New Dairy

[tractorshopper]

Wow, beautiful barn and entire setting!

 

[pilot-werx]

now that the basic structure of the barn is up, here is what it will look like when finished. we went ahead and covered the entire roof with ice and water shield (even though it is a cold roof) and then will put lifetime architectural shingles on top of that. the siding and trim will all be done in hardie plank. although i am sure i would never have to worry about it, i had all of the walls strapped with 1x3 and then covered with another layer of OSB to create a drainage plane (aka cold walls). the windows are all marvin windows and the large ones on the side, to give a sense of scale, are 11'x11'. the house that you can just see on the hill behind the barn was built as part of the project too.

here is picture looking down on the back. the bump out on the back is a tanker bay for loading/unloading our 8500 gallon tri-axle and i opted to build a shed roof over where all of the utility equipment will be installed. i have never been a fan of roof mounted equipment and there is nothing worse than trying to fix something in the rain.

fire away with any questions.

 

[forgeblast]

Wow thats a barn!!!!

 

[jinman]

fire away with any questions.

Where's the cows?

That is sure one "Taj Mahal" dairy barn. Nice!

Now, about the 100% clay pond that's spring fed. . . I'm so green with envy I can't stand it.:thumbsup:

 

[pilot-werx]

Interesting evolution of the the pond.... The fire chief wanted me to bury a 40,000 gallon tank in the parking lot so there would be water onsite should there be a fire. After running the numbers, I asked my excavation contractor what the cost would be to dig out the pond, which I knew was all in clay. It was a 10th of the cost of the buried tank and the town thought it was a great idea. The pond was actually designed by a state fisheries employee. What you do not see is the smaller pond that is connected to the large pond with a 4" pipe. During a heavy rain, the maximum amount of water that will flow into the pond is whatever will fit through the pipe. the rest overflows into a swale that goes around the pond. since last fall, it has been a steady flow of 7000 gallons of spring water a day...

 

[pilot-werx]

here is an aerial picture and you can see the smaller pond that feeds the larger one. the other pond by the building is the storm-water pond....

 

[whitedogone]

Don't forget the equipotential ground plane.

 

[treman]

That looks like one heck of a setup. Will you be able to see over the peak of the barn from your house? I imagine it would make for quite the view. Do you plan on stocking any of the ponds?

 

[Ranger Rick]

That is a beautiful barn. How big is it?
Rick

 

[MarkV]

Don't let my wife see that barn she would want to use it as a house. Very first class.

MarkV

 

[pilot-werx]

That looks like one heck of a setup. Will you be able to see over the peak of the barn from your house? I imagine it would make for quite the view. Do you plan on stocking any of the ponds?

Yes, you can see clear over the 45' roof of the barn from the house. I wish it was my house but the proud owner is my younger brother. I do not have a good picture, but behind the barn and down the hill from the house is an 8 acre field that we created. I plan on stocking the spring fed pond with rainbow trout.

 

[pilot-werx]

That is a beautiful barn. How big is it?
Rick

The main part of the barn is 200'x80' with no interior columns. The tanker bay is 105'x15'. The roof peak is 45' high. The entire interior floor surface will be drained and radiant heated. I could write a book on the slab insulating panel i developed that can be ordered in any thickness and any length (max of 4' wide). The panel has pex locking slots cut into the top so the radiant tubing remains on the bottom of the slab. As we mount a lot of equipment to the floor, it critical to know the depth at which the tube is.

 

[Ranger Rick]

The main part of the barn is 200'x80' with no interior columns. The tanker bay is 105'x15'. The roof peak is 45' high. The entire interior floor surface will be drained and radiant heated. I could write a book on the slab insulating panel i developed that can be ordered in any thickness and any length (max of 4' wide). The panel has pex locking slots cut into the top so the radiant tubing remains on the bottom of the slab. As we mount a lot of equipment to the floor, it critical to know the depth at which the tube is.

It is an amazing structure. Are you using the pond as a geothermal heat source? Can you tell me more about the Pex slab insulating panel? I am getting ready to change an old barn into living space and use radiant heating in a slab and am trying to figure out what to use to hold the tubing in place. Rick

 

[grainger12002]

Pilot
WOW
What a beautiful spot,

From Ct

 

[pilot-werx]

It is an amazing structure. Are you using the pond as a geothermal heat source? Can you tell me more about the Pex slab insulating panel? I am getting ready to change an old barn into living space and use radiant heating in a slab and am trying to figure out what to use to hold the tubing in place. Rick

No, will not be used for geothermal. The investment in such a system does not make financial sense, much like solar and wind.

If you are going to be heating a slab and will not be drilling into it, the panel I developed is not cost effective. In our area, the cheapest way to do a residential floor is to hire someone to spray foam the entire surface and then you can staple the PEX right to the foam. Or if you are looking for a faster reaction time, you can suspend the PEX in the slab.

 

[pilot-werx]

Pilot
WOW
What a beautiful spot,

From Ct

Thanks! It has been one heck of a learning experience and really pushed my engineering envelope, and PE stamp!

 

[boxygen]

Pilot,
What you are taking on (and executing) is quite admirable. SIP and Marvin windows for a dairy barn??? That blows my mind. Im interested in hearing more about the product you said you developed for underslab. Also I have done Radiant floor heating many ways but never sprayfoamed the earth and stapled tubing too it, which I think is what you were describing? Tell me more! :thumbsup: Cant wait to see more of this project, thanks for sharing.

 

[jdfire]

That's a beautiful setup!

 

[pilot-werx]

Pilot,
What you are taking on (and executing) is quite admirable. SIP and Marvin windows for a dairy barn??? That blows my mind. Im interested in hearing more about the product you said you developed for underslab. Also I have done Radiant floor heating many ways but never sprayfoamed the earth and stapled tubing too it, which I think is what you were describing? Tell me more! :thumbsup: Cant wait to see more of this project, thanks for sharing.

Our family business is Kate's Homemade Butter (Official Website of Kate's Homemade Butter). We will never be able to care for the head of cattle that we would need to supply our cream needs, but we will have a small herd of cattle to supply our R&D lab. Going in shortly after the main building is finished will be the milking parlor and cattle barn. We will then be able to bring raw milk into the plant and run it through our HTST pasteurizer.

I was able to use the SIPs, Marvin's, and Hardie Plank as I was the one who did most of the engineering to prove it would work. The cold reality is that where I am the GC/engineer the cost per foot to do the building is similar as going with someone like Butler and buying their wall and roof system. The hardest part was finding a contractor that was willing to try building it. There were many nights I sat running numbers and simulations to verify that it would work... I have had a lot of interest from others so I am hoping when I am done with this one, I can share my design with folks who would like to do something similar.

For residential, you can use the same spray foam that you put in the walls for the floor. You do not need any specialized density foam or have to spend $40 per sheet for the 4'x8'x2" blue board. Just spray the foam and staple the PEX (RHT Foam Stapler and Staples). Once stapled, pour the concrete...

It is great to finally some time to breath and to share with everyone. thank you for looking!

 

[Sterff]

How many cows/freestalls? What are you doing for manure storage and feed?