The Barn

(click image for pictures)

The along waited ground breaking for the barn started on February 5, 2006.  It was too wet to accomplish a lot but the groundbreaking did occur.  The area for the barn has been marked and leveling of the area started to take place.  An area much larger than the barn was cleared around the barn.

April was the first time returning to the Barn Project.  It rained on Saturday but the following day April 9, 2006 at 4:00 pm progress began on the barn site.  A laser level was used for the rough leveling.  A tooth bucket on the skid steer was used to perform the leveling.  The workday ended at 6:30 pm.  In that time a 14 foot wide area was level to within 6 inches.  In some places as much as 3 feet of dirt had to be removed to make the area level.  The barn required a space of at least 60' x 100' to be level to within 2 inches of being level.  That means that no matter where you are in that area, you should be no more than 1 inch higher (or lower) any other spot.  That means a leveling of plus or minus 1 inch.

The materials for the barn were delivered on Wednesday, May 17, 2006.  An all-terrain fork lift was used to unload the materials from the truck. 

On Thursday, June 8, 2006, the holes were dug for the footings.  They were three foot six inches deep.  On Friday, June 16, 2006, pre-cast footers were placed into the holes.  The poles were placed into the holes and 160 pounds of cement mix was placed into the hole.  The cement mix was packed dry and dirt was used to fill the remaining area above the cement mix to ground level.  Saturday, June 18, 2006, the truss were put in place.  Sunday, June 19, 2006 the framing continued and the first sections of metal panels for the east wall was put in place.   Monday, June 20, 2006, progress was slowed because of the wind (it was hard to handle 21 foot sheets of metal when there is a breeze), however half of the roof was completed.  Tuesday, June 20, 2006, the roof was completed and one of the gable ends were completed.  The 40' x 60' shell for the barn was completed on Wednesday, June 21, 2006, just five days after the first post was set.

The layout called for three stalls on the right side of the barn and three stalls on the left side.  The stalls were started in August of 2006.  The stalls are 12' x 12' box stalls.  Each board for the walls of the stall are 2" by 12".  There are wall stiffeners attached every 4'.  The purpose of the wall stiffener is to add greater strength to each board.  The wall stiffener is a metal beam that attaches to each board.  When a horse rest against one board, the pressure is distributed across all of the boards on that wall.  This removes any one pressure point to a board.  Each stall is separated with a 2" thick wall which is 8' high.  Each wall between stalls has a grill that will allow each horse to see another horse in the next stall and at the same time keep the horses separate.  The front of the stall has a grill which allows light into the stall.  This allows a visitor to see into the stall without entering the stall or allowing the horse to exit the stall.  There is a metal door for feeding the horse without entering the stall.  The door swings open and the feeder is attached to the door.  A thermal waterer is attached to the front stall wall next to the door.  The door of the stall is a sliding door with a grill in the top half of the stall.  The door opening is 4' which allows cleaning equipment to access the stall.  The door latching system is a spring loaded sliding lock.  This type of latch allows for the opening of the stall with one hand but keeps it close so that a horse can not "learn" how to open the door.  The floor has a gravel base.  On that gravel is sand.  Rubber mats are placed on the leveled sand.  Bedding is placed on the mats as needed. 

The concrete was poured on Tuesday, May 1, 2007.  This area of the barn is for the tack room, tack area, feed room, office/lounge and utility room.  The tack room contain all of the horse gear.  Those items range from saddles to blankets to bits or anything having to do with the riding of the horse.  The tack area is the area a horse is placed to get it ready for riding, shoeing or grooming.  The feed room stores all of the feed, feed additives and medicines.  The office/lounge is the hang out area of the barn.  That is the area that everyone goes when the weather is not at its best (it beats being in the house).  The utility room is where the batteries, power connections and other utilities are brought into the building.

The barn is totally off the electrical grid.  All electrical power for the barn is provided by solar energy.  The electrical wiring of the barn is the same as every building and meets the standards of the National Electric Code as well as local code.  The major difference is the source of the electricity.  The main circuit breaker is not attached to a meter from the local power company.  It is attached to an inverter.  The inverter converts DC power to AC power.  The inverter is connected to two banks of batteries.  The batteries supply the required DC power to the inverter.  The batteries are connected to a controller.  The controller ensures the batteries are charged and not over charged.  The secondary function of the controller is to prevent current from flowing from the batteries to the solar panels.  The controller is also connected to the solar panels.  The solar panels provide charge the batteries and provide power to the barn during daylight hours.

The barn was completed on July 27, 2008, over two years after the holes were dug for the footings.  The only unexpected addition to the barn was the change in the way the sliding doors fasten.  A door stop was added in the center of the floor where the doors meet to prevent the doors from swaying when the wind blows and so they will interlock.