Handy Man and I clearly are either crazy or we have completely lost our marbles. You decide.
Three days after finishing our kitchen, we moved right into our barn addition and residing project. Our old barn at our little house on the prairie was awesome. Four stalls, 50-foot runs, tack room, shop... it was awesome.
Our new barn is choppy and not very efficient. The south side does have an overhanging porch feature but because it's so tall, it really doesn't offer much by way of shelter for the horses. Not to mention, the barn just looks incomplete.
The horses and I have made it work for the last three years. Until now! This year they are getting some brand new digs!
Handy Man and I planned to extend the roof line to the south and south-west giving the barn and more symmetrical appearance. I wanted the ability for all the horses to get in under cover during thunderstorms, snow storms, and even just for shade. Our plan was to have three, 12x18 ish bays. Each bay would be a large run-in type shelter that could be left open or divided as needed with panels. Then the existing interior we plan to gut completely so that I can easily store all of my hay each year inside. Currently, I have to stack and tarp about 200 bales outside each year. Lastly, we wanted to reside the entire thing in sheet metal to give it a nice clean look.
Memorial Day weekend was upon is which meant we had a three-day weekend to get a jump start on the barn. Handy Man, Grandpa Matt and I got busy tearing off the old siding and framing the addition. Of course we would get torrential down pouring rain for two days before we were set to start. Day one involved a lot of mud! The kids were in seventh heaven.
The first thing Handy Man had to work on was the attachment of the new roof line to the existing roof. It was hard work trying to get up high enough to strip the old siding and attach the new beams.
Handy Man is very resourceful.
It's a good thing OSHA doesn't swing by DIY construction job sites.
I am also thankful for life insurance policies.
After a while the boys had a few posts sunk, and the first beams attached. The rest of day was mainly spent sinking posts and getting everything all squared and set for building.
Day two and our helpers were ready!
Day two's mission was installing the facia beams and starting to frame the roof supports.
I must have bumped my head. Somehow I managed to allow Handy Man to convince me to get into the bucket of the tractor in order to assist him better.
Just my Handy Man and I. Quality time spent together. I sure do love this man and am so thankful that I married such a capable guy! And you know you are loved when your non-horsey husband builds you a barn before the shop he has always wanted!
Once the main beams were set, Handy Man started framing the roof.
There really wasn't anything I could do to help him at that point so I was reassigned to stripping siding.
I hate stripping siding. It's really hard work.
But with a little determination, a good pry-bar and a hammer... anything is possible!
I was crushing my new job. Siding feared me! Well, at least all the siding under 5'.
Grandma Debbie brought lunch out for Memorial Day. She even helped us frame out the side walls.
This new improved barn was going to be so awesome for the horses.
Look at all that shade they were going to have in the summer heat!
They were anxiously awaiting move-in day!
The new addition was making the barn look huge! I was so excited to see the finished product.
The next week, our siding arrived on one of Handy Man's trucks!
The ABC guy carefully brought all of our metal through our pastures and back to the barn.
I was a little worried. Those two pallets of metal didn't look like enough material to me. It's a good thing Handy Man knows what he is doing!
First priority was to get the roof on so the summer rain storms wouldn't warp all of our plywood.
Handy Man got this really awesome new tool for cutting the metal. Never fails that he gets some kind of new tool with every project we start. I do admit, I was quite impressed how cool it was.
Do you see this horses? Just a few more days and you guys are going to love this barn!
Handy Man kept working on that roof well into the evening. The sun was going down and a storm was rolling in.
After the thunder started in, I went back outside and told Handy Man he needed to get off the roof. I told him I would rather all the metal be torn away than watch him get struck by lightening.
I had to work most of the next day while the rest of the roof was put on and the siding went up. Luckily, Handy Man's friend came out to give him a hand.
It took another day and a half to get the rest of the siding on and add all the trim. The results are AWESOME!!
A more symmetrical shape. Clean lines. No chipping paint. Brand new door that slides smoothly on it's tracks!
New kick boards installed. I just need to do some dirt work now to deal with the old slope to the pen.
A large naughty horse area... names shall remain anonymous.
Considering Handy Man has been fighting off daily asthma attacks since starting this project, I stepped up and handled the dusty job of gutting the barn. When you normally walk into the barn there is the small hay storage area right inside the door.
Straight ahead through this narrow walk way leads back to a 7x10 tack area.
Two old stalls are behind those two dutch doors. they are only 7x10's. Way too small for the horses. In the first year here, we removed the diving wall and now use it for additional interior hay storage. It is not very accessible - but it's inside storage and dry.
To the right, on the back wall of the first hay storage area was another 7x10 stall (who were these horse people??? Not horse people evidently) In the winter, Aspen and Skip would both squeeze into this area to avoid blizzard conditions. Similar confinement to a horse trailer I guess. No glamorous or fun for them but they made it work.
Then where is was standing is a 14x12 area that Henry, PC and Jack all had to share in blizzard conditions.
It's called creative stalling my friends!
But I am done cramming clowns into a tiny car! Hand me a hammer and a drill!
Skip seemed to approve.
Either that or I was interrupting his nap and he was wondering when we would finally be finished banging and hacking up his home.
An hour later and the walls were down! Look at all the light in here now! So much better! So much more room for hay!
Thank you Handy Man for building my barn over your three day weekend and finishing the last touches on Father's Day this year! The horses and I love you!
