Piddler On the Roof

On the eastern side of our barn, there is a walkway right past a gate that runs between our barn and the goat barn.  It is a low area, to be sure, but what exacerbates the problem is that when cows walk through a narrow, low spot, it becomes a boggy mess.  It became so muddy that the cows (and their humans) hate walking through here.  This swampy mudhole has claimed our rubber boots on more than one occasion, causing us to step out of our boots and insert a socked foot into the mud.  Not good.  Something must be done.  We moved in fill dirt, but water stayed and the clay became sticky and even more muddy.  If you notice on the right side below, 4x4's have been cemented in the ground.

The south side of the barn looked exactly like that muddy mess before we put wings on both sides of the barn and brought in some fill dirt.  Now the animals lounge high and dry in relaxed comfort in the shade.  We were hoping to establish those same amenities on the east side.

Time to get busy.  I get off of work between 4:30 and 5 and have roughly an hour commute home (give or take).  That leaves a skinny minute or two before the sun goes down, so my wife and I screwed the header into the barn, put the 2x4's across the 4x4 frame and screwed the rafter supports into the header.  It was not an ideal place to work with all the mud.

Then we cut notches into the rafters and began screwing them down.  This canopy is approximately 16 feet long by 8 feet wide.

Then 1x4's were screwed across the top on the rafters.  These will serve as supports for the corrugated tin roof.

Finally, this afternoon I climbed up on top of the new roof support structure and installed the tin roof and screwed everything down tight.  I am not a skilled carpenter, so I was a little concerned that it wouldn't hold me up - but it did!

We'll add some additional dirt and perhaps some wood chips to the walkway beneath the new roofed in barn addition.  Pretty soon this walkway will be nice and dry.  Oreo the goat is already checking things out, giving us her seal of approval.  Mission accomplished.

A Good Test for the "Raised" Barn

Earlier in the spring, we had some fill dirt hauled in and Russ and I worked like pack mules to move it out to the barn.  I didn't do much planning back when we decided where to put the barn.  I ended up putting it in the lowest part of the property.  Not good.  It is always tough to slog out to the barn in rubber boots in deep mud every time it rains, which is often in south Louisiana.  The mud is so deep, sometimes you walk right out of your boots.

My plan was to raise the level of the barn after the fact.  Never too late, right?  So we used wagons to carry out 3 dump truck loads of dirt out to the barn, building up the areas all around it.  You might be wondering why we didn't just have the dump trucks deliver the dirt closer to the barn?  It was so wet this past fall, winter, and spring, that there was no way the truck could get near the barn without bogging down.

We got the dirt in place and we've had several rains on it, but the rain this last week was the test we were looking for.  We got eight inches of rain in less than 24 hours - a real gully washer. 

We even got a tornado that came through down the road.  It did some damage at our friend's home that gave us the quail eggs.  We had a lot of sticks that fell out of the trees that will take some work to pick up, but fortunately no major damage.  The garden really didn't need all this rain, but there's nothing we can do about it.  The green beans look sickly and yellow.

So it is time to check out the barn.  How did our new "raised barn" work out?  Ordinarily, the barn was in a low location, so the cows would find a high place from which to weather the storm.  Now, the barn IS the high place!  You can see the two little bulls, Aussie and Clarabull, as well as the baby goats and a few chickens seeking refuge under the new barn expansion atop the new dirt.

Here's from a different vantage point, looking out from within the barn.  Everything outside is muddy, but from here, we are high and dry!

It took a lot of dirt and a lot of work, but the cows and goats appreciate the effort.

I'd give the new raised barn a two thumbs up rating after passing the 8 inches in less than 24 hour rainfall test with flying colors.

Barn Expansion - Mostly Completed

This Saturday at 7 am we started working feverishly to finish up our barn expansion project.  Last Saturday we put up a lean-to on the north side.  This Saturday our goal was to finish up the lean-to on the south side.  As the photo below evidences, there is a very good reason we are putting up additional roof area!  It is a mud-fest back by the barn.  Yes, we will move some additional dirt in to lift the elevation a little bit, but the roof expansion will help as well.

Inside the barn it is nice and dry, but just one square inch outside and you are immediately in ankle deep mud.  The goats absolutely hate walking in the water and mud and the cows literally have to be dragged out after milking.  Tricia actually fell into the mud Saturday morning as her boots got stuck in the mud and she stepped out of them.

We took our measurements and made out cuts and quickly put the header and rafters up.  With the experience gained last Saturday, we were moving faster and more efficiently this week. 

By noon we had the tin fastened down on the roof and the cows were already checking out the new construction.

We were almost done.  Believe it our not, my calculations were off by one sheet on tin.  I'll have to get one more sheet of tin in order to finish it up.  It is kind of disappointing to not be "really" finished, but we're close enough.

We still have a few "punch list" items. The tin is all used material that came off of an old combine shed at the farm.  The tin has nail holes where it was fastened to the other barn.  I will need to get some caulk and patch all of the nail holes so that we don't have a leaky roof when it rains.

Here is a profile shot of the new, improved barn.  As you can see, we doubled up on our square footage under roof.  This will make the animals happy during rainy, cold weather as they'll be able to take shelter.  We can put up temporary walls, if we wish and store hay or other items in the new areas.

We're ecstatic to have this project completed.  As soon as we get a few days without rain, we will get a load or two of dirt moved in to build up the area around the barn.  The extended roof on either side of the barn has made it considerably darker inside the barn and as we only have 3 light bulb fixtures currently, we may have to look at additional lighting. 

"I compare myself to a good barn. You can have a good barn, and if you paint it, it looks a little better. But if you take the paint off, it's still a good barn."-Dolly Parton

Halfway Finished With the Barn Expansion

We began construction around 9 am after getting the materials from the farm.  With the 4x4 support posts already up on both sides, we elected to begin on the north side of the barn.  We measured a little over 7 feet at the bottom and ran a string and level and screwed the 2x4 header across the 2x4s.  This allows a slope, but not quite at the angle of the existing roof of the barn.

We measured our 2x4s for the rafters a little over 10 feet and we cut a notch to allow it to fit over the header.  After making on pattern, we used it to cut the remaining 11 rafters.

Once all the rafters were up, we nailed runners across the rafters that will serve as the base for securing the tin to the roof.  Russ & I climbed on the roof with drills and screws with rubber gaskets and screwed the tin to the runners.

We overlapped the tin, ensuring that the peaks and valleys of the tin lined up perfectly.  Once the runners and the tin were on, the building became very sturdy.

The weather vane, with it's boastful rooster, sits atop the barn, letting us know from which direction the wind was blowing.

By mid to late afternoon, we were finished with the southern side of the barn.  This will give more shade and protection from the weather.

It completely changes the profile of the barn.

This Saturday, if the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, we'll begin (and hopefully finish) the expansion on the north side of the barn as well.  We're pleased with the way it turned out.

Gathering Materials for the Barn Expansion

We're building an expansion to our barn, adding two "lean-to's" on either side.  Last week we showed how we put the four 4x4's on either side of the barn that will serve as the supports to hold up the roof extension.  Saturday was the day that we circled on the calendar to get things started.  I woke up at first light and drove to the farm in Oberlin to gather the building materials that Dad had offered to me for the project.

I like things with sentimental value and/or things with a story.  Here is a story (or two) about the raw materials we're using for the barn:  The wood we'll be using for framing up the roof is from a very tall and straight pine tree that was struck by lightning many years ago at Mom & Dad's house where I grew up.  The 5 acre property had numerous pine trees.  My brother and I had a Honda Z50 mini bike that we would ride.  We had a game where we'd throw pine cones at each other and try to knock each other off the mini bike.  Crazy, I know.  These weren't the pine cones that are open, but the ones that are tight and hard.  One time I knocked Kristian off the mini bike with a pine cone and he picked up a pine knot and knocked me over the head with it and knocked me out.  Who knows?  This pine lumber could very well be from the same tree!  Now when people ask me what's wrong with me, I can say I've been hit in the head...  At least I have an excuse!

Back to the story: Dad called a gentleman who was our crop duster pilot.  He also had a portable sawmill and cut up logs on the side.  He came and cut the tree into 2x4s and we stacked and dried it.  The lumber sat for years in the shop.  We're now going to use 58 of the 2x4s to construct the barn lean-to.

Now we'll also use corrugated tin for the barn lean-to roof.  At the farm we had an old pole barn that we called the "Combine Shed."  We stored the combines under the shed to keep them out of the weather.  As hot as it ever got during the summer months, for some reason, it always was cool and shady under that barn.  Over the years, hurricanes and thunderstorms ravaged the old shed.  It has fallen and its remaining structure is hidden behind the tall grass below.

Many sheets of tin from that barn, however, were stacked up.  I'll be using that tin for the roof.  The tin has many holes where it was nailed up to the rafters of the combine shed, but I'll patch them with caulk and it'll work just fine.  I worked as fast as I could Saturday morning and loaded the old cattle trailer with lumber and tin and made my way back home to begin the work.  A carpenter was meeting me to begin construction.

We had perfect weather to begin this construction project and I'll tell you about it tomorrow.