Construction

The barn, we are getting so close. Thursday night 5 single axle dump truck loads of fill dirt showed up.

Saturday morning they were still sitting there un-touched. While mowing Saturday I had left a call to the Anders, some neighbors down the road to see if I could borrow or rent one of their tractors. I needed to back fill the trench where they ran the electric out to the barn. It didn’t seem as though the electricians were going to do that. Being as this was a holiday weekend I wasn’t holding my hopes too high.

Sunday morning Mr. Baker came to cut the hay, who is also coincidently the person who’s supposed to spread all this dirt. So we flagged him down.

We chatted for a while and I offered to get started, the least I could do was start moving the dirt and spreading it around for him. He agreed and so it began.

BobCat’s are cool. If you recall we used his bobcat to punch the fence post holes. I used the bobcat to back fill the trench, work on the end of the driveway, and fill in a sink hole that just appeared in the yard.

Grading ground with a bobcat is an art, much like doing drywall is an art. It looks easier than it is. There is a lot of technique to it, and working with wet muddy dirt is no fun. But I managed. I got the 5 truck loads of dirt spread over the last two days. We still need the sand for the stalls and maybe 2 more loads of dirt. But no more critters can get in the barn.

It’s going to take time to settle, and there’s plenty of raking to be done. So if you feel bored, or need some exercise, grab a rake and head on out.

Photos are in the Gallery here.

No our barn isn’t crooked, the wide angle lens makes it look like that.

Are posted in the Gallery here.

Outside of filling this sucker up and grading the ground around it, we’re done with the shell.

[Sorry photos removed, Gallery Installation ran amuk and all the links went fubar, the link to the Barn gallery is good above]
The Sky lights really let a lot of light in
The electric trenched up the driveway, and across the yard.

Our new “Dual” service, single meter. 300 hundred amps of goodness to the house, all updated. The meter is now outside so we no longer have to be awoken, or bothered by the meter reader. (woohoo).

(For larger images click the link up top and view the images in the Gallery)

Well, technically, it’s done. The barn that is. The shell of the barn is done, we have all the parts and trim we’re supposed to have. All of the doors open, close and lock. We even have electric. But it has yet to be filled in and leveled off.

(Pictures soon)

We also almost finished the fencing this weekend. We have about an 8 foot section left. Even the gates are up. Woohoo.

So once the barn gets filled and the groundwork is done, the stall and loft building can commence. As soon as that is done we’ll finally be ready. We’re only a month behind or so it feels like it. Yeah, it feels like it because we are

Hopefully in two weeks or so we’ll have Cisco Home.

The weather isn’t cooperating, not in the least.  I figure if I can golf in the rain, I can stretch fence in the rain, and that’s what we did at least part of the weekend.

Our barn is still stuck at a stand-still.  We’re still missing parts, trim and what-not.  It’s supposed to be here today (Monday).

On Saturday we did get the electric service in the house upgraded and switched out which is the first step to getting service to the barn.  The trenching to the barn should happen tonight.  If it’s not raining that is.

We did learn two things; one, stretching fence in the cold rain is miserable and two, you can stretch the hell out fence with the Excursion.

During brief periods we did some work in the attic putting up the infamous 1x8x8 tongue and groove boards.  The first 8 when up pretty good, but crooked.  So a trip to the depot to buy a laser level took care of that.  They came off about as easy as they went up which was a huge bonus.  It helps to have the right ‘Reverse’ tools as Charlie calls them.

In the end we got through the first roll of 200ft of fence with another roll ready to go, we’re going to need at least one more if not two. 

Did I mention stretching fence isn’t any fun? Because as much as you might think it is, it’s not.

So we’re about 2 nope, I think we’re 3 weeks behind. We’re still missing stuff.

We now have a door that doesn’t fit, but that’s OK. It’s just like building a house.

The weather hasn’t cooperated, and neither has the supplier. But we are making progress and that’s all that counts. It could be worse. We could be building a Fischer Home. Must suck to be one of those folks.

But with some luck we’ll get the barn filled, the loft and stalls built and the fence up and the horse home in the next 2-3 weeks. Sounds impossible eh?

Wanna help?

The Barn, which should be complete by now, isn’t.

It’s been a comedy of errors with material delivery.  Only we’re not laughing.  We’re still missing the corner trim, and enough siding to complete about half of the east side wall.  The 8 foot door on the east side wall isn’t right, either.  

Some how, some way, they thought we were putting in an 10 foot door or something, but that still doesn’t make up for the lack of siding material.

I hope there is enough adjustment in the door hangers to make it right or they’ll be building a new door.

Other than that things look good.  We’re only two weeks behind at the moment.

On the attic front, Home Depot delivered our wood yesterday, which coincidentally was the day I was going to take the receipt to them and well, get a little ‘Jiggly’ with them.

So all in all we’re still moving forward.  This weekend we should make some progress, they are supposed to fill the barn today and start the ground work, though the weather doesn’t look conducive if you ask me.

We still need to finish the fencing, there’s bracing to be put up, fencing to be stretched and nailed and gates to be hung.

Giddy-up.