  The only problem is we didn't originally use the Navajo White paint.  The white is just too stark. 

I love how it looks like it has always been there from the inside.

Barnyard Improvements- Steps

The largest part of the Barnyard is bi level. For the young, physically fit, work boot wearing person traversing the slope is not problematic. Wedding party members in dress shoes and guests with mobility challenges is a different matter. I have been concerned about making it easier for our more delicate guest by adding steps for quite some time. Preston was reluctant to mess with his lawn mowing routine and adding obstacles to the area. I maintain that it would reduce his work load and add more to mine: more flower beds and less lawn. Of course, getting the steps put in would probably add more to his work load. That might be why he was dragging his feet.

Then there is the decision making:
Where do the steps go? Between the two old locust trees and away from irrigation lines
How big should they be? 5 feet wide to comfortably accommodate at least two people and fancy dresses
What materials should we use? Redwood 4x4 stacked two high and re-bar.

Our pastor and friend Bill Dobos came by to check on us, and got in on some of the work. removing the sod.

almost done... my back is killing me...

Nice work ....Looking good, but ... I really think we need one more step.

Now it just needs the flowerbeds on either side, and steppable plants on the walking surface. I think I will transplant more plants from my yard into this new project.