Benches and signs

Sandy has been busy making these really cool signs for the wedding out of old barn wood.





I have been busy making benches for the ceremony. I made 14 benches of various sizes from the leftover siding from the outside of the barn. I had enough wood to make 6- 8 footers, 6-7 footers and 2-5 footers. The design came from one of the shop teachers at Sandy's school. I tweaked it a little to meet my needs. They are light weight but strong.


Here is one of the 8 footers by itself.

The grain bin cooler

We were able to get the original grain bin from the Reading barn. I turned it into a cooler for soda and beer for the wedding.





Sandy and Jennifer found these old Pepsi and Coke bottle openers that go really well with the cooler. One on each side,





Here is another view of the coolers in place.




This is a view of everything closed up.

Railing and new stairway

This is the new stairway from inside my workshop area. I used all full size 2 by 12 lumber from a local sawmill.



This is a shot from up on the new loft showing the new railing made from animal feeders. The long one is the one I had to make to match the end piece that we got from the original barn.




This is the same railing from a different angle.





These are the smaller railings we got from the old barn. I power washed them and installed them to the right and left of the stairway.

Railings for the loft

We went back to the original barn we were going to purchase and got the old feeding rails out to make into railings for the loft. This is the left side and below is the right side. They were a little challenging because I had to fit them into the space between the front post and the 10 foot post. In the front there is a wind brace and I had to cut a spindle down to fit into that.

This is the new stairway from the side with the new upper railing made from cattle feeders. Unfortunately I only had the end piece from the original barn and I had to make the long run you see above the steps. I used old oak from the barn so it looks original.




My friends Don and Barb McBride and their daughter Julie and her daughter Morgan stopped over to inspect the barn. They gave it two thumbs up so I guess it passed.

Wiring the lights

We had 4 of the large lights that I got from a local club. We used 3 of them in the three bents without the loft. We took the other one apart and used the lights individually. Two upstairs and two downstairs.





Here I am installing one of the individual lights.







This is the view of the lights from the new loft.





More wiring. I also put receptacles up on the loft area.

Building the loft

We wanted a loft at the end that will eventually be my workshop.









This added another 350 square feet of usable space. It feels really cozy up on the loft.






The floor is made from the original flooring from the barn. It is called threshing floor. It is all 2 inches thick and the width varies from 6 inches to 24 inches. We power washed it all first and then we turned it upside down when we installed it. Each board runs the width of the loft and there was enough wood so that we did not have to seam it at all. It came out very strong.

Here I am putting the last few boards down.

Special Inspection Team

Special inspectors showed up to go over the barn. The Kohler clan came over to check out the progress. They have been faithful followers of the blog so I am glad I could include them in it.




Who is that behind those Foster Grants?