Da Digs

VERY nice barn-like structure, Bill. It looks like it will fit the dinosaur Fleetwood too. I assume you plumbed and electrified the stalls for RV sewer connection and RV/shore power?

BTW, we're still interested in hearing about your motorhome adventure and is that MH still on the property?

I also suspect certain "horse owners" on here are looking at that building with more than a little envy! Don't blame them a bit. Truly multipurpose and, with the upstairs apartment completed, possibly an income producer as well.

Don
 
Thanksgiving week up in PA was pretty dang cool...we had a dandy time with the C-Lou's (two fried turkeys...yum), and got a real good feeling for how the digs were going to turn out. Having never done anything like this before, I was quite nervous as to how the reality of the construction would compare to the ideas we tried to communicate to the designer and engineer. Turns out...it's so much better than we anticipated.

One of the biggest surprises was a combination of a couple simple ideas, one from the designer, one from the engineer.

Our designer (Dana's brother-in-law) suggested the addition of a small, 18" stem wall upstairs. Normally, with a gambrel roof, the "loft" area upstairs loses a significant amount of usable space at the edges where the sloping roof meets the floor. By having the roof transition at the 18" stem wall, the change was dramatic. Areas that would normally be cramped and/or unusable under a gambrel roof, are almost completely available. It also makes cleaning much easier, as there's no zero-clearance area where the roof meets the floor.

Complimenting the 18" stem wall was a change suggested by the engineer. The original plans used hand-built trusses for the roof, which spanned the entire width. It was necessary to hand build them, given the width; 32' wide manufactured trusses were not available.

The engineer's idea - use narrower pre-fabbed trusses, and use the interior walls necessary for the upstairs dormer windows to carry the load. And since the trusses could now be place on top of the interior walls, we gained a ton more headroom at the edges without changing the exterior profile. Also, since the trusses are quite a bit narrower, they have a significantly shorter profile than if they were 32' wide. This give a much taller ceiling height upstairs, which is going to be quite dramatic.

Here's a pic of the lovely Dana modeling under a corner section that would normally be very difficult to get any functional space out of. You can see the higher wall/beam above her, and the 18" stem wall behind. As it turned out, this area that we thought would be mostly unusable will make a great closet, with all but the back 1' or so very accessible.

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RE the "hand mask" above - those of you who have met my wonderful wife know she's far from shy. She's just pissed that I asked her to model before she had a chance to put makeup on for the day, and knows me well enough to expect that her image would get plastered somewhere on the Internet... :mrgreen:
 
Sneaks":325a8blg said:
VERY nice barn-like structure, Bill. It looks like it will fit the dinosaur Fleetwood too. I assume you plumbed and electrified the stalls for RV sewer connection and RV/shore power?
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Heh...that P.O.S. motorhome will never tarnish the interior of the barn. First thing on the agenda for spring is to off that thing to the first willing buyer...

Anyone interested? It's got a few leaks and needs a new engine, but other than that, it's a rather fine piece of crap.

We did have the plumber install a sewer connection at the back edge of the barn - outside. The interior is not large enough to hold a motorhome and the boat.

Sneaks":325a8blg said:
BTW, we're still interested in hearing about your motorhome adventure and is that MH still on the property?
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Ugh. Yup, it's there, and is serving it's purpose until the barn is done.

RE the "adventure" - here's the short version.

My folks gave us a 1990 35' Fleetwood motorhome. Dana's dad has a saying that is one of my favorites, and boy...did it hold true with this gift.

"The most expensive things in life are free."

We flew out to MN this summer to take posession of our gift, and drive it back to WA to use as a temporary shelter. Knowing that the rig had been sitting unused for years, we expected a few things would need addressing before departing - tires, tune-up, drain/refill the gas, etc. We expected it to be around $1K.

After being delayed in MN for 5 days due to all the problems found, and spending $7.5K to fix them, we were finally ready hit the road and head west.

The morning of our departure, we had breakfast with my parents, and upon leaving the restaraunt ran into the priest from my mom's church. My mom half-jokingly asked him to bless us for the 1800 mile trip we were about to undertake, which he was glad to do. After receiving the blessing for our safety, I asked him if he could toss a little something towards the RV as well...he's a dang funny priest, enjoyed the joke, and was glad to toss another bit o' heavenly help towards the rig.

Now...I've not been a regular church attendee since my youth, but let's just say that might change. Somebody was watching over us...knowing what I know now about the RV, there's no way we should have made the journey. From the moment we started driving, to the first fuel stop where we discovered the thing burns about 2 quarts of oil per 500 miles, I had a pretty consistent vision and song running through my head...

"Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed..."

:mrgreen:
 
Well Jed.........aka Bill
For 7500. I think you could have had it towed to PA. :lol:
I'm glad you made it safe.
The barn/apartment/storage/C-Dory hide-out, is looking good. :thup
 
Pic from this morning, thanks to my pal Jon...I really dig how those dormers turned out.

Hoping to have a roof on next week.

dormers_on.jpg
 
Yup...it's just screaming for some classic barn red, eh? That's been my preferred color from the start - Dana's OK with it, but we're still looking at other colors.

There's some interesting info out there on red barns, and how the color came to be so popular. From what I've read, we've got the Swedes to thank for it - the pigments for the color come from by-products of copper mining, specifically the Falun copper mine in Sweden. As such, the color is widely referred to as "Falu Red". Never been to Sweden, but I understand it's still very widely used there.

Aside from the cool color, the chemical makeup of the pigment, combined with the other paint ingredients (linseed oil, wheat or rye flour, green vitriol) makes for a very protective finish.

There's some neat info on the Falun mine at this link...according to the document, mining ceased in 1992, after being actively mined at various times over the last 1000 years - since the end of the Viking era! With that kind of history, authentic Falu Red paint should be around for a long time to come.

From the article:

"The red paint plant gets its rawmaterial from the waste heaps around the mine. Copper-poor ores, containing iron ochre and silicic acid, are allowed to weather (oxidize) in the open air, forming "red dirt". The red dirt is slurried, dried and calcined, after which the red pigment is ground to a fine powder. The powder is then packaged and sold to paint manufacturers, who produce the actual paint."
 
Man, the barn looks great and the dormers do give it a special touch. This strikes me as being several cuts above the average working barn.
Hmmm, guess that figures.

Great project, in a great spot, for and by neat folks. Doesn't get any better than that!
 
Anna Leigh":2gp3ihrf said:
I want to know how close you are to a dock that will moor 10 C-Dorys. So when we come for the barn christening we won't have to hike too far.
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No dock nearby, but if you want to anchor in Freshwater Bay and take a dinghy to shore, I'm sure I could be convinced to meet you at the water's edge to help carry the keg up the hill... :beer :beer :beer
 
Hey Bill,

Is this barn going to be wired for a Java Juicer? If Dave hauls a keg of beer up the hill it may be needed the next morning. Oh, by the way, where is your tree for "Topping Out"? If this barn has thousand year old paint it could also use some other traditional touches.
 
It's a deal - we'll bring the keg, Roger will bring the corn and potatoes and we just have to see if we can get Byrdman to bring the 'Q for the barn christening!


Da Nag":ixcwika9 said:
No dock nearby, but if you want to anchor in Freshwater Bay and take a dinghy to shore, I'm sure I could be convinced to meet you at the water's edge to help carry the keg up the hill... :beer :beer :beer
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Robbi":3ishd2zb said:
I'm thinking a C-Dory weather vane would be a nice touch. :wink:
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Way ahead of you there, Robbi...cuploa hole has been cut in the roof, and we've been eyeballing various weathervanes online for the last month.

The weathervane decision is down to three: C-Dory, tractor or Weimaraner.

The main problem with a C-Dory weathervane is cost...I can't believe the prices I'm seeing on custom-made weathervanes. Of the manufacturers/designers I've seen, going with a custom design increases the price 3-5 times over their stock designs.

A tractor or Weimaraner could be represented with something fairly generic, but I ain't stickin' any old boat up there... :mrgreen:
 
Da Nag":2b0m7oho said:
The main problem with a C-Dory weathervane is cost...I can't believe the prices I'm seeing on custom-made weathervanes. Of the manufacturers/designers I've seen, going with a custom design increases the price 3-5 times over their stock designs, but I ain't stickin' any old boat up there... :mrgreen:
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Bill and Dana, just remember that when you spend the money for a C-Dory it is the fine QUALITY that you are purchasing! :wink
 
That's cool Bill. Now if you could just draw in a couple Weimaraners and tractor in front, and a little-bitty C-Dory weather vane on top, you'd be all set! I love the look of the "peaked" gables and roof line - we're you going for the look of a C-Dory bow, or is that just a nice coindidence? What a great spot. Very excited for you and hope to see it in person some day!
 
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