This Old Barn
- Thread starter quicksandfarmer
- Start date
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Here are both of my great great grandfathers old barns (made mostly from American chestnut). I used lots of that inside my new barn (built on the site of the first old one that I dismantled)
These pictures were taken from about the same point, about 50 years apart. I planted that maple tree that you can see in each when I was a little kid. Both old barn frames fell on it when they came down.
These pictures were taken from about the same point, about 50 years apart. I planted that maple tree that you can see in each when I was a little kid. Both old barn frames fell on it when they came down.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Nice looking barn!!!
m7040
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
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- Frederick maryland
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- Kubota M7040, MF 203 industrial, ZD331, RTV 1100 , Kubota Minix excavator, Unimog 404
Amazing work on the barn.
Our barn dates back to 1840's according to records and the milk parlor was added in the first part of the 1900's. The milking parlor is the West part of the barn with the windows. The original barn was shorter but when the milking parlor was added they extended the whole barn It is built with post and beam construction using American Chestnut and no nails were used except for floors and siding.
The new siding was added over the original siding consisting of wide hardwood boards. New roof was added as well screwed to 1 by 6 oak boards
Agree the plank floors are not very level. It is double layers 2 by 12 oak floor planks. It has the trolley running under the roof ridge high up that was pulled by ropes for placing hay on the two lofts and there are several trap doors in the floor for dumping down hay to the lower floor. Two 16 ft by 16 ft doors are on the upstairs part for access for the hay wagons
The East end has a large area with full length hay feeding rack and several smaller stalls. The milking parlor has room for a dozen cows with stanchions and racks and sloped floors for run off and clean out. A pond was close by for the run off.
Our neighbor was born on the farm in the 1930's and she has told us a lot about life on the farm that originally was 200 acres. Original home stead deed was around 1800 although the log spring cabin dates earlier that that. The log cabin is 3 stories with a spring running through the lower floor that was used to cool the milk. Alway runs about 50 degrees or so.
Attaching a picture of the barn and the original log cabin
Our barn dates back to 1840's according to records and the milk parlor was added in the first part of the 1900's. The milking parlor is the West part of the barn with the windows. The original barn was shorter but when the milking parlor was added they extended the whole barn It is built with post and beam construction using American Chestnut and no nails were used except for floors and siding.
The new siding was added over the original siding consisting of wide hardwood boards. New roof was added as well screwed to 1 by 6 oak boards
Agree the plank floors are not very level. It is double layers 2 by 12 oak floor planks. It has the trolley running under the roof ridge high up that was pulled by ropes for placing hay on the two lofts and there are several trap doors in the floor for dumping down hay to the lower floor. Two 16 ft by 16 ft doors are on the upstairs part for access for the hay wagons
The East end has a large area with full length hay feeding rack and several smaller stalls. The milking parlor has room for a dozen cows with stanchions and racks and sloped floors for run off and clean out. A pond was close by for the run off.
Our neighbor was born on the farm in the 1930's and she has told us a lot about life on the farm that originally was 200 acres. Original home stead deed was around 1800 although the log spring cabin dates earlier that that. The log cabin is 3 stories with a spring running through the lower floor that was used to cool the milk. Alway runs about 50 degrees or so.
Attaching a picture of the barn and the original log cabin
OP
quicksandfarmer
Veteran Member
m7040, very nicely kept. I hope to someday get there.
vikingbarns
New member
Great work on the barn. Have you encountered any unexpected challenges during the repairs? Any tips for someone starting a similar project?
OP
quicksandfarmer
Veteran Member
Thanks.
Basically the whole project has been unexpected challenges, you take a piece of the barn apart and you never know what it's going to look like inside. The hardest part has always been deciding when to stop and say, "OK, that's enough."
OP
quicksandfarmer
Veteran Member
Just a quick update, I haven't been doing much lately. I decided it would be easier to reframe the window from the outside so I've set up scaffolding and I'm stripping the shingles. As I noted earlier, the wood literally gets burned way by the sun, I tried to capture in this photo that in places you can literally see through the part of the shingle that is exposed to the sun:
Removing these shingles, I noticed that they're actually newer than other places where I've removed them. They're put on with machine-made nails, not hand cut, and the nails are galvanized. And there's roofing felt behind them. So they were put on some time in the 20th century probably.
I found this sticker on the back of one shingle:
Aha! Western red cedar. The shingles everywhere else are eastern white cedar. Which I've been told is more durable, and I now believe. Some googling tells me that the Stave Lake Cedar Mills opened in 1939. The label doesn't have a postal code, and Canada adopted postal codes in 1974, so that gives a window. That lines up with what I know about the history of the barn. The family that built it owned it until 1950, another family owned it until 1974, and the person that I bought it from bought in 1974. He didn't do much to it so I assume these shingles were put on some time in the 1960's or so. So 60 years give or take.
Removing these shingles, I noticed that they're actually newer than other places where I've removed them. They're put on with machine-made nails, not hand cut, and the nails are galvanized. And there's roofing felt behind them. So they were put on some time in the 20th century probably.
I found this sticker on the back of one shingle:
Aha! Western red cedar. The shingles everywhere else are eastern white cedar. Which I've been told is more durable, and I now believe. Some googling tells me that the Stave Lake Cedar Mills opened in 1939. The label doesn't have a postal code, and Canada adopted postal codes in 1974, so that gives a window. That lines up with what I know about the history of the barn. The family that built it owned it until 1950, another family owned it until 1974, and the person that I bought it from bought in 1974. He didn't do much to it so I assume these shingles were put on some time in the 1960's or so. So 60 years give or take.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Are you reframing an existing window? The vodka window?
I agree that installing it from the outside would be better. It allows you to properly seal the window.
I agree that installing it from the outside would be better. It allows you to properly seal the window.
OP
quicksandfarmer
Veteran Member
Yes, the notorious vodka window!