# Barn build journal!



## q horse (Mar 7, 2009)

How exciting! I look forward to the updates.


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

Subbing ! I want to see this! So exciting


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## mkmurphy81 (May 8, 2015)

Exciting! We should break ground on our barn soon, too. Unfortunately, it will be used for storage for a while before we get horses in it. Your tractor looks just like ours, and I'm pretty sure ours is older than I am.


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

Yay for all the barn builders. Ours is getting started too! Our posts are being concreted on Wednesday. Will look forward to watching your progress.


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Subbing!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

subbing


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

This will be neat to watch, congratulations


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

subbing


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

Congratulations on your beginning! Every journey begins with a single step.
We have two Ford tractors, one a 3000 and the other a 5000. Both are quite old, the 5000 is almost 40 yrs old and is still a working farm tractor. It will be the one used to plant the soy beans. We also have a big John Deere but the old tractors still earn their keep around here as sometimes we have all of them in use during harvest.
Very excited for you.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Woodhaven said:


> Congratulations on your beginning! Every journey begins with a single step.
> We have two Ford tractors, one a 3000 and the other a 5000. Both are quite old, the 5000 is almost 40 yrs old and is still a working farm tractor. It will be the one used to plant the soy beans. We also have a big John Deere but the old tractors still earn their keep around here as sometimes we have all of them in use during harvest.
> Very excited for you.


Yes, the old tractor is pretty tough. And while most of our neighbors have shiny new ones, our old beast is just fine for what we need. We don't actually do any farming (we both have office jobs, but love taking off our suits and getting dirty) so it will just be for pasture maintenance and moving manure around. We bought a scoop attachment - again, it's ancient, but solid steel and the mechanics are so simple that nothing can really break down on it. And my husband already had all the attachments for tilling, seeding, etc. He even has a box blade for leveling. For smaller jobs, we have two ATVs and a little trailer that will be handy for moving a few bales of hay or even manure. I never thought my husband's obsession for farm machinery would pay off, but now he's got an excuse to use it! 

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the excavator!!! 

The contractor thinks the barn will be move-in ready by June... we'll see.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Oh my! This is more exciting than horse shopping:loveshower:

We have a cousin to your Ford tractorinkunicorn:

We have 1969 Ford 3000. We bought it an an estate auction, in 2003, and we are only the second owners.

I love "Old Bess"  She does all the pasture bush hogging and once had to pull my 4WD John Deere out of knee deep muck when DH got it stuck. He should have known better because the belly mower was on and my poor little compact tractor couldn't help herself, with the mower deck packed full of mud.

My brother still has the 1947 2N Ford dad bought in 1951. Dad was second owner on that.

You can't beat these old girls for putting in hard work ----- unless we hit the more-money-than-brains lottery and can spend 100+K on something with an A/C cab and batwings

*Ask your contractor,* if an overhead exhaust fan (like in cattle barns) is feasible. It would provide good air flow in the summer. I already said not putting one in my barn was my one HUGE regret but I'm saying it again, lol

We are all looking forward to progress pictures!!!!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk - those are some pretty awesome tractor stories! 

Will ask my contractor about an exhaust fan. Not sure what it is exactly, but I'll do some research. 

On the down side, the excavator did not show up today. Our barn build is not starting off very well.  Oh well, it will get done when it gets done. I know better than to expect punctuality from these construction folks. Harley is happy at the neighbor's for now. I'll just arm myself with patience.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I hope they show up tomorrow. The excuse I always heard was they "---got behind on the current job" or they are "short on help this week".

Google "barn ventilation equipment". You will get a lot of hits, Farmtek is one of the bigger suppliers in the U.S.

https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1a;ft_cooling_fans.html

You want to look at exhaust fans or circulation fans that are built right into the ceiling or the peaks of the barn walls.

Where barn walls are concerned, there should rightfully be one at each end.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

If the scoop you have for your tractor is a manure bucket, you will find that the most useful tractor attachment you will have, I could write a book on 101 non manure uses for a manure bucket.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Woodhaven said:


> If the scoop you have for your tractor is a manure bucket, you will find that the most useful tractor attachment you will have, I could write a book on 101 non manure uses for a manure bucket.


Yup, manure bucket! When you write the book, I'll buy a copy


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## david44678 (Apr 20, 2016)

Glad for the link - they have stuff I need


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

Oh wow! I'm very excited for you! I can't wait to see the progress.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Day 2 of construction (not counting the days in between when nothing happened) - guess who decided to show up! They dug a trench all the way around where the frost wall will go. Not sure if they're done... but it's a start!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Day 3 - Concrete has been poured into the forms where the wall will go. I'm guessing they'll let it set for the weekend and move to the next phase on Monday. 

It looks bigger now, but I'm sure it won't feel so big once the space gets divided up.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

I have always wanted my own barn!

I'm going to live vicariously through you Acadian :grin:


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

Very exciting!!


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

Sharing our progress too...


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kay Armstrong said:


> Sharing our progress too...


Nice! Pole barn?


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> Nice! Pole barn?


Nope, doing clear span. Posts on the outside but not in the aisleway.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kay Armstrong said:


> Nope, doing clear span. Posts on the outside but not in the aisleway.


Nice! We considered a pole barn, but opted not to do it as well.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

The crew is out working away this morning! We talked about door and window placement. Contractor wants to know if I can get pre-assembled dutch doors. Have looked online and the only one I can find that delivers to Canada is System Fence and theirs are over 2000$ (no, that is not a typo). Yikes! Will do it if I have to... but am going to check what some locals can suggest. The System Fence is nice though, covered in aluminum and has a plexiglass window with bars at the top. Or I can have my contract build me some plain wood ones. But these are for exterior so I don't know how well the wood would hold up. Would have to paint/stain it to protect it from the elements. 

If anyone knows of barn door builders who deliver to Canada, let me know!!! 

Should have more photos to post by the end of the day. Not sure what they're doing today - I think still working on the foundation.


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## avjudge (Feb 1, 2011)

Can it be that difficult to find a carpenter to do a door for less than that? There are actually how-tos for the DIYer on line. And they don't have to fit precisely like a door for a conditioned space.

I had two pairs of ~4'x8' swinging doors built for my 1880ish carriage house in the city - way more appropriate than the cheap(-looking) badly-fitted overhead garage doors that "flipper guy" had put on. I don't remember what it cost - actually, I'm not sure I could break out the cost, since they had to reframe the openings a bit because the building had changed shape (I stabilized it), and did some other work, too.

Anne


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

avjudge said:


> Can it be that difficult to find a carpenter to do a door for less than that? There are actually how-tos for the DIYer on line. And they don't have to fit precisely like a door for a conditioned space.
> 
> I had two pairs of ~4'x8' swinging doors built for my 1880ish carriage house in the city - way more appropriate than the cheap(-looking) badly-fitted overhead garage doors that "flipper guy" had put on. I don't remember what it cost - actually, I'm not sure I could break out the cost, since they had to reframe the openings a bit because the building had changed shape (I stabilized it), and did some other work, too.
> 
> Anne


Oh yes, he can build me doors, no problem. When I showed him the one I'd found online and he saw the price he just about jumped out of his boots. The only thing I wonder about is how wood will hold up to the elements. Thinking we may take some pieces of leftover aluminum from the siding of the barn, cover up the door with it, and place a box and the X on top of the siding. That should give us some additional protection. I think he's decided to build me some barn doors too (double swinging doors) so he can match everything. It should look nice!


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Re doors: 

When we had both the old barn and the new barn built, we got the contractors to do a frame with headers, etc. in the wall. Then when they left we did the doors ourselves. It's not that bad of a job to make a door(s) if you can start with a well designed frame so you can build true. Doing it this way we got what we wanted by way of style and colour not to mention saving quite a few dollars.

The last set of doors we built (well it was mostly my husband who did the work), we stained and put on a protective coat of urethane (I think that's what it was called) on the externally exposed wood only. They are holding up very well against the elements which can be quite punishing where we are; I can see that they will eventually need to have another coat of protection put on in a few years but that's pretty easy to do.

One thing we purposedly did, btw, was to have swinging doors opening to the inside. We get snow here that packs and blocks the front of a door overnight so it's easier to get into the barn in a hurry. At one point, we did have a rolling door on the outside of the old barn. That lasted one winter as it was such a nuisance constantly digging out a trench by the wall so the door could be pushed open.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Chevaux said:


> Re doors:
> 
> When we had both the old barn and the new barn built, we got the contractors to do a frame with headers, etc. in the wall. Then when they left we did the doors ourselves. It's not that bad of a job to make a door(s) if you can start with a well designed frame so you can build true. Doing it this way we got what we wanted by way of style and colour not to mention saving quite a few dollars.
> 
> ...


Hi Chevaux!

Wow, a lot of useful information in this reply - thanks! We won't be building our own, but our contractor can do it for us. It's good to know that a stain + urethane will hold up ok. 

And thank you for the advice on the doors swinging in! I would never have thought of that. Our dutch doors will swing out into the paddock because I don't want them swinging into the stall, but I will make sure our double barn doors (they will be placed at the end of the barn) swing into the barn! I can totally see how swinging out would be an issue. Also, we are building a 6-8 foot overhang over the dutch doors so hopefully that will catch most of the snow. It should also help protect the front of those doors. 

How does everyone feel about windows? I want them to open... the contractor was going to put in the ones with the crank. Thoughts? I will either go with plexiglass or a window with bars.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

My windows slide, side-to-side. 

They are plexiglass, and I have chicken wire over them with a hole cut out for my hand so I can open and close them


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

Along with what Walkin described. I've seen windows that slide or lift open and have stall bars over them that are on a hinge (like a feed door.) Similar to these:

Classic Hinged Window Grill - Barn Pros


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

Doing half a dutch door in the stalls for windows, but also doing windows in the double doors at the ends of the barn...to allow as much light in as possible. Will have grids in the windows so the horses don't think it's just an open space. Excited to see them installed. Posts are ready for walls and roof on Wednesday.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Frost wall has gone up!


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

exciting


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

looking great.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Yay! A foundation for Harley's house:happydance::happydance:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> Yay! A foundation for Harley's house:happydance::happydance:


Hahaha... I like that. Maybe we'll put a sign out front that says Harley's House!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Pics aren't showing again today (why did HF have to change its look???) so that will have to wait. But while the frost wall cures, they are filling in the base inside and around the wall. The pipe has been laid for water and the electrician is coming today to figure out the layout and decide how they're going to run power from the house to the barn. Right now, load after load of sand is being dumped, spread out and compacted. I was worried about how high up the building seems to sit, but with a gradual slope, it looks fine. And of course it's up that high so no water comes in. 

On the flooring front, my contractor gave me some bad news. He feels leaving the stalls open (ie, no concrete in stalls, just aggregate) won't work with the dutch doors. There would be a really big lip for the horses to step out and he worries that this is going to cause structural problems. So I gave the ok to do a full concrete slab. Not ideal, but easier to clean. Given that I hope to let the horses out pretty well 24/7, they shouldn't spend too much time in their stalls. I already have all the rubber mats I need to cover up the concrete. Bedding will be wood pellets - I've heard great things about them and you can pile them in there pretty thick and just take out the soiled stuff. And if I decide the horses are still spending too much time standing on concrete, I can put a wooden sub-floor in each stall. I would cover the stall in hemlock boards and cover those with the rubber mats. A fairly easy job to do ourselves. Heck, as long as I can get hubby to make the cuts (I don't trust myself with power saws), I can install them pretty easily. 

It's all about compromises I guess. And I really want my dutch doors leading into the paddock so I'm not prepared to give those up. 

Today I have to go pick out the colour of the siding! Our house is all red brick with white trim so I'm thinking classic red barn with white trim and doors. The contractor asked if I wanted colour on the roof. I think I'll just go with silver. I think colour on the roof would be too much. We're also going to re-do the roof on our baby barn while we're at it so whatever colour I pick will go on both. Anyone do a black roof? It would be nice in the winter, but maybe less so in the summer. Does white have any advantages? Might keep things cooler in the summer, but honestly, up here in the great white north, cold winters are a bigger concern than hot summers.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

To reiterate my post in your horse shopping thread, my "like" button is no longer working

1. We had the electric put underground, from the house to the barn. Something to consider

2. <sign> all concrete makes sense, structurally ---- I guess -- lol

3. I love a classic red barn. As far as the roof, where I live a light color on the barn is the norm so as to reflect heat. I think it looks "happier" anyway

4. What are you doing for lightening rods and grounding if the barn were to be struck by lightening?

5. I haven't tried to upload any pics this week. I guess I'll go over to the Krones & Kodgers (my home thread because I'm at the tail end of 60, to see if I can upload anything.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> To reiterate my post in your horse shopping thread, my "like" button is no longer working
> 
> 1. We had the electric put underground, from the house to the barn. Something to consider
> 
> ...


1. Yes, I should have said, electricity will be run underground. Much easier and not that far to go. They are getting a small bucket for the excavator for that purpose since they need it anyway to run the pipes 5 feet underground (so they don't freeze - but just in case, they are using a flexible pipe that won't break if the water does happen to freeze). 

Thanks for your suggestion on the light roof. At this point, thinking silver grey (so no colour) is a good neutral colour. And cheaper than colour. 

# 4 - thanks for raising that! Will bring it up with my contractor. I have no idea what he was thinking, but I assume he considered this. He's the take-charge contractor type, for better of worse. Not a lot of options around here so we're kind of stuck with him, but truly, I find his work is excellent so far.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

I've got dutch doors all over & none are butted to concrete & none have shifted anything. There is a header/board at the door opening & the step up is a few inches. If you would have a big step why would concrete vs no concrete make a difference? Grading would solve that. Is your contractor a horse person?
A few boards are way cheaper than concrete & if you have a concrete foundation shouldn't that be enough?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

natisha said:


> I've got dutch doors all over & none are butted to concrete & none have shifted anything. There is a header/board at the door opening & the step up is a few inches. If you would have a big step why would concrete vs no concrete make a difference? Grading would solve that. Is your contractor a horse person?
> A few boards are way cheaper than concrete & if you have a concrete foundation shouldn't that be enough?


I'm sure it's doable to have open stall floors with dutch doors leading outside, but he wasn't comfortable doing that for structural reasons. I'm not an engineer or a contractor so I'm not in a position to argue with him. And to answer your question, no, the contractor is not a horse person. He's built agricultural buildings, but no horse barns. None around here have, and all the other contractors I found were mainly house builders. He was the best one of the bunch since at least he has experience with agricultural buildings. Seems all the horse people around here either convert old cattle barns or just build sheds. Unfortunately, we're stuck with what's available locally. I suppose we could have brought someone in from outside, but that would be a lot more expensive and the advantage of using someone local is that all the materials are being sourced locally. He knows where to get everything. 

Lots of people do use concrete as flooring in stalls, but like I said, I could easily add a wooden sub-floor and it's not cost-prohibitive. Keeps everybody happy and doesn't cost much or require much labour. Plus, this way, there is a full concrete slab throughout the building, making it more appealing to someone who might want to use it for storing an RV or boat, should we ever sell the property to non-horsey people.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> Hi Chevaux!
> 
> Wow, a lot of useful information in this reply - thanks! We won't be building our own, but our contractor can do it for us. It's good to know that a stain + urethane will hold up ok.
> 
> ...


The thing with crank windows are the cranks themselves. You don't want anything sticking inside of a stall, no matter how small. Will they work with bars? Can the windows have screens too?


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

walkinthewalk said:


> 4. What are you doing for lightening rods and grounding if the barn were to be struck by lightening?


That's a good point. However, I believe that should be covered by the grounding rod that will (should) be installed with the electric service.

NEC (National Electric Code) only allows a single branch circuit to be run to a detached structure (and that should have a local disconnect switch). More than one circuit requires a subpanel with local disconnect. A sub panel must be properly bonded and tied to a grounding rod buried 8 feet in the ground. Even if there is only one branch circuit running to the barn, you still need a grounding rod. If you are unsure what any of this means, you need a qualified electrician.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Tazmanian Devil said:


> That's a good point. However, I believe that should be covered by the grounding rod that will (should) be installed with the electric service.
> 
> NEC (National Electric Code) only allows a single branch circuit to be run to a detached structure (and that should have a local disconnect switch). More than one circuit requires a subpanel with local disconnect. A sub panel must be properly bonded and tied to a grounding rod buried 8 feet in the ground. Even if there is only one branch circuit running to the barn, you still need a grounding rod. If you are unsure what any of this means, you need a qualified electrician.


Will raise it with the electrician. Thanks!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

natisha said:


> The thing with crank windows are the cranks themselves. You don't want anything sticking inside of a stall, no matter how small. Will they work with bars? Can the windows have screens too?


Good point. Thanks for pointing this out. Windows can have screens, but rather pointless if I'm going to keep dutch doors open 95% of the time. 

Will have to figure out a mechanism that will work. One option is to have plexiglass, which removes the need for bars. I know someone who did that up the road and it works fine. Of course, maybe I don't need windows that open at all given that I will have dutch doors.


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

Acadianartist said:


> Good point. Thanks for pointing this out. Windows can have screens, but rather pointless if I'm going to keep dutch doors open 95% of the time.
> 
> Will have to figure out a mechanism that will work. One option is to have plexiglass, which removes the need for bars. I know someone who did that up the road and it works fine. Of course, maybe I don't need windows that open at all given that I will have dutch doors.



If windows, stay away from casements (crank). The crank in a barn is a problem waiting to happen.

Sliders or double hung is the best option. If you do use a screen in an area where there are horses, use bars. If not, the horse will eventually pop out the screen. I like bars either way to protect the window.

Glass should be either plexi or safety glass - even if you are using bars. Check out trailer windows to get a good idea of what can be done.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Acadianartist said:


> Good point. Thanks for pointing this out. Windows can have screens, but rather pointless if I'm going to keep dutch doors open 95% of the time.
> 
> Will have to figure out a mechanism that will work. One option is to have plexiglass, which removes the need for bars. I know someone who did that up the road and it works fine. Of course, maybe I don't need windows that open at all given that I will have dutch doors.


Just a Word from The Old Gal

Don't overthink those Dutch doors doing all the air flow work. The more air flowing thru the barn, the better.

You want screens on the windows because:

1. You want all that delicious air flow.

2. No screens means bugs, flies, bees fly right thru into the barn.

3. Adding slide windows with screens is going to be the absolute cheapest part of the barn building. Don't be cheap, lollol

I only have two windows plus two ten foot slide doors. I wish I had put a wi Dow in every stall but, at the time I was 3,000 miles away and had no idea where the stalls would end up being placed.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> Just a Word from The Old Gal
> 
> Don't overthink those Dutch doors doing all the air flow work. The more air flowing thru the barn, the better.
> 
> ...


I have no problem putting in screens walk, but it seems pointless if the dutch doors are wide open, letting all the flies in anyway! It's not about money, it's just that if you're going to put in screens, they should be in every doorway and entrance. I plan on leaving the doors open most of the time and am sure as hell not going to put bug screens on them! Now those would be short-lived screens. 

Windows (of some sort) are going in all four stalls for light. I do like the sliding window idea, but how do you open them if there are bars?


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> I have no problem putting in screens walk, but it seems pointless if the dutch doors are wide open, letting all the flies in anyway! It's not about money, it's just that if you're going to put in screens, they should be in every doorway and entrance. I plan on leaving the doors open most of the time and am sure as hell not going to put bug screens on them! Now those would be short-lived screens.
> 
> Windows (of some sort) are going in all four stalls for light. I do like the sliding window idea, but how do you open them if there are bars?


You reach through the bars. A bit tricky but not hard to do.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

Acadianartist said:


> I have no problem putting in screens walk, but it seems pointless if the dutch doors are wide open, letting all the flies in anyway! It's not about money, it's just that if you're going to put in screens, they should be in every doorway and entrance. I plan on leaving the doors open most of the time and am sure as hell not going to put bug screens on them! Now those would be short-lived screens.
> 
> Windows (of some sort) are going in all four stalls for light. I do like the sliding window idea, but how do you open them if there are bars?


Have the bars open inwards like a door so you can get to the sliding perspex to open/close/clean


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I have chicken wire over the one that ended up being in a horse stall. There is a hole cut in the chicken wire just big enough to get my hand thru.

The other window is over my work counter, so no chicken wire. If it didn't have a screen, I would have bugs hitting me in the face all the time; especially at night when the lights are on and they are trying to fly to the lights.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> I have chicken wire over the one that ended up being in a horse stall. There is a hole cut in the chicken wire just big enough to get my hand thru.
> 
> The other window is over my work counter, so no chicken wire. If it didn't have a screen, I would have bugs hitting me in the face all the time; especially at night when the lights are on and they are trying to fly to the lights.


Hmmm... so definitely a screen in the tack room window.


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

A little progress on our end too.

Love to hear your progress, process, everyone's comments and suggestions.

Oh man...how do you fix an upside down photo?


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> Google "barn ventilation equipment". You will get a lot of hits, Farmtek is one of the bigger suppliers in the U.S.
> 
> https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1a;ft_cooling_fans.html


My experience, doing thousands of dollars of business with Farmtek, has been excellent. Their phone people are quite knowledgeable.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

@Kay Armstrong -- Wow! Coming along nicely!


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> I have no problem putting in screens walk, but it seems pointless if the dutch doors are wide open, letting all the flies in anyway! It's not about money, it's just that if you're going to put in screens, they should be in every doorway and entrance. I plan on leaving the doors open most of the time and am sure as hell not going to put bug screens on them! Now those would be short-lived screens.
> 
> Windows (of some sort) are going in all four stalls for light. I do like the sliding window idea, but how do you open them if there are bars?


Will you be leaving doors open into individual stalls from a common paddock? If so there could be problems if both horses enter the same stall.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

natisha said:


> Will you be leaving doors open into individual stalls from a common paddock? If so there could be problems if both horses enter the same stall.


Correct. I was told there would be a training period where I would have to lead each horse individually to their stall, but that they would eventually figure it out and leave each other alone. I may also decide to feed (grain) outside too if it's easier. For the time being, there's only one horse so no issues. Will get Harley used to going into his stall (the other one will be shut anyway) and gradually introduce horse # 2. 

If we have to, we'll keep the doors shut. I'd still be glad I put in dutch doors leading into a paddock since this is what I had when I was a kid and it's easy for a child to just open the door from the outside and let the horse out for the day. Much less time and hassle than what my BO is doing leading out each horse individually through the barn, across the barnyard, through the indoor and out the paddock. I want to keep things simple and easy so my daughter can do some of the care herself.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

So LOTS going on today!!! They dug a trench 5 feet deep to run the water line (it has to be below frost level) from the house to the barn and are currently drilling a hole in our foundation to bring the pipe in. The electricians are also here drilling another hole in the side of the garage to access the electrical panel. 

Picked out the colours for the metal roof and siding yesterday. Hubby and I could not agree on roof colour. He wanted brown to match our house roof (really????). I wanted white to match the trim. So we are compromising and going with gray. The only question is whether we just leave the galvanized steel coating or have it painted with a galvanized steel colour, LOL. Seems a little absurd, but the company that manufactures it offers a 40 year warranty on its painted metal. Nothing is said about warranty on unpainted. The guy at the hardware store who showed me the colours said the unpainted galvanized steel will darken and it will probably happen unevenly. Anyone have experience with this? Should I get it painted? I could go for a nice, light gray coating. That way it would protect the metal and keep a nice, uniform colour throughout. I looked at red metal barns online with dark gray roofs and some with light gray roofs. Hubby likes the dark, I like the light, LOL.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

If you have two horses that get along fine you can have two stalls opening on to one paddock but if one is a bully it will go into either stall when it chooses and the timid one will always stay outside as it will be afraid of getting penned in one stall and the other horse coming in and beating up on it. I see this happening next door one horse is dominant and goes inside but the timid one will never go in as it is afraid of getting caught in the stall and getting hurt.

If it looks like the two don't get along and one always stays outside, it wouldn't take much to divide the paddock with a strand of electric rope so each horse has access only to his stall and paddock area.

With our two horses, they have a large pen 15 x 36 with a 12 ft door as a run in and they get along just fine in it together, but in the past it has not worked well when one horse is a bully.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I've lost track, lol

Have kick boards in the stalls been discussed? Even if the barn exterior is wood, you still need *hardwood *kick boards, four feet high, from the floor up.

We installed one inch thick rough cut lumber. I went to the sawmill, where they cut the lengths for me. A pickup load was practically free because it was wood they couldn't sell for anything else, anyway.

Kickboards serve a couple safety purposes, where a horse is concerned.

Yes, horses quickly learn which stall is theirs. When I had four horses it was a thing of beauty to watch them line up at the fence, wait for me to holler for them (they wouldn't come for DH, lol), then walk thru the paddock into the barn and go to their respective stalls without any help from me.

They always came in their pecking order, with the alpha first in his stall, getting turned around in time to pin his ears at the number four horse, just because he could, lol


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

What, all the sudden since hubby gets to put his tractor in there he thinks it's HIS barn? :rofl:

Take pics today!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> I've lost track, lol
> 
> Have kick boards in the stalls been discussed? Even if the barn exterior is wood, you still need *hardwood *kick boards, four feet high, from the floor up.
> 
> ...


Yup. I told the contractor I wanted the stalls done with 2 x 4 rough cut lumber to 6 feet. Do I only need to go four feet?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Jan1975 said:


> What, all the sudden since hubby gets to put his tractor in there he thinks it's HIS barn? :rofl:


I know right? :icon_rolleyes:

He actually also suggested a green roof. Red barn with green roof. Can you say Xmas tree? Now I know lots of people do this and I don't mean to be rude. I would just prefer not to have too many colours competing where the barn will be pretty close to the house. I feel we should stay within the colour scheme of our red brick house with white trim. The roof of the house is shingled, btw, which is why he thought we should do a brown roof on the barn. Brown shingles are ok, but I'm not putting a brown metal roof on a red barn. 

I've also been looking to buy some barn decor for the outside. I'd like to have a nice, classic jumping white horse to put on the front, just above the big roll-up door. Not likely to find anything locally so if anyone has ideas of where I can get that sort of thing, I'm all ears. I may resort to drawing a jumping horse on a piece of sheet metal and bringing it to a local welder we've used for other projects and get him to cut it out. Should be easy enough right? I'm thinking there will probably be scraps left from the roof and siding I could probably use. Then I'd paint it with white Tremclad. I want to hang a huge sign that says HARLEY'S HOUSE on the front too, but I'm pretty sure my husband will shoot down that idea.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

walkinthewalk said:


> I've lost track, lol
> 
> Have kick boards in the stalls been discussed? Even if the barn exterior is wood, you still need *hardwood *kick boards, four feet high, from the floor up.
> 
> ...


Mine all walk in the correct stalls too with the occasional mistake but I'm right there to correct it.
A stall with a 4' door will not allow a trapped horse to get out without at least scraping a hip. 
If I were the OP I would build the stalls with...door-window-window door...& leave out the divider so there is always an easy exit. Brackets could be put up for adding a divider when needed. Even the best of friends have a squabble now & then.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> Yup. I told the contractor I wanted the stalls done with 2 x 4 rough cut lumber to 6 feet. Do I only need to go four feet?


Rough cut lumber will snag tails, if nice tails are important to you.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Trying to like these post, but it's not working. Taking notes on all of this though! 

The idea of not dividing the stalls is an intriguing one. Will ponder that. I think that you can just use metal strips on both ends and slide the boards in. That way, it's easy to take apart the wall if I decide I don't need it, and in the event of having to get a horse out that's cast or worse.... 

And I think I can get rough cut lumber that's not too rough. I can always go over the whole thing with a planer on the inside if I need to, at least for certain areas (tail height). I've read that rough-cut lumber is thicker and more durable because it's not planed down. This way, I'd only plane where it needs to be smooth, leaving the inside of the board rough.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Quote:
Originally Posted by *Acadianartist* View Post 
_Yup. I told the contractor I wanted the stalls done with 2 x 4 rough cut lumber to 6 feet. Do I only need to go four feet?_



> Rough cut lumber will snag tails if nice tails are important to you.


1. If you would have bought The Big Guy, you might want 6 feet. The standard for the average sized riding horse seems to be four feet.




2. True about the tail snagging on rough cut lumber, unless you can talk the lumber mill into planing the lumber to a fairly smooth surface - which is what I did


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> Trying to like these post, but it's not working. Taking notes on all of this though!
> 
> The idea of not dividing the stalls is an intriguing one. Will ponder that. I think that you can just use metal strips on both ends and slide the boards in. That way, it's easy to take apart the wall if I decide I don't need it, and in the event of having to get a horse out that's cast or worse....
> 
> And I think I can get rough cut lumber that's not too rough. I can always go over the whole thing with a planer on the inside if I need to, at least for certain areas (tail height). I've read that rough-cut lumber is thicker and more durable because it's not planed down. This way, I'd only plane where it needs to be smooth, leaving the inside of the board rough.


Yes, U channels work well.
Leaving the divider out will give you the World's best run in shelter! Until that 3rd horse shows up.:wink:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

natisha said:


> Yes, U channels work well.
> Leaving the divider out will give you the World's best run in shelter! Until that 3rd horse shows up.:wink:


Shhhhhh... don't tell my husband. :wink:


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> Shhhhhh... don't tell my husband. :wink:


I think he already knows.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> Hubby and I could not agree on roof colour.


Please tell your husband not to make the same mistake I made. Tell him to just stay the heck out of the roof color decisions. If I had any idea 17 years ago how much grief I would suffer over that one decision....


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Joel Reiter said:


> Please tell your husband not to make the same mistake I made. Tell him to just stay the heck out of the roof color decisions. If I had any idea 17 years ago how much grief I would suffer over that one decision....


LOL... it's ok, we compromised. I'm ok with a gray roof. 

As of now, all the plumbing and electrical have been laid through two deep trenches from the house to the barn and trenches filled in. I'm afraid our garden (lovingly enriched by my husband with lime, compost and chicken manure) has taken the worst of it. It now just looks like dust and rocks. Luckily nothing planted yet, but he's not going to be happy when he sees it... 

Construction crew is gone. Maybe for the weekend? They seem to like starting really early and ending early. Oh well, they worked hard I guess. I'm guessing Monday we will see the framing start to go up! So excited. Giving my notice that I am moving Harley out of the neighbor's barn by June 1st. Yay!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> They seem to like starting really early and ending early.


Typical of construction crews. The earlier they start, the more heat of the day they miss. My husband's crew starts at 7am for now. Once it gets hotter out, they'll likely be starting at 6am. This means they're done by 3pm now, and will be done by 2pm in the summer, which misses the hottest part of the day.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

^^^What Drafty said. And they don't work any serious OT unless they have fallen behind due to weather and there might be a penalty clause, or there's a big job waiting as soon as yours is finished.
OT means more moolah, that the contractor may not be able to afford to pay them.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> Typical of construction crews. The earlier they start, the more heat of the day they miss. My husband's crew starts at 7am for now. Once it gets hotter out, they'll likely be starting at 6am. This means they're done by 3pm now, and will be done by 2pm in the summer, which misses the hottest part of the day.


LOL, it was snowing yesterday so I'm pretty sure they're not trying to beat the heat. 7 degrees Celcius is the high today. If I were them, I'd want to work during the warmest part of the day!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> there's a big job waiting as soon as yours is finished.


This is the only think keeping them on schedule. The contractor and crew are building a big house starting June 1.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Great progress on the barn. Walls are up, trusses are probably going up this afternoon (if the crane is available). Metal roofing has been ordered in a medium gray so that should go on next week. They're going to make me dutch doors for the stalls (ordering pre-made isn't financially advantageous out here). Little adjustments have been necessary (they forgot to leave room for windows in the stalls when they framed those walls, but they're going to cut out openings and re-frame those today), but overall, no big issues. 

We're picking up a post-hole digger tonight (borrowed from a horse friend) and starting to put in the cedar posts tonight. We decided to go with round cedar posts from a mill up the road. Untreated. Our logic is that they're easy and cheap to replace (3$ per 8 ft length), not harmful to the environment and locally available. We hope they will last a very long time - cedar has been used by local farmers for hundreds of years so there must be a reason - but if they don't it's real easy to pull one out and put a new one in. We bought an extra 10 posts for that purpose. Top boards (also cedar) will go along the riding arena/dry lot. Electrobraid all around. My hope is that we should have at least one area fenced off by next week and I can start bringing Harley over a little bit at a time. 

One of the things that is going to be a challenge is the fact that the back of the barn is up pretty high. Because the land slopes down, the front is fine, just a little above grade, but the back is pretty high up. They've already put some fill back there and are going to bring more to make a gradual slope. I've also requested that they get an extra load of fill and extend the slope a little further out so I can easily dump the manure off the side of the elevated area. Not sure how this is going to impact getting the horses in and out of there. As long as I make it a gradual slope on all sides, so there are no sharp drops, it should be ok right? I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions?


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Plenty of backfill, is all I know.

There is a place on the road below me, that was like that but I think a bigger degree of slope than yours. It was also on the NW side of the barn so, when it iced up the first winter, it stayed iced up --- even on this southern state.

The woman spent a lot of money bringing in ton after ton after ton of fill dirt. It finally got to where it was reasonably safe for the horses.

It ended up the woman's husband passed, she moved and the new owners don't have horses. I don't know how the bank has held up as that was several years back.

I'm not sure if it would make sense to put bedrock down then fill dirt on top or not. It isn't something I've ever had to deal with.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> the back of the barn is up pretty high. Because the land slopes down, the front is fine, just a little above grade, but the back is pretty high up. They've already put some fill back there and are going to bring more to make a gradual slope. I've also requested that they get an extra load of fill and extend the slope a little further out so I can easily dump the manure off the side of the elevated area. Not sure how this is going to impact getting the horses in and out of there. As long as I make it a gradual slope on all sides, so there are no sharp drops, it should be ok right? I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions?


Have you thought about terracing? I have built retaining walls out of sod that have lasted for decades, and big rocks work great too if you have enough around. Retaining wall blocks are the easiest but also expensive.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> Plenty of backfill, is all I know.
> 
> There is a place on the road below me, that was like that but I think a bigger degree of slope than yours. It was also on the NW side of the barn so, when it iced up the first winter, it stayed iced up --- even on this southern state.
> 
> ...


Hmmm.... they pulled out huge rocks from where they dug down - maybe they can use those and put fill on top. I can plant grass and try not to trample it too much (we won't be walking along the sides anyway) for stability. I'm thinking that when we ride in the riding arena/dry lot, we'll probably just use the dutch doors to walk right out anyway. Easier than having to go through a gate. The only other option would be to walk through the tractor bay area out the front. I am having double doors put in between the two areas (which are walled off from each other) so you could potentially walk right through there. 

It looks like the land is pretty level, but when you put a 48 ft building on it, what looks like a very gradual incline becomes a 4 ft drop at the back. 

Because of all these slopes along the back (and back sides) of the building, I'm not sure where I'll wash the horses. I want to set up an area where I can put in a a hitching post and bring a hose from the house. Maybe on the side closest to the house and along the front end of the building. It would be a convenient place to tie up. Good place for DH to set up a pressure washer for his stuff too. Maybe we should put an outside spigot there. It would be cold water only (that's why I want to run a hose from the hose in the summer when I want warm water for bathing - Harley hates cold water right out of the hose!), but ok for rinsing off legs, etc.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Joel Reiter said:


> Have you thought about terracing? I have built retaining walls out of sod that have lasted for decades, and big rocks work great too if you have enough around. Retaining wall blocks are the easiest but also expensive.


Yes, that would be an option, but wouldn't it be safer to just mound up the fill on all sides so if a horse takes a side-step, he doesn't fall off the edge or scrape his leg on a concrete block?


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

I guess my main consideration would be how difficult you think it might be to keep your embankment from eroding. If it's part of your sacrifice area you certainly won't be able to use any kind of turf to hold it together. I don't think a couple of 2' high retaining walls would present much of a safety issue -- I prefer my horses to have some geographical challenges in their pasture so they're not facing them for the first time when I'm out on the trail.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Is the slope coming out of the barn steep enough that humans have to brace themselves to go down it? Especially after a good rain?

If so, it is a big concern when it slicks up from rain or ices up in the winter.

It doesn't need leveled out but it needs tapered to where it isn't a safety issue for the horses.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> Is the slope coming out of the barn steep enough that humans have to brace themselves to go down it? Especially after a good rain?
> 
> If so, it is a big concern when it slicks up from rain or ices up in the winter.
> 
> It doesn't need leveled out but it needs tapered to where it isn't a safety issue for the horses.


We haven't got all the fill in yet so hard to say. I would prefer that it not be so steep obviously. It might also be a good idea to put a ramp on the back over the mounded dirt as a way to prevent too much erosion. I see those in most barns around here and we have a ramp coming out of our baby barn so there isn't a ledge there when we drive the ATV in and out. The ramp would only be over the first part of the slope which could be made to go down very gradually (since I wanted to extend it out to my manure pile anyway). I think we can do it, but it will require a lot of fill and close attention. And probably additional fill over time. Sucks, but there really wasn't any way around it. If the back entrance gets really dangerous for the horses, I'll just walk them out through the stalls or out the front entrance, which is closer to ground level.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Joel's idea of stepping the slope is a lot safer than a ramp, for the horses, IMO.

The downside to stepping is getting a dump cart or a manure spreader in the barn but it can be done, if the tractor is 4-wheel drive or you use a 4-wheeler.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Walls are up (I mean framed, not finished of course) and they put the trusses on yesterday! It was pretty cool - they used a crane because the building is 18 feet tall. Next week the metal goes on the roof! 

Weather has been drizzly and miserable, so the construction crew will be glad to be working under cover. 

I looked at the drop at the back and it's not as bad as I thought. About 3 feet from the bottom of the door to ground level. There's already a couple of loads of sand, but they're going to bring in gravel, then cover it with top soil. I think it will be fine - though I had a look at what my neighbor did because they have a slight drop on one side. They used railway ties on the sides to avoid too much soil running off. The trick will be to get grass to grow there this summer. Once it takes hold, it should be ok, but we'll have to be careful using that entrance for the first couple of months. Maybe I should lay a rubber mat down over the dirt? Just to avoid the horses hooves squishing down into the soft dirt. 

Going to have similar issues with the entrances to the dutch doors. The drop is a little less, but there is still an incline, which is currently just sand. Now the dutch doors lead into my riding arena so I may get them to dump a thick layer of sand all over anyway, which will reduce the drop even further on that side. But clearly, having sand in front of the dutch doors is not going to work very well. I've read of people using hog fuel (large mulch, basically) in heavy traffic areas. Any other thoughts? 

This thread would be far more interesting if I could post pictures


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Let me see if I can link to photobucket pics... 

Today, they finished putting the wood on the roof so it's ready for the metal. They are also finishing up my 24 ft x 13 ft loft. They think they will be able to finish it easily by the end of the month. Biggest concern is getting the fill in, because the roads are still soft and dump trucks were only running half loads. Contractor wants to wait for them to be able to run full loads because it's cheaper. Until they're finished bringing in fill, we can't finish the paddock area that will be attached to the side of the barn. But I'm very pleased with the progress so far!

Oh, and I ended up with a 10 ft overhang over the dutch doors so that's great!

Barn build 042.jpg Photo by Gallery_Chantal | Photobucket


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Exterior:

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Gallery_Chantal/Barn build 062.jpg

Interior as of Friday, May 6:


Barn build 057.jpg Photo by Gallery_Chantal | Photobucket


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Yay! Harley's House is getting closer 

Who are those low rider cutie patooties in house


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

walkinthewalk said:


> Yay! Harley's House is getting closer
> 
> Who are those low rider cutie patooties in house


Hahaha.... didn't realize I was giving you access to all the photos in there. Good thing I left out the nudes... KIDDING! :rofl:

Those would be my doxies, Oscar (as in Oscar Meyer Wiener, hey, don't laugh, the kids wanted to call him Mr. Weenie) and Nicholas  .


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

A new one from my house today too! Acadian...your barn is gorgeous!


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

Is the slope you sure worried about under that single truss in the first picture?

If so, that is nothing to worry about! Pretty barn...I did not look through the newer pictures....


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

greentree said:


> Is the slope you sure worried about under that single truss in the first picture?
> 
> If so, that is nothing to worry about! Pretty barn...I did not look through the newer pictures....


No, this is the incline I'm worried about. It's on the back of the building:


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Wow! Things are really coming along! <3


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

Acadianartist said:


> No, this is the incline I'm worried about. It's on the back of the building:


Construction is looking great so far. You must be excited.

Is that a doorway right above that grade? It looks pretty steep. I would consider adding some fill to smooth it out... unless that's a doorway you really don't plan using. Maybe a paved ramp and only use it for material loading?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Tazmanian Devil said:


> Construction is looking great so far. You must be excited.
> 
> Is that a doorway right above that grade? It looks pretty steep. I would consider adding some fill to smooth it out... unless that's a doorway you really don't plan using. Maybe a paved ramp and only use it for material loading?


That is a doorway and I'd like to be able to use it with the horses and to dump out manure. The contractor says he's planning on bringing in a total of 37 loads of fill  Not sure if he's including the fill that was already brought in. 

He is basically going to bring the ground level to the door, take it out a bit so I have a hill where I dump my manure (using the lay of the land to make dumping easier) and gradually taper it down. He will use gravel on the bottom for drainage, then topsoil. We will have to seed it and use it very carefully the first year. I was thinking I'd lay rubber mats where we go in and out to keep from eroding away the soil. More fill may become necessary in subsequent years as the soil settles. Not sure what else I can do.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> That is a doorway and I'd like to be able to use it with the horses and to dump out manure. The contractor says he's planning on bringing in a total of 37 loads of fill  Not sure if he's including the fill that was already brought in.
> 
> He is basically going to bring the ground level to the door, take it out a bit so I have a hill where I dump my manure (using the lay of the land to make dumping easier) and gradually taper it down. He will use gravel on the bottom for drainage, then topsoil. We will have to seed it and use it very carefully the first year. I was thinking I'd lay rubber mats where we go in and out to keep from eroding away the soil. More fill may become necessary in subsequent years as the soil settles. Not sure what else I can do.


You could build a retaining wall on either side of the ramp but then you'd have a drop off, which may not be safe for the horses.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Jan1975 said:


> You could build a retaining wall on either side of the ramp but then you'd have a drop off, which may not be safe for the horses.


I thought of that. But I agree, it would be safer to just have it sloped gradually on both sides and try to get grass to grow there. That way if a horse takes a wrong step, it's a lot less risky than if there's a wall.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

That can easily be back-filled. I have seen much worse that was back-filled and you'd never know it was back-filled.

If you get a lot of rain, I might ask the contractor his thoughts on putting a load of driveway gravel (or a little smaller) down. Two horses won't cut things up too much but the gravel would help to "cement" the dirt. I dunno, it's just a thought to get you to spend more money, lollollol

Retaining walls, in this instance would not be safe for the horses. Horses need to wear bubble wrap for doing nothing more than standing in a stall or in the center of a round pen:icon_rolleyes::icon_rolleyes:


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

You are lucky to have the problem of the slope. If you were building in a hole your barn footings would be in saturated soil and heaving from frost every winter. High and dry is better, and much easier to solve. It's not like you're building on the edge of a cliff.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Joel Reiter said:


> You are lucky to have the problem of the slope. If you were building in a hole your barn footings would be in saturated soil and heaving from frost every winter. High and dry is better, and much easier to solve. It's not like you're building on the edge of a cliff.


Yes, the land is pretty flat there and tends to get quite soppy in the spring so the contractor wanted to build above grade which, in the front, only amounted to a few inches, but in the back, ended up being much more. But we'll never have to worry about water coming in and there's a 4 foot frost wall (recommendations for water pipes is 5 feet below ground here so they won't freeze) so we should be ok. 

We do have lots of room to work with in the back so we can shape the land how we want it (for a price!). We may have to tiptoe around it for the first year while everything settles. May also have to add more fill as it sinks a bit. Worse comes to worse, I can use the other entrance if we need to let it dry out or let the grass grow on it a bit.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

I would do a small retaining wall, which make the perfect spot to park a manure spreader ! Run the slope parallel to the barn. This would also be very useful for unloading feed. And unloading lawn mowers and other rolling things out of the truck. That feature would add about $10,000 worth of VALUE to your property, lol!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I've tried twice over the last week to update this thread, only to write a long post with photos and lose everything. Not sure why, but I'm going to do it in several different posts instead. 

So... the interior of the stalls is pretty much done. I've asked the crew to reinforce my dutch doors from the inside as well. And of course I need to get the rubber mats in and all the fixtures. But this gives you an idea what the stalls will look like inside and out. You can also see they've got the metal siding on that side of the building. I love my red barn!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Inside the stalls.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Ceiling in the barn is about 9 ft. Here was the view from inside my tack room before they closed it in. My little dachshund is providing scale.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

my hay loft


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

View of my sacrifice paddock


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

And of course, the reason behind this massive endeavor, Harley exploring his big new pasture!


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

Your project is looking great. Glad to hear things are going well.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

:clap::happydance::happydance::falloff::falloff::clap:


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

It looks fantastic!!


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## OoLaurenoO (Sep 23, 2014)

Ok so I've been stalking this thread for a while now and I have to say, I'm super jealous. I live in Australia so it doesn't even snow here in winter and I've never seen a barn like that except for in movies. I have officially decided that when I win the lotto I will be getting one. It's looking awesome and keep the pictures coming!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

OoLaurenoO said:


> Ok so I've been stalking this thread for a while now and I have to say, I'm super jealous. I live in Australia so it doesn't even snow here in winter and I've never seen a barn like that except for in movies. I have officially decided that when I win the lotto I will be getting one. It's looking awesome and keep the pictures coming!


Hahaha... glad you came out of the shadows OoLaurenoO. I often wish we didn't have such bitterly cold winters here, but it is what it is. At least it gives us a break from the bugs. 

Tonight I painted the outside of the stall doors (white of course) and the two back doors of the barn. I also finished installing all my insulators for my paddock so I can put up the rest of the electrobraid. Hubby picked up two more gates and will hopefully get them up tomorrow night. 

I picked up all the hardware for the dutch door latches and hooks, the water and feed buckets and hardware to hang them up, and other miscellaneous items like cross-ties and tie-rings.

I have my rubber mats, just need to install and cut them to fit. Also need to pick up bedding (will be using wood pellets) and a bag of feed so I can keep Harley on the same food as he has at the boarding barn until I transition him to a new diet. 

Installing the metal siding is going very slowly... they've finished one side and the back. Tomorrow morning, the electrician and the plumber are both coming to do their thing. I could, conceivably, bring Harley home for the weekend!


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

Coming right along! Yay!


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

Acadianartist said:


> I have my rubber mats, just need to install and cut them to fit.


Quick tip. When cutting mats, place a scrap 2x4 underneath. This allows it to flex open at the cut, making it the process much easier.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Harley is so handsome! <3<3 And your barn is coming along fabulously!


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Everything is fitting into place so nicely -- it's a great feeling isn't it to see such fine progress from your efforts?


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

I am very jealous of your barn! XD I want one.... stupid fence panel stalls :lol:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Tazmanian Devil said:


> Quick tip. When cutting mats, place a scrap 2x4 underneath. This allows it to flex open at the cut, making it the process much easier.


Thank you!!! Will probably be doing that tonight so that helps a lot!

Also, what do you all think I should put in my tack room for flooring??? I don't want to just leave a cement floor. I could paint it I suppose, but the idea is to create a comfortable space my daughter and I can hang out in. The tack room will be completely closed in with a window looking out into the main aisle so I can see the horses when I'm in there. But I don't want to spend a ton of money either. Maybe an indoor/outdoor rug? Or should I put in a wood floor? OR... maybe interlocking foam mats for comfort and warmth? 

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/34-puzzle-mat/6000064578640


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

the interlocking mats are good


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

The interlocking mats, although thin, do make a concrete floor a little more comfortable. You do have to take them out periodically and clean under them.

If you are going to paint, get a 2-part epoxy. A little more difficult to apply than paint, but it creates a nice finish that will hold up very well. You can get it at any paint store/department and they can custom mix colors just like paint.


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## mred (Jan 7, 2015)

I have been watching. Keep pictures coming. I think a lot of us dream about a new barn. AND RIDING MORE!


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

What a beautiful build! I am super jealous. 


My tack room is a little shed on blocks that I insulated, and put up painted OSB. The wood floor and crawl space underneath seemed cold and hard so I put in some old area rugs. Works great at making it stay a bit warmer and they are super easy to take out and clean when needed.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> Thank you!!! Will probably be doing that tonight so that helps a lot!
> 
> Also, what do you all think I should put in my tack room for flooring??? I don't want to just leave a cement floor. I could paint it I suppose, but the idea is to create a comfortable space my daughter and I can hang out in. The tack room will be completely closed in with a window looking out into the main aisle so I can see the horses when I'm in there. But I don't want to spend a ton of money either. Maybe an indoor/outdoor rug? Or should I put in a wood floor? OR... maybe interlocking foam mats for comfort and warmth?
> 
> http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/34-puzzle-mat/6000064578640


What about that laminate wooden flooring (fake wood)? We have that in our basement, and it was cheap yet looks pretty close to real wood, and is super easy to keep clean, and almost impossible to scratch.

p.s. I'm booking a vaca to Canada as soon as you're done. With Gatsby. :rofl:


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Acadianartist said:


> Thank you!!! Will probably be doing that tonight so that helps a lot!
> 
> Also, what do you all think I should put in my tack room for flooring??? I don't want to just leave a cement floor. I could paint it I suppose, but the idea is to create a comfortable space my daughter and I can hang out in. The tack room will be completely closed in with a window looking out into the main aisle so I can see the horses when I'm in there. But I don't want to spend a ton of money either. Maybe an indoor/outdoor rug? Or should I put in a wood floor? OR... maybe interlocking foam mats for comfort and warmth?
> 
> http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/34-puzzle-mat/6000064578640


Concrete floors tend to sweat at times so be careful putting down something that will be ruined by moisture.

What are you putting on the stall fronts or are you leaving them open?


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Wow! I haven't been over here in a little while. Your barn is turning out sweet. I bet you are super excited to start putting it to use.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Jan - I decided to go with the interlocking mats. We have laminate in the basement as well and you're right, it's nice, but my water is in the tack room so it would get wet which laminate wood doesn't like. The interlocking mats are easy, they provide good insulation and they're resistant to water and pretty much anything. Plus, Walmart had them in all kinds of colour schemes so my daughter chose the teal and lime green  She wants to do a pattern. 

natisha - the tops of my stall fronts are open. There is a bit of a wall on the front between the two stalls so the horses would really have to stretch to reach over and certainly could not get their noses into each other's stalls. The half wall is pretty high up too so not likely that they would try to jump out. I'm going to try it like this and see how it goes. I can always order bars if I think it's necessary, but I don't think it will be. And of course there is a 7 or 8 foot high wall that separates the stalls. The ceilings will be left open all the way up to the rafters for good ventilation. There is a hay loft in the middle, but it only goes over the aisle. 

Tonight I added the hardware to the dutch doors (inside and out, top and bottom!) and put the electrobraid around most of my paddock area. There's just a few posts left to do, then I have to run some wires underground under the two gates and electrify the whole thing! 

Oh, and the plumbing is in so we have running water! I have a tap in my tack room and one outside on the side of the barn. I had my husband put in two posts and a board near it so now I have a washing area! Electrician came today to find out what we want him to do, and is coming back tomorrow to do the job. Hopefully he will have it done by the weekend. 

In anticipation, I bought a bag of pellets (same stuff they are feeding Harley at the boarding stable so we don't go changing his diet right away) and 10 bags of wood pellets which I want to try for bedding. Haven't got around to cutting and installing the rubber mats. Maybe tomorrow night?? I'm all out of daylight now, and there aren't any lights in the barn yet.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

That post made me tired. :lol: You're getting so much done!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Jan1975 said:


> That post made me tired. :lol: You're getting so much done!


I'm just running on adrenaline!


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> I'm just running on adrenaline!


Yeah you have a new horse fueling your work! :lol:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

They finished putting on all the red siding! The exterior of the building is therefore finished. Well, except for the fact that they haven't put in the giant garage door on the equipment bay side. Details, details... but other than a gaping hole where the door will go, it's finished! I took pictures, but my son seems to have left with the wire that plugs my camera to my computer so it will have to wait a day. 

I also painted the tack room tonight. It's just flake board, but it felt dark so I wanted to brighten it with a coat of paint. I started off with white on the ceiling and two walls. Ran out of paint so went to the house to grab a can that was labelled white. Poured it into my paint tray and it turned out to be the colour we bought to paint my daughter's room. A very faint lilac. So now the tack room has two lilac walls! I told my daughter and she asked me to do the other two walls as well. As she put it, purple is Harley's colour after all. And the floor will be done in Kodak's colour - teal blue! It's the colour of the halter she was wearing when we went to see her and my daughter loves it so wants to buy her a halter and saddle pad to match. This is going to be one colourful tack room! 

Oh, and the electrician started putting in fixtures. It's slow going because every wire has to be covered so there's a lot of cutting pipes. 

Now for a break. Beer and a movie with my daughter!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I've been trying to figure out how to bathe the horses outside without using frigid cold water direct from the hose. Harley is a wimp about cold water and will fidget the whole time and shiver, even in warm weather. Initially, I wanted hot water in the barn. But that would have meant installing a hot water tank, insulating it, and keeping the lines from freezing in the winter, all at a pretty prohibitive cost in terms of ongoing electric bills.

So I ordered one of these: 

EccoTemp Portable Tankless Water Heater - Eccotemp L5 - Water Heaters - Camping World

I can't wait to try it out! I can easily mount it to my hitching post outside, which I had my husband place right by the water faucet on the side of the barn Can't wait to try it out. Of course I'll only use it in the summer. We don't wash our horses in the winter anyway, because it's just too cold here.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

It's encouraging for me to read these stories. I'm still in the process of doing land repairs on my property. :/ Filling in massive holes in the land from that dang tornado and flood. Picked up fence posts that were cemented in more than 4' deep as if they were twigs, relocated them miles away. Big holes everywhere. 

Seeing stories of other people's progress, good reminder, I'm getting there. Slow and sure, I'm getting there.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> I've tried twice to update this thread, only to write a long post with photos and lose everything.


I've lost count of the number of times that's happened to me since the we got the new improved web site. I'm hoping the bugs will continue to be patched as time goes on.



Acadianartist said:


>


Your barn is beautiful.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> It's encouraging for me to read these stories. I'm still in the process of doing land repairs on my property. :/ Filling in massive holes in the land from that dang tornado and flood. Picked up fence posts that were cemented in more than 4' deep as if they were twigs, relocated them miles away. Big holes everywhere.
> 
> Seeing stories of other people's progress, good reminder, I'm getting there. Slow and sure, I'm getting there.


Sorry to hear you were hit so hard by bad weather. We are fortunate here that we don't get severe weather. Well, unless you count blizzards dumping 4 feet of snow in a day.  

I hope you get your property looking better than ever very soon! The dirt around our new barn makes it look pretty messy so our next challenge is going to be putting grass seed down and trying to get it to grow!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

What type grass seed you planning on using? It's a bit chilly in Canada compared to here? Have to deal with frost issues?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> What type grass seed you planning on using? It's a bit chilly in Canada compared to here? Have to deal with frost issues?


I don't know, probably just any generic grass mixture. Grass grows just fine here, as you will see from the pictures I'm about to post. We used a special horse pasture mix which we planted last year in the pasture area and it really took off! One thing about living in a snowy climate is that when all the snow melts in the spring, all that water goes into the ground, bringing all theplants to life.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Right side of barn, nearest to the house.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Front and left side, taken from inside my sacrifice paddock/ riding ring.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

And another pic of my stalls from the inside because I love them so much! They feel big and airy. Next time I post pics, there will be horses in this barn!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Went out to where I am building at today. A lot of the holes are filled in. Still some to go. I got some more of the fences up. It's going to be HOT here in the summer so I'm looking for a grass species that will be heat and drought hearty. Going to have to hire someone to bring in some heavy equipment, bust up the old cement slab that use to be under the old house and have the basement re-done. Right now it's a dark, dank snake pit. Eventually I'll have the whole thing leveled out and it re-planted. I'm in the beginning stages and you're near finished. Loving the photos.. Encouraging.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Sounds like it's harder to grow grass there than here. We'll likely have a hotter than normal summer too (at least, that's what they're predicting and we had a really mild winter and early spring), but we don't ever have true drought conditions here. For about 4 months, everything grows like we're in an Amazon rainforest. 

You'll get there Kyleen! One day at a time.

Today DH put up my last two gates so I know have a fully enclosed paddock. However, the electrobraid is not quite complete and I still have to hook it up (not to mention put those ground rods in). I also need to run the wire under those gates. Sigh... still a lot to do, but I'm getting there! 

I put in my rubber mats today. THAT was a big job. Cutting was fun too. NOT. Glad I'm only doing two stalls for now. My daughter spend the day decorating the tack room with horsey posters, LOL. It's going to be one "special" tack room! Oh, well, it may be a little tacky (no pun intended), but I figure it's good to get my daughter involved. It's not like it's our living room - if she wants to have a purple tack room full of horsey posters, so be it! 

I started making saddle stands with some of the cedar posts we had left, but need a few more pieces cut and hubby is away at football so that project is on hold.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

I seen someone use 4x4's that were mounted coming out on the wall, and covered them in a thick padding, covered the padding in sheeps skins to put the saddles on. To me, that looked like a neat way to keep the undersides of your saddles clean?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

This is what I'm building Kyleen. Since we had posts left and I thought it looked nice and rustic, I figured why not. I still need a diagonal brace to finish off and will need DH's chainsaw skills for that. Maybe tomorrow night. I've given him enough to do for one day (he's still out there)!!!:charge:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Harley really likes the dutch doors! That way he can stick his head out even when he's in the stall. We had him over last night for a lesson and let him try out his stall, then graze for a bit. It was a great feeling to watch him explore his new home! He was a little insecure, always watching me to make sure I wasn't going to leave him alone, sometimes following me around the paddock, but once Kodak arrives to keep him company, I think he will settle down.


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

Wow! Very jealous !!


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I love the wood post saddle racks. 
The barns down here in Florida are built so much differently because it's so hot in the summer. I miss looking at those classic barns, it looks so cozy. You guys have done a great job in planning.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

How you going to do your round pen?? I've read so much about them the last few days I'm on info over load!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

No round pen. They're not a big thing around here. For lessons or even lunging, we just use the outdoor riding ring. No one I know has one around here.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Why do you have to run wire under the gates? My hot tape goes over the gates with handles on the ends....stops the gate from being messed with.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Excellent point natisha, and I did that for all my pasture gates. However, I wanted to have the ability to open and close the paddock gates easily since they will be getting used several times a day. They are very heavy diamond style gates so the horses really can't harm them or hurt themselves on them. It's more work initially to bury the wires, but in the long run, I think I'll be glad I did it for those gates. Did the first one tonight and it took a while, but now that I did one, I should be able to do the other one fairly easily. I also need to pound in my 3 ground rods and wire them to the charger, assuming I have electricity in the barn by tomorrow. Even if I don't, I think I'll mount and wire everything anyway and run an extension cord from the baby barn which is close by just so I can test my fences. I will be really, really disappointed if I turn it on and find there is no power on my fence lines


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Just wanted to update for those who did not see my other thread - both Harley and our new horse Kodak have moved in as of last weekend (so almost a week already!) and everything is working out really well. The barn feels spacious and the horses just LOVE their dutch doors! Everything is so easy to manage that I often go to the barn, do the chores that need to be done, and end up puttering around looking for more things to do because it goes so fast! A little planning really does go a long way! Thanks for your many useful suggestions. 

Things I still need to finish/modify: 

- put hooks on outside of dutch doors. I have hooks on the tops so I can leave them open, but when I want to leave the whole door open, I have to use something to prop them open or the wind might blow them shut. Same with the inside doors that have a tendency to get caught in the cross-breeze when they're open. That would not be good if a horse was in the cross-ties. Luckily I have really wide aisles (12 ft) so there's plenty of room to open them and get a horse through, but I will install hooks to keep them open when I need to. Also need to put a hook on the back door which gets blown shut a lot and is currently being propped up with a 4 x 6 board. 

- install handles on the electrobraid fence right next to the back entrance of hte barn to create another way in so we don't have to walk around to the gates. I've noticed my daughter and I always go through the same spot (ducking between the fence lines) so that's an easy fix. 

- buy a longer hose. Currently, my 75 ft hose will reach into both stalls easily and even out through the dutch door to my outdoor water trough, but just barely. If I move the water trough, I am short (it's right besides the doorway right now so I can reach it, but I'd like to move it further away to avoid getting the areas in front of the stalls muddy. 

That's it! Of course I will probably to make other adaptations when winter comes, but for now, our setup is working wonderfully. It's easy to reach into the stalls to feed, water and give hay, the horses love being able to stick their heads out on both ends of their stalls and I absolutely LOVE my wide aisles and high ceilings! The vet even commented that our barn had great ventilation which he is really happy about. All the windows open (four in the barn area) and I've left them open since the horses have moved in so the barn is always very well ventilated, even with all the doors shut.

Also, since I had two leftover stall mats, I put them down outside, in front of each stall. They are working fantastically to keep those areas from getting muddy and it helps reduce the amount of sand, etc. that gets into stalls. I'd like to get another stall mat to put under the gate that goes from the paddock to the pasture. Because it gets a lot of foot traffic, that gate gets very muddy and I'm worried about my buried lines getting damaged since the dirt is still very soft from having been recently disrupted. Hopefully the area will eventually solidify. Also loving the wood pellets. Much, much less waste (and therefore less work) than shavings. 

The fence is holding up well (I'm getting over 9000 volts if I touch the ground and the hot lines at the same time with the charger!) and horses have no inclination to test them. Some of the posts appear to have shifted (we've had a lot of heavy rain) so I've asked hubby to brace them better and need to re-tighten my lines, but I expect that's going to be a periodical adjustment we'll have to stay on top of. The horses look very happy and healthy out there, alternating between grazing and standing in their stalls facing out. They choose to come in sometimes when the flies get too bad and just nap like that. Amazingly, they've already figured out which stalls they go in, and when it's feeding time, or even when they go into their stalls to rest, they go in the right ones! 

I could not be happier with how everything has worked out.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> How you going to do your round pen??


A round pen is handy for starting colts and working on desensitizing and ground tying and a number of other training tasks, but it is not essential and for most people I don't think round pens have a very good cost/benefit ratio. Your can do all those things with a halter and lead. Actually round penning, as a verb, has limited application -- first day with a new horse, or correcting an aggressive horse, etc. (and most of those things might be better left to a trainer.) And it is surprisingly difficult to master the cues so the poor horse can figure out what you want.

I think for most of us the money would be better spent on a slightly larger enclosure. Even a 75 x 100 mini-arena is a much more comfortable place for a large horse to canter. It gives you a safe place to work on trot-canter transitions, and cruising in the same gait, and it still serves most of the functions of a round pen.

If you attend a seminar, whether its John Lyons or Pat Parelli or Clinton Anderson or Stacy Westfall or Mark Rashid or Craig Cameron, notice that they start off in the round pen and quickly graduate to the larger enclosure. The round pen makes sense for the demonstration. But even though Clinton Anderson sells very expensive round pens, he always says in his presentations that few people actually need one.

And returning to our actual topic, Arcadianartist congratulations on your barn. I hope you will keep this thread alive through the seasons and update with lessons learned. Even now it would be fun if you would rehash some of the more difficult decisions and their outcomes.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Thanks Joel! I agree - round pens are fine for starting a new horse or for training purposes, but I never expect to be in a position to do that. I know my limitations and am too old to get in over my head. 

We have a sacrifice paddock space that is about 120 x 80 feet so slightly larger than what you mention. That works great for lessons and for first rides on a new horse. Our coach thinks it's a great space and with only two horses and no plans to expand, it works well for us. 

Really, the build was pretty painless. Difficult decisions? Well, the first was when we decided we didn't want to go with pre-fab or metal structure type barn. Because of where we live, when you added exchange, shipping and erection costs (we're not able to do any of this ourselves) it was almost as expensive as hiring a local crew to build a traditional wooden barn with metal siding. This way, we hired locals to do everything, including electrical and plumbing, and almost all of our materials were sourced locally, including all our fence posts and boards which came from a mill up the road. 3$ for 8 foot 4-6" round posts - can't beat that!

Once we got the contractor to sit down and come up with a plan with us, the only other major decision was the concrete foundation. It was very expensive and not the best for the horses' legs, but we got it anyway, including a 4 ft frost wall. 

What else? Well, I sacrificed having hot water in the barn because it made no sense to spend that much money on something I would only use in the summer months. Instead, I have an outdoor washing area and bought a propane-fired tankless hot water heater for 150$ on Amazon. That thing is amazing! Comes with a shower nozzle and produces as much hot water as you want, just heating it as it runs through. 

I'm sure there will be things that come up eventually that I don't like or would have done differently, but so far, I'm really happy with everything just the way it is!


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

As far as a round pen, I have never used one, had one or felt the need of one, as Joel said the money could be better spent on other things and your schooling area should do for what training you will need.
Very happy that you have your horses home. Just wondering, how is Harley's cough is it cleared up now?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Woodhaven said:


> As far as a round pen, I have never used one, had one or felt the need of one, as Joel said the money could be better spent on other things and your schooling area should do for what training you will need.
> Very happy that you have your horses home. Just wondering, how is Harley's cough is it cleared up now?


No, his cough is not cleared up completely, but is much better. He only coughs first thing in the morning, and only once in a while. I'm hoping that his new environment and/or the change of seasons will help it pass. The vet is keeping a close eye on it, but we are prepared to manage it, even if it's COPD.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

I'm so happy to hear that everything is going so well!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

New pictures? Please??!!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> New pictures? Please??!!


Other than installing the large roll-up door in the front, there really isn't anything new to show Kyleen! The only things left to do for the construction is put a window in my tack room so I can look out into the aisle, and put a door in the hole that goes to my loft from inside the tack room (I opted for permanent stairs in the tack room going up to the loft, but also have a large opening at the front so I can use a hay elevator). 

I'd like to get grass growing and would love to bring in more sand to create a better surface for my outdoor riding area, but otherwise, it's pretty well finished!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

But but but... it's pictures!!!!!! >.<


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> But but but... it's pictures!!!!!! >.<


Just for you Kyleen, I'll see if I can get a few more  

But if you go back a few posts, you'll see the whole barn is finished.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

*Spoiled brat face - trying not to laugh* Yeah I already seen THOSE pictures! I like new ones too! *Camera junkie*


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> Yeah I already seen THOSE pictures! I like new ones too!


Yes, more pictures. More angles, different lighting, new stuff lying around, horses in their stalls from the inside. Come on, it's not 1965 -- it's not like you have to buy film and pay to get the photos developed.

If you make a bunch of junkies, you can't act surprised if they get unhappy when you run out of drugs.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Old photos are fine, but lets not discriminate against the new ones! *wicked grin* Okay, now I'm being silly. Time for bed. Goodnight! lol


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

You're all too funny. Ok, will work on getting more pics!!!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

For the picture junkies!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you! ))


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

You'll notice I put up shelves along the front of the stalls. Quite proud of myself too! Very handy for keeping grooming supplies. 

Here is a pic of my loft. I also realized I can look down into the stalls because the loft floor doesn't go all the way across so here are pics of the horses from above! Harley looks rather rotund


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Nice! That'll make dropping down new bedding real easy. Or a hay flake..


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

I was just about to comment on the brush shelves and then read the second post  great idea'


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Tack room brought to you by my 11 year old daughter. Colourful, but still functional.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Your saddle horns turned out really cute.. And your tack room has SO much more space left..


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

The horses enjoying their 10x 12 stalls.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

main aisle and where my third stall would be if I ever decide to add it. For now, it's where I will keep a week's supply of hay and bedding as well as mucking implement.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> Your saddle horns turned out really cute.. And your tack room has SO much more space left..


Should have pointed out that the blue box with a black square is an old chest style freezer I am using for feed and supplements. Great for keeping out rodents. My daughter painted it blue and the black is chalkboard paint so we can write on it.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Random pics.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

The first pic is of the equipment bay, obviously. The upside for me is that it has awesome lighting. I hung a ring in the doorway and it was great for when the vet came to float Kodak's teeth. I just opened both doors wide and had her face out towards the tractor bay. This is also where we'll bring the hay into the loft.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

Nice. A nice touch might be to get a good pic of harley and kodak made into posters and put them up high in the tack room. A surprise for DD


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## Rain Shadow (May 1, 2014)

I give it 6 months until that 3rd stall is in use. Two years before hubby is losing his equipment bay for more stalls.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

Two years? You are being generous!! I must say when I saw the pic of the tractor I thought "they (tractor & quad) have WAY too much space" :rofl:


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

ShirtHotTeez said:


> Nice. A nice touch might be to get a good pic of harley and kodak made into posters and put them up high in the tack room. A surprise for DD


Great idea!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

ShirtHotTeez said:


> Two years? You are being generous!! I must say when I saw the pic of the tractor I thought "they (tractor & quad) have WAY too much space" :rofl:


 
Well, to be fair, there is a lot more equipment that needs to be squeezed in there! Manure spreader, seeder, box blade, post hole digger, snow blower, etc. etc. I need DH to maintain my pastures and paddock after all! But I won't lie, I've been eyeballing that space, thinking about how many more stalls I could fit in there!


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## Rain Shadow (May 1, 2014)

We started off with two horses. Our barn was a pole barn we converted. Most of it held equipment, car parts, and whatever classic car was being rebuilt. 

Then Harley joined Misty and Ty. And the car got kicked out. Then we got Star, and out went the car parts. Then we got my colt and out went the equipment. 

Now its 6 stalls and a tiny 5ft by 5ft area my dad gets to squeeze hsi stuff in.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

That room where you have your rake, broom, wagon, ect. Is kind of like the room I'm wanting for my farrier, first aid, bedding and medical supplies with tons of shelves. The far wall is the bedding.. Put away up on various shelves, stacked 2 high per shelf. The right side wall just like you've got it. My wheel barrel, rake, tools like that. Extra hoof picks.. All those little tools it's handy to keep about. And the left wall lots of shelves for first aid supplies. I like that idea.. After I give my horse a bath, if my husband is there, needing to work on his horse, we've another space for grooming and what-not when it's raining cats n dogs.

Love the photos! Thanks again!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> That room where you have your rake, broom, wagon, ect. Is kind of like the room I'm wanting for my farrier, first aid, bedding and medical supplies with tons of shelves. The far wall is the bedding.. Put away up on various shelves, stacked 2 high per shelf. The right side wall just like you've got it. My wheel barrel, rake, tools like that. Extra hoof picks.. All those little tools it's handy to keep about. And the left wall lots of shelves for first aid supplies. I like that idea.. After I give my horse a bath, if my husband is there, needing to work on his horse, we've another space for grooming and what-not when it's raining cats n dogs.
> 
> Love the photos! Thanks again!


Yes, I plan on using that extra space as a grooming area as well when we want to get both horses ready for a ride at the same time. 

As for first aid supplies, they're in the tack room where I have shelves for everything. I don't need a lot of room for bedding since I use wood pellets and buy about 4 bags at a time. I do plan on lining one side of this space with hay bales just so it's nice and handy. 

Not sure whether I want to keep the hay loft open on the sides for dropping hay into stalls or whether I want to close it in. My worry is the dust. If I closed it in, I would still leave the tops of the stalls open up to the roof. Currently, the loft only spans the aisle plus a foot or so on each side. I could wall it in to keep the dust in the hay from floating down into the stalls. Or leave it open for really good air circulation which should keep my hay nice and dry. Opinions?


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Would it block the air flow in the barn more to close it up?


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

Hi Acadian, not wanting to be critical but I see that Kodak's hay bag is hanging a bit low and will hang even lower as she eats the hay out of it. I always run the tie rope through the ring down through the bottom of the bag then back to the ring as I always worry with that type of bag if it is too low that the horse could get a foot through it.
I don't think she is the type of horse to paw at the bag but you never know.
After taking a second look at the bag I think the openings are smaller than the ones I have used so maybe it wouldn't be a problem. I would hang it higher anyway just to be sure.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> Would it block the air flow in the barn more to close it up?


It wouldn't block the air flow to the stalls because they would stay open all the way up to the roof, but it would reduce the air flow in the hay loft. Not as good for the hay, but maybe better for the horses?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Woodhaven said:


> Hi Acadian, not wanting to be critical but I see that Kodak's hay bag is hanging a bit low and will hang even lower as she eats the hay out of it. I always run the tie rope through the ring down through the bottom of the bag then back to the ring as I always worry with that type of bag if it is too low that the horse could get a foot through it.
> I don't think she is the type of horse to paw at the bag but you never know.
> After taking a second look at the bag I think the openings are smaller than the ones I have used so maybe it wouldn't be a problem. I would hang it higher anyway just to be sure.


It has one inch holes so I really don't think she could ever get a hoof through it. And so far, she hasn't pawed at all, but I'm keeping an eye on things. They are currently only shut in for a few hours in the afternoon and tend to doze during that time since they have full grass bellies  I am leaving them out at night, though they occasionally come in on their own, but not to eat, just to get away from flies and rest a bit. In fact, the hay in there isn't going down by much since she's hardly touching it. 

The downfall of hanging it higher is that she might get dust up her nose. In fact, Harley's hay bag is too high in my opinion and I'd like to lower it.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

LOVE all these new pics! It looks fantastic! The horses look so happy, too. I agree it's really a waste to have just two horses in that beautiful barn. Maybe a pony for a pet? :lol: I also love the idea of hanging up pics of the horses in the tack room! Our BO has pics of her clients and horses hanging up all over the barn & it's so fun to look at them.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Acadianartist said:


> It wouldn't block the air flow to the stalls because they would stay open all the way up to the roof, but it would reduce the air flow in the hay loft. Not as good for the hay, but maybe better for the horses?



Make it hotter up there too? How hot does it get in your area during the high summer months? I am thinking of the poor sod who has to load the loft with hay and has to stand inside the loft to stack it..


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> Make it hotter up there too? How hot does it get in your area during the high summer months? I am thinking of the poor sod who has to load the loft with hay and has to stand inside the loft to stack it..


Doesn't get real hot here. Maybe I could wall it up part of the way but still leave a couple of feet open at the top for ventilation.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

A quick phone call to someone who builds barns for a living would probably clear up this question.. it seems like they'd have a lot of experience in the area.. And if it's someone nearby you, who's familiar with your climate, more the better?? Just a thought..


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> A quick phone call to someone who builds barns for a living would probably clear up this question.. it seems like they'd have a lot of experience in the area.. And if it's someone nearby you, who's familiar with your climate, more the better?? Just a thought..


No one is specialized in building horse barns around here or that's who I would have hired. Best I could do was find someone who does some agricultural buildings. And there was only one of those (at least only one I felt was competent). I had no luck finding a contractor with any horse knowledge and often had to contradict my own contractor (for example, he thought my dutch doors should swing INTO the stalls). I'm on my own out here. So I visited a lot of barns and talked to a lot of people to see what worked and what didn't. I had to tell my contractor everything.

I did ask some horse people who thought it would be best to close in the loft so that's likely what I'll do, but I may leave an opening at the top as mentioned.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Do you mind me crashing here? Seeing as it's the same subject? If so I'll mosey on.. But wanted you to know I just got a quote for my own barn just now. For my dream barn, 72 feet long and 40 feet wide, it's going to run me $40.000.. It's just for the barn, all the bells and whistles I want in it, all the stalls and features, the floor mats, dutch door turn-outs, the blanket bars and all the little bits, plus shipping.. I would still have to hire a contractor to come out here after it's shipped and have it put up for me.. This is only my first quote so far.. I'm going to his competition now and seeing what they have.. Still, this price is $60,000 less than what I thought it was going to be! lol


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Jump right in Kyleen!

So I assume you're talking about one of those metal structures? I looked into them, but when you add the foundation, shipping costs to my out-of-the-way location, erection costs and US exchange for me PLUS everything you have to put inside them, it was almost as much as a traditional wooden barn. So we went with the wooden barn. We were able to hire all locals and source all our materials locally, which was also important to us. 

But maybe the metal structure will work for you. Do let us know what you decide! But make sure you factor in ALL the costs. 

I also found those metal building people extremely aggressive and obnoxious. Hopefully you'll have a different experience!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Nope, this was wood, beautiful! 

And yeah, I'd still have to pour the foundation, run the heat, air and water lines the rest of the way out, that sort of thing.. But would have to do that anyway.. Not even mention the electric, plumbing.. not even sure if I have city sewer out there or if I'd need septic. With the house going in, all this has to go in anyway! >.< At least the city water lines are still working from the previous house.. I'll be able to just extend those.

This pre-built barn they quoted me was very pretty.. but I don't like that they won't build it. I'm looking at another builder who will come, build on site. He's suppose to contact me tomorrow.

I'm not even sure what type of materials I would want to use if I don't use wood. It gets so stinking hot here in the summer months. I need a way to keep that hot air out! The tin barns sound even more hot than wood.. I need to look into it.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> Nope, this was wood, beautiful!
> 
> And yeah, I'd still have to pour the foundation, run the heat, air and water lines the rest of the way out, that sort of thing.. But would have to do that anyway.. Not even mention the electric, plumbing.. not even sure if I have city sewer out there or if I'd need septic. With the house going in, all this has to go in anyway! >.< At least the city water lines are still working from the previous house.. I'll be able to just extend those.
> 
> ...


Oh I see, so it's a wooden barn, but some sort of a pre-fab? I saw those online, but again, they're coming from so far away that it made no sense for me to buy one. 

I agree, one of the issues with metal barns is ventilation. I'm sure you can fix that, but I didn't like them for many other reasons. 

We don't have a lot of extreme heat here so barns actually stay pretty cool, but one problem I've seen in metal barns around here is condensation in the winter. Because there isn't proper ventilation in some barns, the heat given off by the horses meets the cold hair hitting the metal outside and actually drips back down onto the horses. Not good. Though I'm sure that with proper ventilation it would be possible to avoid that, even in a metal barn. 

So are you putting in a bathroom? We didn't put in a septic system since there's no bathroom. The barn is only a couple of hundred feet from the house so I figure we can go to the bathroom inside. I'm also not heating my barn in the winter and a freezing toilet really doesn't appeal to me! 

For plumbing, we just run the water from the house to the barn and had them install 2 spigots. We're on our own well out here, but there's lots of water. Pretty basic setup. The biggest part was digging the 5 ft deep trench from the house to the barn since our water has to be below frost line. Cost for plumbing was a mere 300$ (not including digging the trench, which our contractor did while he was excavating). Electrical, on the other hand, was a lot more work. 

All in, our barn will have cost us about $80,000 (not including fencing, but including EVERYTHING else). Not as big as what you want - only 48 x 32, but with a full concrete foundation and 4 ft frost wall. 32 feet was the widest we could go with the locally-made trusses. Anything wider would have been a lot more work and a lot more money. Because of the snow load we get here, the roof has to be at a certain angle and have a certain strength. It is possible to go wider, of course, but it makes the roof a lot more complicated and expensive, and made no sense for us.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Yeah, well, if I need a septic tank, it's going to have to go in, one way or another. The house! >.< And I will be danged if I am forced to continue to share a bathroom with these two boys still. They're worse than teenage girls sometimes and twice as smelly! I know what I am feeding them, just not sure how it gets that atomic on the other end. >.< 

I can think of several situations where I would feel a lot more comfortable with a stranger visiting my property using the barn toilet more than going into my home. And with a few medical issues I deal with on a day to day basis, such as my irritable bowl syndrome, a near-by potty is absolutely a must-have. Of course, if I get to ride all the time my IBS symptoms are going to taper off considerably considering how you sit a horse and what muscles are getting strengthened when you do. I've already herd it over and over, "You don't need a bathroom in the barn!" Um, you don't know me, yeah I do. lol Even my husband over here goes, "Don't forget a bathroom!" *Face palm* LOL That man knows me well... he hates traveling with me sometimes.

I was guessing all in all my barn would cost me around, give or take $100,000 from start to finish, down to the last screw. I should get my second quote to day we'll see how that number turns up. These guys are on-site builders and they do it all. Also wood again. I haven't quoted a metal barn yet, I just get the idea that the temperatures in that thing would be more unpleasant. Might be easy for me to take my high pressure sprayer to, but.. possibly hot.. I'm asking questions like that today too, thanks to you. Your a great help, even if you don't realize it..


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Kyleen Drake said:


> Yeah, well, if I need a septic tank, it's going to have to go in, one way or another. The house! >.< And I will be danged if I am forced to continue to share a bathroom with these two boys still. They're worse than teenage girls sometimes and twice as smelly! I know what I am feeding them, just not sure how it gets that atomic on the other end. >.<
> 
> I can think of several situations where I would feel a lot more comfortable with a stranger visiting my property using the barn toilet more than going into my home. And with a few medical issues I deal with on a day to day basis, such as my irritable bowl syndrome, a near-by potty is absolutely a must-have. Of course, if I get to ride all the time my IBS symptoms are going to taper off considerably considering how you sit a horse and what muscles are getting strengthened when you do. I've already herd it over and over, "You don't need a bathroom in the barn!" Um, you don't know me, yeah I do. lol Even my husband over here goes, "Don't forget a bathroom!" *Face palm* LOL That man knows me well... he hates traveling with me sometimes.
> 
> I was guessing all in all my barn would cost me around, give or take $100,000 from start to finish, down to the last screw. I should get my second quote to day we'll see how that number turns up. These guys are on-site builders and they do it all. Also wood again. I haven't quoted a metal barn yet, I just get the idea that the temperatures in that thing would be more unpleasant. Might be easy for me to take my high pressure sprayer to, but.. possibly hot.. I'm asking questions like that today too, thanks to you. Your a great help, even if you don't realize it..


So glad I could help!

I hear you about sharing bathrooms... ick. That's why we have four in the house  

Do let us know what you decide! I'm sure there are lots of other people out there trying to figure what the different options are, and while they're not all available in all locations, it's very useful to compare!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

You might get a kick out of this... but I can already hear my husband's laughter from inside the house the first time he sees me riding my horse like a woman possessed and hell fire and brimstone on her ***, trying to get to the barn, leap off my horse and run inside. He won't even half to ask where I'm heading at that breakneck speed, lol.. Potty potty potty! >.< lol Of course I wouldn't harm my horse, not to save my own life, but if it's a fast runner, I'd let it go as fast as it wanted / could in a moment like that. lol


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

Acadianartist said:


> I did ask some horse people who thought it would be best to close in the loft so that's likely what I'll do, but I may leave an opening at the top as mentioned.


Open vs closed I won't venture an opinion on.

I would suggest looking closely at ventilation options. The more your loft is closed in, the hotter it will get. 

Heat rises and will accumulate in the loft. The sun also beats down on the roof, adding heat to the loft. Ever go in your home's attic in the summer? Much hotter than the house itself.

A cupola will help. Windows, fans, etc. are other options. You want air movement. I would think more so if you are storing hay up there.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Okay this is kind of gross, so I wouldn't recommend anyone watching it near meal times if you have a weak stomach. But I found this video, as a new person to horses, highly informative. By watching where all the organs are on the inside of the horse, seeing how they fit, and actually seeing the size of the lungs on these animals, it gives me a good idea why air flow is so important.


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

I found this one interesting too.. I don't know if this guy is good or not, but what he says makes me think.


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

Both very interesting videos, thanks for sharing Kyleen


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

If you found them useful great! I know I did..






I'm waiting for a quote from these guys. They're local, I like that. They will know more about our weather issues. They build on-site. I like that. Just waiting for the owner to contact me about a few of the barn issues we've already spoken about, like the condensation issues.. He'll talk to me about the materials he uses, give me a quote.. Then back to compare and contrast..

How you doing today? How's it goin?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Hey Kyleen - glad you were able to find a local company! For me, it was important to support our failing economy AND to talk to someone who actually had a clue about the challenges we face here.

Also, a bit of unexpected good news: we got the final bill on the barn and it was actually LOWER than the quote! We got her all done for 62K and change (not including fencing). Were we ever happy about that! I asked hubby if that meant I could get a third horse with the extra money.... the look on his face was priceless!


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## Kyleen Drake (May 26, 2016)

Acadianartist said:


> I asked hubby if that meant I could get a third horse with the extra money.... the look on his face was priceless!



ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!! You come take a photo of my husband's face the first time he catches me cleaning a sheath. And I'll come take a photo of your husband's face next time you mention another horse.. lol


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