I have to put my 2 cents in (oh, my goodness! where did the symbol for pennies go?); I love love love this thread! And that is one darling girl! Okay, now I'll unsubcribe and check on your progress on a regular basis.
(I could go on about the "unimportant" penny, though. Ok, off the soapbox.) Caroline
Oh, I found the ¢ symbol! Now I feel better! BTW, my boys love your thread! I'm keeping them in the loop as I check on your progress.
I got home today and the cement slab was baking in the sun.
The floor drain is all boxed in and the PVC pipes that the water and drain lines will run through are sticking up through the floor waiting for the lines to be run.
Our inspector came by to check the workmanship.
Next step will be to lay more insulation around the perimeter for an additional frost barrier.
And here's another gratuitous scenery pic, just cause I can
I had never heard of Icelandics (I was thinking the horses, actually - I'm new!). Love the pics and the progress. I miss Alaska so much, lived there for a time over a decade ago....
The lumber package is here and the framing has begun.
The builder I picked is a family of brothers, one brother does the business stuff, another brother does the dirt-work, another the framing, another the roof, you get the picture. This family has had livestock, so they get the whole "gotta have room for feed storage and we don't want to haul water, oh and don't forget to consider where the snow is going to shed to, you don't want to slip and fall while collecting eggs..." But Joseph admitted he was laughed at by his supplier for bidding a chicken house.
Anyway, he has been great to work with and helped us design a single pitch roof so that all the snow will slough off to the back of the barn, against the trees. This should minimized the amount of ice and snow buildup in front of the pop doors and the man door. The back wall is 8' so the interior will be plenty tall enough for Tom to stand up in. The front wall is 12', the turkeys and Icelandics like to roost high so we will be putting some tall perches in just for them.
Today brother David called asking about the window heights. Some of the contractors that bid the job wanted to put the windows up high, like right below the roof, I'm not sure why that sounded like a good idea, but more than one of them came up with it so I'm sure it makes sense to someone. Anyway, thinking of that I told him "I'm 5'4" so don't put them so high I can't reach them easily to open them but the pop doors are going under them so they have to be high enough to accommodate that framing..." David was confused, the what door? Oh, the chicken door, ok, how big a hole you want me to leave? So I tried to explain it all over the phone, which didn't really work, so I told him I would email the specs for the doors when I got home, so he would know the measurements. But I said they are 16.75" opening, and the door slides up into a frame, so I would guess I need 33.5" of clearance. He was still confused, but he set the window headers to be at 40" so that should give us enough room.
It's actually starting to look like a barn
I plan to finish up the new feeder this weekend and get the pop doors ordered. I don't know how long framing will take but he said they should be spraying insulation not next week but the week after.
I will have to admit AK Michelle. I started to read this posting today, and about half way threw I got jealous. lol
I always wanted to live in Alaska, and that barn looks like it is going to be absolutely amazing.
I too am planning for next year to build a barn to house the animals I want. I currently only have 2 chickens right now, but I am planning on incubating some chicken eggs in a week. And I know March of next year I will be inbubating some duck eggs.
I love looking threw the pics, and reading what is happening.
This is a great post, and an educational one also. Love the homemade feeder, thinking about something like that for me but in smaller scale.
(I could go on about the "unimportant" penny, though. Ok, off the soapbox.) Caroline
