New Barn

When we moved down here in December, one thing that became quite clear was the need for a barn of some sort. In Michigan, we had a shed the size of a one-car garage, a full basement with lots of storage, and a 2 ½ car garage. Here we have no basement, no shed, and a slightly smaller garage. Needless to say, our garage has been full and unusable for its intended purpose (sheltering cars) since we moved here.

 

A couple of months ago, Dad started getting quotes to build a pole barn. I have met several people who asked, “what’s a pole barn?” So allow me to try and clarify. The main difference between just any barn and a pole barn is two-faceted:

 

1.) Pole barns are built with specially treated metal poles which are anchored to cement.

2.) Pole barns are typically used for storage of farm equipment and garage-type objects rather than animals.

 

It took about a month to build the barn. The company we hired could have finished a lot sooner, but the weather just didn’t cooperate. Half the time, we had really bad storms rolling through, or the wind was too wild to work safely. But we were in no big rush, thankfully!



The site of the new barn! This photo was taken the day they started.
Photo Credit: Betsy.



They first dug everything up.
Photo Credit: Josiah

A couple of days later, they leveled everything with sand, and poured the concrete slab.
Photo Credit: Roma.

Once the slab was dry, they began putting up the poles and doing a lot of welding.
Photo Credit: Roma.

Once the framing was finished, the siding and insulation went up quickly!

There was a pretty big delay between the time they finished putting the walls, doors, and windows in and the time they put the roof on. We had several days when it was too wet to safely work up there, and then several days when it was too windy. Working with big pieces of sheet metal is a great way to slip or get blown away, so it’s important that conditions are good!

Finally finished! Ok, not exactly. We still need an electrician to come out and hook up the electricity out there. Next week we have the concrete guys coming back out to connect our driveway to the barn. But we already started moving things in there! With the type of heat we’ve been having, I can’t wait to get our cars inside. J
Photo Credit: Betsy.