A gravel driveway winds about 1000 feet from the road to the barn

Now that we have finally moved and settled in Tennessee, I’m writing a few catch up posts.  We started building the barn (our contractor prefers that we call it a garage) in April, 2011.  In all fairness, it is more than a barn.  It does currently house a tractor, but it is also being used to store a boat and many of our household goods that didn’t fit in our new (smaller) house.  We also plan on having an office area, complete with bathroom and kitchen at one end.

Steve and Daisy check out where the concrete is going to get poured

As soon as we started building the barn we discovered that it rains here a lot in the spring.  The excavation and road were put in right away, but it seemed to take for ever before we were able to have the concrete poured.  The floor in the barn is 6″ concrete reinforced with rebar.

Barn Construction is Underway

We (along with our contractor) also discovered that it is quite windy at the top of the hill where we built the barn.  The farming came down a couple times during some strong storms.  But we finally got all together in August complete with extra strapping for those windy days.  The barn was finally dried in (a little work to do there too).  I wouldn’t call it done, but rather done for now.

Barn Specifications:

Putting Trailer in Barn

• Foot print:  40 x 80 ft. (3200 sq. ft)
• Height: 14 ft. high walls
• Floor:  6″ concrete with rebar
• Bay doors:  3 – 12 x 12 ft.
• People Doors: 2
• Windows:  4

Having the barn dried-in helped us in our monthly visits to the Farm.  Every trip down we either brought a trailer filled with household goods or a trailer with tractor/tractor implements.  It was nice to be able to park the trailer in the barn for the night both for shelter and security.  Then we could take our time to unload it.  It also allowed us to bring things down to store in the barn since the house we moved to is less than half the size of the one we moved from.

When it is windy and rainy, the wind apparently blows the water up the roof and it comes in from the center of the barn.  We’ll be getting that sealed very soon.

Barn is Dried-In

We have a long list of things to do for the barn that we will do as we have time/money:

• The front facing side (the one with the plywood) is going to have rock put on the bottom half and a vinyl cedar shack on the top.
• We plan to put a few clear panels in the roof as sky lights
• Need to put in soffets
• The front part of the barn (end with all the windows) will become an office area with wood floors and walls that are half rock (like the outside) and half tongue and grove pine.
• Bathroom
• Kitchenette
• Loft along the back side of the barn (opposite the bay doors) for storage (8 ft. high)
• Many built in shelves along the barn walls
• Covered area on side of barn for storage of tractor implements (so we can get them out of the barn)

Some of the metal sheets are dirty.  The Tennessee red clay gets on everything.  I’d really like to wash the barn, but we don’t have water yet so that will have to wait.  Hoping to have electric, a well, and septic at the farm by the end of spring.

Steve, Dave, and Vicki Standing by the Barn in Need of a Good Wash

We had some friends, Dave and Vicki down for a working vacation.  They helped us do some of the barn after construction clean up.  They also helped us clear some brush.  They liked it so much they are planning another working vacation to help us some more.  I think we may be talking them into moving down here with us.  I guess we’re not the only one’s who think this kind of work is fun.

For more photos of the barn, visit the photo album, Buildings:  The Barn

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