The birds are loving their new digs! The property we moved to last fall came with a 1600 sq ft dilapidated barn. It's become our labor of love to get it into usable space! First we had to unbury it from honeysuckle overgrowth. Then remove a ton of rot wood, and kill all the climbing vines. From there an assessment, and it was determined to contain pest damage, further rot, and will at some point require extensive main support repair/replacement.
Thankfully I work at a home improvement store, so several bunks of cull lumber has already been screwed to it. As rot is removed, new wood goes in. Supports added throughout, weight disbursement considered since it's getting heavier every time we add more.
This building moves. The soil is chronically wet. We have a big drainage improvement plan in the works too. Lot's of details with this thing! There is a cistern 2 feet from the south wall, the backside facing the barn has collapsed and taken the concrete/soil with it. We really dug into to see the issue. It pulled the soil in from under the slab inside the barn. That pad will need jack hammered and filled. It's a mite cracked, a wee bit caving in. The rest of the barn floor is dirt. Or mud, depends on the weather. The concrete pad on top of the cistern is newer than the walls. Maybe 30 years old? Almost a shame to cave it in on itself. May instead break another hole into the side and fill from there, leaving the top intact.
Going to fill the bottom with creek rock, and then gravel. That will take longer to sink versus just gravel. Above that will get a moisture barrier and floor joists. Rise above the problem! At some point someone put new footers under the main supports, those look great! The structure holds to level surprisingly well, even though it moves. There is potential here! As in, build a new barn 30 feet south of it here in 15 years or so potential.
Once we have drainage installed, covered runs will go along the building, with larger open runs beyond that. Each stall will get a different breed. Right now it's 32 birds from a mixed hatch to get some layers. 17 roosters to fatten up or adopt out.
The south facing roof footage is huge... if we salvage/save this building to where it wouldn't be a mistake to put a new roof on it, I'm really wondering what the expense/reward would be for using solar panel roofing tiles. This thing could power the house too!
Anyways, here's where we are so far. 4 stalls, 5.5ftx12 ft each. New loft above, wired with outlets and lighting. New inside and exterior paneling, insulated walls. Pop doors installed, runs pending. These stalls are south facing.
Today we're building 4 brooder boxes and storage into the center, creating a dividing wall. The east and north side will get a new loft, that doesn't currently have a loft. East side will get a people door, new windows, and an adolescent chicken stall, a pig sized door and the 1st pig stall. Additional pig stalls will run up the North wall, with an aisle where they can be directed to their pastures. The road frontage coming off the NE corner of the barn will get 6ft privacy fencing, reinforced from the inside with hog panels. Granted these are 30-70 pound pigs, but you can't be too safe!
Cameras will be installed and guard dogs will work from it. It's 150 feet from the house and on a main road, so the driveway at that end will also be getting a gate. Debating between LGD or additional Shepherds (we already have 3 German Shepherds) Husband is a veteran, so he's big on security.
The barn also has a raised floor in the NW corner, where the ladder to the loft is. We're thinking of having the loft go all the way around the perimeter, with the center open (to install a large fan into). The NW corner will get a people seating area for break time. The front of the barn is almost 3 stories tall, we could squeeze a 3rd tier in up there for storage and still have 2 levels with tall ceilings below. Husband wants a pulley system.
Before...
(exterior "after" in progress...)
Interior before...
Interior after. New framing, new panels inside and out, insulated, electrical outlets and lighting, new loft supports and subfloor.
Lot's of roosters testing it out...
This has been so fun! One corner at a time...
Thankfully I work at a home improvement store, so several bunks of cull lumber has already been screwed to it. As rot is removed, new wood goes in. Supports added throughout, weight disbursement considered since it's getting heavier every time we add more.
This building moves. The soil is chronically wet. We have a big drainage improvement plan in the works too. Lot's of details with this thing! There is a cistern 2 feet from the south wall, the backside facing the barn has collapsed and taken the concrete/soil with it. We really dug into to see the issue. It pulled the soil in from under the slab inside the barn. That pad will need jack hammered and filled. It's a mite cracked, a wee bit caving in. The rest of the barn floor is dirt. Or mud, depends on the weather. The concrete pad on top of the cistern is newer than the walls. Maybe 30 years old? Almost a shame to cave it in on itself. May instead break another hole into the side and fill from there, leaving the top intact.
Going to fill the bottom with creek rock, and then gravel. That will take longer to sink versus just gravel. Above that will get a moisture barrier and floor joists. Rise above the problem! At some point someone put new footers under the main supports, those look great! The structure holds to level surprisingly well, even though it moves. There is potential here! As in, build a new barn 30 feet south of it here in 15 years or so potential.
Once we have drainage installed, covered runs will go along the building, with larger open runs beyond that. Each stall will get a different breed. Right now it's 32 birds from a mixed hatch to get some layers. 17 roosters to fatten up or adopt out.
The south facing roof footage is huge... if we salvage/save this building to where it wouldn't be a mistake to put a new roof on it, I'm really wondering what the expense/reward would be for using solar panel roofing tiles. This thing could power the house too!
Anyways, here's where we are so far. 4 stalls, 5.5ftx12 ft each. New loft above, wired with outlets and lighting. New inside and exterior paneling, insulated walls. Pop doors installed, runs pending. These stalls are south facing.
Today we're building 4 brooder boxes and storage into the center, creating a dividing wall. The east and north side will get a new loft, that doesn't currently have a loft. East side will get a people door, new windows, and an adolescent chicken stall, a pig sized door and the 1st pig stall. Additional pig stalls will run up the North wall, with an aisle where they can be directed to their pastures. The road frontage coming off the NE corner of the barn will get 6ft privacy fencing, reinforced from the inside with hog panels. Granted these are 30-70 pound pigs, but you can't be too safe!
Cameras will be installed and guard dogs will work from it. It's 150 feet from the house and on a main road, so the driveway at that end will also be getting a gate. Debating between LGD or additional Shepherds (we already have 3 German Shepherds) Husband is a veteran, so he's big on security.
The barn also has a raised floor in the NW corner, where the ladder to the loft is. We're thinking of having the loft go all the way around the perimeter, with the center open (to install a large fan into). The NW corner will get a people seating area for break time. The front of the barn is almost 3 stories tall, we could squeeze a 3rd tier in up there for storage and still have 2 levels with tall ceilings below. Husband wants a pulley system.
Before...
(exterior "after" in progress...)
Interior before...
Interior after. New framing, new panels inside and out, insulated, electrical outlets and lighting, new loft supports and subfloor.
Lot's of roosters testing it out...
This has been so fun! One corner at a time...
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