New farm, let's build some stuff

The whole barn is uninsulated with a stone dust floor. The moisture is coming in whether I like it or not haha.

I’m also going to cut in stalls to the east wall, so there will be plenty of ventilation.

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Thats good.

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I have the same kind of barn. Uninsulated metal roof with crushed limestone pad. It’s fine. No horses have been harmed by the occasional drop of water.

The pad being built up enough is more important imo.

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More progress. I bought a tool belt to help save me ladder trips and to avoid shoving nails in my vest pockets. It’s great! It hangs down low though, so I have to basically crip walk (:rofl:) to avoid getting bumped in the legs by my impact and/or the hammer.

My circular saw (mega el cheapo that I have done brutal things to in the past) bit the dust. RIP little buddy, sorry for putting you in the ground to get that root out that one time. Luckily, from combining my husband’s and my two lives there’s a second one so onwards we go.

Probably 10 more to go, ish. The gap is for the stairs - I have a friend coming to help me with those on Monday.

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I really admire your straight lines!(Not one of my talents…)

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It’s not so straight in person, some of the boards are warped so it is what it is.

I’m no carpenter so it may not be dead level but I’m trying!

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I am really impressed you are tackling this yourself! I tried to fix the hinge on my stall door and was nearly in tears of frustration. :rofl:

I don’t know why some metal roofs do this more than others, but they will literally “rain” with condensation at times.

So if you don’t want the stuff in your loft to get wet, you may consider some sort of super duper cheap and easy insulation.

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Looking good!

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So far it doesn’t seem too too bad in there, it’s not a very well sealed barn which I’m sure helps dissipate the moisture before it condenses.

I’m WAY out of my element but I am doing the best I can, and learning a lot along the way.

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All joists are in. I’m about an inch out of level on one end, you can see it in the last picture. My lesson learned is to rent, borrow, or buy a laser level. I put string levels all over this thing, long levels when the headers were up, put a board across the ledger and header to check, etc. It’s still out. Laser level next time.

How else can you learn if you aren’t willing to make mistakes? :slight_smile:

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Love that you’re getting after it and doing it yourself!!! I hope to work up to more serious construction someday :slight_smile:

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If I can do it, anyone can!

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Impressive amount of progress!

I, too bought a tool belt when I was upgrading my barn aisle light fixtures and found it droopy. Then I bought suspenders for it.

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@endlessclimb YOU are my spirit animal!!! Job well done. I’m really enjoying watching all your progress.

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I have installed exactly one stair tread in 2 days. :rofl::rofl:

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Better than no stair treads! Gotta start before you can finish!

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It’s all the prep work, making the box, guess-and-check cutting the stringers (custom angle and I’m not smart enough to math it). Finally! A tread! I’ll get a middle and a top one on to set the width and then set the rest of them.

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Stairs are done minus the highest step, which needs some creativity. Suckers are steep, but better than a ladder for sure.

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That looks fantastic! I can’t wait to see what you turn the barn into, with all the thoughtful finishing touches.

Super cool to watch this take shape.

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What floor joist spacing did you choose? I can’t tell from the pictures.

Whatever - it looks like more than adequate support for your needs. Some friends had their barn built with loft floor joist spacing at 24 inches, which saved a bit on lumber. But when they eventually decided to store hay in the loft the floor sagged and they had to add additional joists. I read that you don’t plan hay storage there, but it looks like you could handle the weight.

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