# Barn Makeover, Would Love Some Tips!



## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

I keep the three of my horses on my grandfathers farm. It's a pretty old farm, belonged to my dads' great grandparents. The horse barn is an old draft run in shed that had been converted into a barn with three stalls and enough for some stack by my aunt many years ago when she was keeping her horses there. Since then, the chinking between the logs has all fallen out, leaving the barn freezing cold during the winter and very hot in the summer. Storing our hay is also very difficult, it's constantly being tossed through a hole between it and the barn beside it. My parents and I have been discussing how much easier it would be to turn the old dairy barn into a stable, it's bigger, warmer in the winter, cool in the summer, and has a water pump inside, and the loft if big enough to store all of our hay. 

The barn already has a few small box stalls for when the pregnant cows are birthing, but I don't think they'd be big enough to for the horses. In which case, the entire barn would have to be gutted. It also has a manure gutter in it, along with all of the stanchions. I would love some tips and design ideas!!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the barn right now, I'll get some the next time I'm out. For now, just imagine an old, dusty, dairy barn with a few box stalls in the back!


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

... Bump?


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Over the years I've learned that the best things you can do when laying out a barn are to think of all the things that can save you time or effort based on your routine.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

For me, it's hard to comment until I see pictures. How many horses will there be? How big is the barn? Where are the support beams in the barn? How big are the currents stalls? If your horses aren`t gigantic and are just going in over night or for feed, you get by with 10 ft x 10 ft stalls if you had to (I know some of the older barns aren`t really wide). A quick fix is portable corral panelling - it goes up fast and can be taken down later and reused in another project or sold. The standard panels where I am come in 10 ft, 12 ft and sometimes 15ft lengths and can be anywhere from 4.5 ft to 6 ft high; matching gates can also be purchased. The light weight ones (suitable for horses) cost about $80 for a 10 ft section; a gate panel costs about double that. A quick fix for the manure gutter is to pack it full of clay even with the rest of the floor. If you have cement floors, rubber matting would be a good idea for the stalls.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

I'll try to get pictures ASAP. There will be only two, possibly three horses. There is a support beam at either end of the barn, with a row of about twenty stanchions between them. I'm pretty sure the stalls are small than 10 x 10.


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## michaelvanessa (Apr 25, 2012)

*turning barn in to stables*

hiya if you have some pictures i will help you and give you some idears we had a small yard we stored our hay in the loft of the stable it use to belong to the rail road it housed the horses that deliverd the coal for the houses in the roads thay were stalls and we put fronts on them and converted them in to stables we had running water and electric as well.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

I don't have any pictures from the inside at the moment, I might have some from the outside ...


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## jmc (Jun 10, 2012)

*Do something about the gutter!*

I'll also be waiting for the photos, but years ago I used to take lessons at a place that used an old cow barn for the horses. At least one of the horses broke a leg, stepping into that gutter (there may have been more, this was around 30 years ago). Therefore I'd highly suggest filling it in. or covering with with something that can take the weight of a horse.


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## hemms (Apr 18, 2012)

I've seen many converted dairies. Fill in the trench for sure. You can mix your own concrete in a wheel barrow and voila. Remove all the old milking stalls. These have been some of the coziest hand-made barns I've been in. I do it in a heartbeat! Maybe keep the two stalls you mention, if you have the room. One barn I worked in converted a smaller stall into a great feed area, very bright and great circulation. And you just may end up with a small enough horse... Could store tools/smaller implements in the other? 

Fun fun! Post lots of pics, before during and after!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

I'm FINALLY going to barn tomorrow and will definitely get pictures of the barn!


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## nvr2many (Jan 18, 2011)

So these small stalls that are there, how many of them are there? I am not sure how its set up but can the divider between two be taken down so each has a double size stall? One made from two?? AHHH, I will wait for pictures, LOL.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

There's three stalls. One on one end of the barn and two at the other, they're all kind of narrow, though, because of the small space between them and the stanchion manger :S


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## Spotted (Sep 19, 2012)

I was in a barn with the trenches and they had a metal grating to cover, when it was time clean they would remove the grating and push the shavings in. A conveyor type thing would push the shaving along and all the way out the building.
Thats the only idea I can think, other than filling it in.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

That's a good idea. It would certainly make stall mucking easier. I'm just not sure how the system works anymore, it hasn't been turned on for a long time. I'd have to clean the junk out before I turn anything on.


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## Hidalgo13 (Dec 24, 2010)

> I was in a barn with the trenches and they had a metal grating to cover, when it was time clean they would remove the grating and push the shavings in. A conveyor type thing would push the shaving along and all the way out the building.
> That's the only idea I can think, other than filling it in.
> ​


My barn has that. It's very useful and saves a lot of time!


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## GallopingGuitarist (Jan 8, 2013)

A word on the 'conveyor thing' (aka gutter chain).. If this is an older barn, make sure you check the chain for any weak spots before using it. We had an old dairy barn (a big (over 50 stanchions) one), dad had repaired some of the links but I guess there was one that was still weak, we were running the gutter and the chain caught on something (not sure what) and a link broke. I watched about 30 feet of chain come flying down to barn to land about 5 feet away from me. It was scary! 
We were using our barn for milk cows (just a few for home use), and behind the bigger cows we covered the gutter with a piece of metal. Dad ended up turning half of the barn into a garage for his truck, and in there he put gravel in the gutters (we took the gutter chain out of the whole barn). the gravel worked great except for the cats with thought it made a wonderful litter box. 

Good luck with your barn!


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

I got back from the barn a little while ago. Sorry for the delay, I had an accident involving hot water about an hour ago :? But I have the pictures off my camera, I have a bunch to upload! Here are the three barns in order 1st horse barn, 2nd hay barn, 3rd dairy barn.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

GallopingGuitarist said:


> A word on the 'conveyor thing' (aka gutter chain).. If this is an older barn, make sure you check the chain for any weak spots before using it. We had an old dairy barn (a big (over 50 stanchions) one), dad had repaired some of the links but I guess there was one that was still weak, we were running the gutter and the chain caught on something (not sure what) and a link broke. I watched about 30 feet of chain come flying down to barn to land about 5 feet away from me. It was scary!
> We were using our barn for milk cows (just a few for home use), and behind the bigger cows we covered the gutter with a piece of metal. Dad ended up turning half of the barn into a garage for his truck, and in there he put gravel in the gutters (we took the gutter chain out of the whole barn). the gravel worked great except for the cats with thought it made a wonderful litter box.
> 
> Good luck with your barn!


Thanks GG, no need to worry though! I talked to my grandfather about the chain and he said it has long since been removed, so that plan is out of the question, guess I'll be mucking manually!


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

These two are of the right side and back of the barn.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

Now, onto the inside. Pictures of the right and left part of the barn.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

These are the three stalls. All of them have the long wooden manger in them.


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## Hidalgo13 (Dec 24, 2010)

That's one big makeover you're going to have to do! :-o But looks like a fun project.


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

Hidalgo13 said:


> That's one big makeover you're going to have to do!


lol I don't want to think about that!


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## GallopingGuitarist (Jan 8, 2013)

I agree, one big make over! Too bad I'm not closer, I would love to come help! Organizing is something I quite enjoy! All the better if it's a barn!


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

GallopingGuitarist said:


> I agree, one big make over! Too bad I'm not closer, I would love to come help! Organizing is something I quite enjoy! All the better if it's a barn!


lol airplane?


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## GallopingGuitarist (Jan 8, 2013)

LOL! I wish! Two word explanation.... Two jobs. 
Good luck though! Looking forward to pictures as you progress with it!


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## Annie28 (Dec 26, 2012)

I worked in a barn that had a trench like a dairy. They put a grate over it and it was great. We would wash down the barn and squeegee the water into the trench, which was better for the concrete. We were also able to sanitize the barn which we had to do a few times a year for no reason and once for a sick horse. I would try to put a grate on it personally. Remember also that cleaning a barn is a full time job. If you can keep your horses outside and have the barn set up for tack, some feed, cold nights, and getting ready for shows it's a lot less work for one person.


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## Annie28 (Dec 26, 2012)

The pics just loaded for me. That's a cool old barn! You could really keep the character and have a cute and unique barn. Looks like fun


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## Almond Joy (Dec 4, 2011)

Wow. Those are some of the prettiest barns I have ever seen!!!!! I love the logs! So old and wise!

I would completely gut it and start from there!


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## BornToRun (Sep 18, 2011)

Almond Joy, I'll save you the horse barn when we're finished


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## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

oh my...when you say "Make over" you mean renovation right? it looks like a few of those walls might need to be replaced. But i do like the feel of the barn it seems homey and rustic it's got personality!


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## Spotted (Sep 19, 2012)

Anywhere that the horses will be kept, I would take out the glass windows and use plastic/plexiglass.
I would also knock down all the stall walls and start over for proper sizes. 
level the flooring, either will cement or grating. and if you want bars high on the stall walls, we used peeled trees, it looks great.
you can always reuse any lumber that isn't rotten.
Looks like it will be alot of fun and looks like you have room for a tack area as well.


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## RitzieAnn (Dec 22, 2010)

Barn looks pretty awesome. A bunch of dusting & sweeping & paint chipping, and it would looks tons better. It's truly amazing what paint does 

I like the rustic look. I don't think you'll need to remove non broken glass windows, but it would be very wise to put some screening or some boards across them to the horses cannot actually touch them. We all know they're stupid & actually try to hurt themselves lol


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

That's a barn that has a lot of character. Good luck in making it shine.

Re Windows - We use hardware wire to cover our windows in the stalls. Hardware wire is available in different size squares from any of the places that sell home reno stuff.

Re Paint - Since it's an old barn, I think you'd have to believe that the paint may well be lead based and needs to be removed for the horses' safety.


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## Jim Andy (Jan 21, 2013)

I for one think you have a great barn.I thinking just taking down a wall in between two stalls making one bigger stall. I would concrete up the drains in the floor. If you have a tank room where they kept the mike tank or cans that should make a great 
tack room.I love old barns they where build to last. I also love the log building I would for sure replace the chinking and take care of all the builings. But that's just me.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

If that barn were mine I wouldn't get in a hurry to renovate. Half height stalls don't need to be as big as full height stalls as the horse can easily put it's head over the wall. The layout appears to be for the farmer's convenience when it comes to feeding and cleaning. Perhaps try it for a year. You have to keep in mind weight bearing walls as they must remain.


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