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.

First Wedding

Reception at the north end of the barn

The breezy conditions made setting up for the reception interesting.

Ceremony on the ramp

Simple decorations.. plants hung on the railing and vine wreaths on the doors

The bride and father waiting for their cue

The weather for the ceremony and meal was very pleasant. The photographer was thrilled with the cloudy weather, the wind calmed down and everyone had a wonderful time.

The caterer set up inside, out of the wind.

The DJ moved in when he heard there was a bad thunderstorm coming. It was actually in Walla Walla, but... it is better to be safe than sorry. I am happy we had a place for them to move to.

The wind picked up again so the dancing was moved inside. During the 2-3 hours the guests danced we did get thunderstorm activity and a great rain storm.

Farmer on the Roof

The Barn roof is in need of repairs. In January of 2008 we had a horrendous windstorm that took off two pieces of ridge cap. Since then we have lost singles from the ridgeline. Preston has dreaded this project for over a year and a half.

This last week he was finally able to muster the courage to take his maiden voyage to the top of the barn roof. He began by scouting around the farm for a good, long rope... for his lifeline, and a good ladder. Our friend and pastor, Bill Dobos has a good ladder so he went to check with him about borrowing it. While there he asked him about rope. Bill loves to backpack and other dangerous recreational activities. Much to Preston's pleasure Bill had a climbing rope AND harness. This project was looking safer! Daniel rigged up a belaying harness from a webbing tie down Preston keeps in his pickup. So.... up the ladder with climbing harness firmly installed, leather worker belt loaded with nails and hammer, the ridge cap handy and a few shingles (at my insistence) close at hand. The first order of business is to secure one end of the rope around one of the cupolas. Daniel was on the other end of the rope as the anchor man.. letting out rope or taking up slack as the need arose. He has had a little bit of belaying experience with YD Adventures at Oregon Camp Cedarbrook. He knows that you keep the rope snug to prevent a long fall. Preston was not amused by the snug fit while trying to work. He kept asking for more slack than Daniel was comfortable giving. A little test of wills there. :) I hoped that the rope was short enough to prevent Preston from hitting the ground.. should he fall.

Now to get to work. Preston thought it was going to be a quick job of nailing the ridgecap back in place. I, on the other hand, knew that there were some singles that had blown off. I could see the holes inside the barn and had seen the shingles laying on the lawn. I suspected that the pigeons were using these holes in the roof as access to our barn. I wanted them closed up!

Sure enough, when Preston got up there he found about 2 hours of work replacing missing shingles, reinstalling the ridgecap and hammering nails back into the cupolas

One of the areas he had to put numerous shingles was on the south end of the roof. The hole there was a veritable freeway for pigeons.

Preston was able to get the job done and there was no mishap!
Praise God for His protection!
We are very happy that project is off the ToDo list!