# Finishing a barn...



## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Hey guys, new member. My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to get out of a subdivision recently into a 11 acre property with a log home, fenced in pastures and barn that needs finished. The structure is there and solid, 6"slab, has power, has 4 stalls started on one side and other side still open. Will need to finish 2 stalls asap as once we move in we have 2 horses coming soon. Looking forward to reading the posts in this part of the forum. Will post pics when I get some sent from her. Thanks in advance.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Hello and welcome to the forum.

How big the barn is, will determine a lo of things, especially stall size. When I had four horses in my 20 x 40 barn, the three Walking Horses stalls were 12 x 14 and the little Arab's (13.3H) stall was 12 x 10.

The fastest way to make your stalls is with pipe panel, if the horses get along. Put kickboards about a third of the way up.

If you want electric, you need to figure a safe place to put in a 220 amp service box, put ALL of your wiring in metal conduit to keep the rodents from chewing it up. Squirrels and chipmunks are great little arsonists

If the stall area is cement, put mats down and bed with shavings on top of that.

Is there room for hay storage ---- a little hay or hay for the entire season? 

Water ---- is there water already at the barn. If not where do you want to run the water line, how many *frost free spigots* will you need? I have one at end end of the barn. They are outside but winters in southern Middle Tennessee don't get on the same frigid scale as Minnesota winters

Do you want tack storage at the barn or do you prefer to keep your expensive things in the house in a spare bedroom?

A counter work area ---- you could use the space below the breaker box for a counter space area. Mine is L-shaped and sits on top of several Rubbermaid type cupboards that can be washed with the water hose where they sit, or taken outside for cleaning.

That should get you thinking for,now, lollol


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Thanks for the reply, I'll answer a few of the questions...

Power is at barn, they ran some time around for somw light but that will be replaced with conduit for the wiring.

Water is a big question, my house is on a well which is behind the house, prob 200-300 ft from the barn. I have to figure out a way to tee off the piping to get to the barn, that's going to be the biggest project. In the meantime we will use hoses to get water.

The slab was poured for the main barn floor but the stalls were left dirt. So the stall floors are 6"below the slab grade. What material would be best to build up the stall floors? Since its not concrete I won't need drains on stalls, just to build up the floor to be level? 

There is a hayloft area already built up, also an apartment area framed in on the second level.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Sorry meant to type romex for the wiring.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Here's a pic from the front, and one inside showing the rough frame in of the 4 stalls to the right. There is also 4 sliding stall doors that are included.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Now that is a barn

I hope the house is pretty much livable because you've got your hands full getting the barn in order

Someone already started the stalls with hardwood and it looks like there is enough wood to finish them plus they left you sliding doors so you're pretty much golden in that department. 

Use oil on your drill bit to help get thru the hardwood easier and save some life on the drill bit. My barn is metal so we put hardwood kick boards up. DH pre-drilled the holes w/a smaller bit, then used the drill to screw the screws in ---- we would have been hammering and nailing clear thru Christmas, otherwise, lollol

The barn looks to be sitting on pretty level ground. You're in Georgia, Yes? My thought regarding the stalls and the entire barn is:

1. Forget the angst and expense of running water to the barn this year.; buy good *3/4" rubber hoses and a fire hose type nozzle that puts out a higher PSI. TSC carries both.* Instead *spend that money and a little more on gutters and downspouts.*. 

People are always complaining about water seeping into the barn and excessive mud right where the horses walk in. There won't be water in the barn and entry way mud will be greatly reduced with gutters, downspouts, and those cement "things" sitting under the downspouts that allow the water to run away from the barn.

We bought bare land and retired to this property in 2003. The slope from one end of my barn to the other is 1/8". Even in the 2010 deluge that flooded Everybody and his brother, my barn never took in an inth of water and my stalls were never dug out, lollollol. Just put 8" of crush right on top of the ground, lollol

There is a decent slope from side-to-side where my barn sits but, the gutters and down spouts are largely responsible for keeping the barn dry:smile:

2. Your stalls are 6" below the cement. I am sure the Sellers had intended to fill those stalls with big stone like you would use as a base for a new driveway. You could put a finish of limestone crush or sand & crush on top of that base gravel, then out mats on top of that and bed with shavings.

3. I have a 24W X 20L overhang where the horses come in and out. That also helps keep things from getting muddy in a heavy rain.

FYI, the overhang is NOT attached to the barn. It is butt up to the barn with flashing covering the gap. We get really high winds and this way, if the overhang goes, it won't take the barn with it.

This is my barn set up, showing the overhand and the down spouts on the east side of the barn. Also my Onery 23 yr old TWH, Rusty. I have to keep my insulin resistant TWH (my avatar) in the yard because Rusty likes to beat him up.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Middtenn, again thanks for advice. You know, ur prob about 4 hours away and I could use some hands...... jk, I'm going to check on the footing for the stalls and yes all the wood is custom cut by the owner who has a sawmill. He's going to provide the wood to finish so that is a huge plus. Hoping to get my brother and some friends over to get those stale built asap. Also want to change the front barn door to a sliding one, and the gutters sound like a great idea, I didn't even think about the mud around the barn. I'm going out this week to do some measuring, I'll get some more pics and divulge more of the plan as it unfolds. Good looking horses btw.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

watch out for ground bees. 'Tis the season, if you or any of your friends are allergic to bee stings.

There are already a few of us on the forum who have been nailed just working around our farms. Seems like it's going to be a bad year.

Much as I would love to come and help, I'm afraid I would have to sit and supervise, lollol

Thanks for the compliment on my horses. That Onery fella in the pasture has been with me 21 years. He is one tough trail horse but can instill the fear of death in a lot of people and my other horse, lol. My avatar horse has been with me 11 of his 22 years. He would have been right at home hanging out at Haight/Ashbury during the 70's, he loves everyone and everything, lol

Please keep us updated, including pics when possible. This thread will make a good journal to look back on for you


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

So...been busy selling the old house and closing on this one. Have a tandom dropping a full load of stone dust for us to buildthe stalls up to slab level before we add the mats. Putting up some temp electric rope fencing for some paddocks. The property is fully fenced but has a top strand of barbed wire that needs to be removed. Does anyone have an idea of who or where to get a set of prints made so I can have an actual plan to work from. I have all my wood being cut for me from the seller on his sawmill, I just don't have any idea of what to have him cut. Need to get 2 stalls going asap.


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## Werecat (Aug 23, 2015)

Congratulations! Currently working on the interior of my new barn, and it's exciting, but not as fast of a process as I'd like hehe.

For prints, if you want all the engineering numbers and details, I'd go to someone who does professional prints. Usually every town has them. My builder got mine for me for my house from a local print artist, but I'm sure you'll be able to easily get those down by someone local.


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## gnpenning (Aug 19, 2017)

If you raise the stall height to be the same as isle everytime you open or close the door shavings will spill and get in the way of the door closing. 


8" of fill depending on your base soil will be a lot. Keep it down a few inches. Use a plate compactor to get a level surface for your mats. Have the mats precut. This way you can put the mats in and pack them at the same time and save on rental fees. If your mats aren't flat you will be catching tines on the edges every time you clean. Do Not use a jumping jack type. Your stalls won't be as flat and you will be catching tines. This comes from someone who owns a jumping Jack and chose to rent a plate compactor. I did use it for initial compaction and getting it close so it did cut down on rental fees.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Little update, got the right side fully cleaned out. Tore the previous attempts at framing out and started from scratch. Had a full load of stone dust delivered and using it for base. Going to do 2 12x12 stalls and one 12x24 stall. The big stall is for my girlfriends spoiled horse. We got extremely lucky and got an awesome paint/quarter horse pony that's a hunter jumper and bombproof,for my daughter. God has blessed us so much with good people and friends that have made this possible. I'll attach some pics. And put some more after tomorrow when I have more done.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

More pics. So what is a good place to get some thin angle metal for the edges and corners? I've seen stuff online from horse companies but it's pretty expensive, there has to be a cheap alternative that I'm not thinking about. U can see in the pics, all the stalls will jave a dutch door and the big stall and ends will have windows. Going to use the outside wall as the outside of the doors and windows, should be awesome when finished. Thanks for looking and all help appreciated.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

More progress


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## Werecat (Aug 23, 2015)

Awesome job! And smart for scratching the old and starting new. Do you mean the u-channels for the corners?


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Your barn looks fabulous! Very professional looking too! Fun to see your progress. 

Not sure what you mean about the metal; are you trying to cover exposed wood like corners and such? If so maybe house siding material would work.


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Thanks guys, yes I'm looking for the u channel metal to put over exposed corners to prevent the horses form chewing.


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## Werecat (Aug 23, 2015)

Places like Ramm fencing sells them. I'm sure there are other things similar you can get locally. I'm looking for thinner metal to put over the top of my dutch doors in case a horse gets the idea to start nibbling lol.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

you are building my dream barn lol!


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## valley ranch (Oct 12, 2017)

Baracus~hi, I used 3/4" PVC to run water and romex(in PVC as well) if it doesn't freeze where you are you can go shallow~put the water pipes almost 4' down here for freeze protection. You can install Freeze Proof hydrants for water in winter~guess you know that```

Richard


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## baracus (Aug 24, 2017)

Thanks to everyone that replied, I found a cheap option that I'm going to use for the chew guard, I was able to get 8' angle that has holes punched in it from a garage door company. They call it "pre punch" and use it to hang the tracks and operators for roll up doors. It's strong, not sure what gauge and has not sharp areas. May look different but once painted i think it will be ok. Beat part is I can get it for 2.50/8' stick. So ive got the anothet stall framed in. It's a 12x12, alot of work for me being I'm learning as I go but it's cool to see the progress. The previous owner had the stall fronts laying on the ground covered in leaf litter and mud so I spent alot of time with a wire wheel and brush cleaning them up before paint. Here's some pics of the second stall. I need to start filling in the walls now, I got some 1x12x12 rough sawn pine for some and some really nice white oak that's still somewhat green to use. Not sure if I want to put the oak up yet and then have it shrink. So doing some electrics work and filling in walls is next. Got a good deal locally on some bermuda/fescue round Bales and got a few alphalfa square Bales as a treat. We have the pony here and anothet one on the way from nova Scotia, will be here Thursday.


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## Werecat (Aug 23, 2015)

How exciting!! We got our stall fronts up yesterday, not complete but it's so cool to see the progress  I really like the wood you were able to use for yours. I love the color you chose to paint the stall hardware  Fromt he pics I could've sworn you just bought them, they look brand new! I was going to use pine tongue and groove for the inside of my stalls but the house took more of the budget than I liked and I am having to make compromises for the barn. I look at it as I can always upgrade later. the rough pine you are talking about will look good.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Wow, this project is coming right along!
Can't wait to see more


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