16x24 used gambrel barn in Texas

[muldoon]

Thanks Red, that was exactly what I needed. 

I got a late start and got up there Saturday morning, had to keep it short too in time to make the AFC championship game I had invited people to my house to watch on Sunday.  I didn't get to do near as much as I wanted.  The scaffolding is up, and a few more courses are in place.  Why does everything take longer than I think it will? 

That ceiling is going to look great. Can't wait to see it finished.

I cant wait to see it finished too! 

[Redoverfarm]

You are Welcome Muldoon.  Glad it worked out for ya.

[muldoon]

I was blessed with being able to spend 5 days up at the place this past weekend and managed to get some work done.  Overall the pace is slow, I just cant make the drive as often as I wish.  Still it was a great trip, some good work done, I got to live stress free for a few days.  Well stress free except for the bugs, sometimes it felt like everything I saw was capable of either stinging or biting me from the plants and trees to cacti to the bugs to the critters.  Killed a rattler, squashed a few scorpions, but I did leave the yellow jackets and wasps alone.  I tried to trap a hog but I guess there circuit is changed, never saw one and no fresh signs of activity while I was there. 

As for progress,

The ceiling is halfway complete, I crested the ridge this weekend using the scaffolding described above.  Also installed some track lighting and dimmer controls, "movie night" friendly.





For inside, I also did some electrical work in running another 220 circuit for the future ac/heater, added some outlets, added dimmers on inside lighting, outside I chainsawed a good bit of mesquite, and generally just worked the entire time I was up there. 

Refinished my picnic table with tung oil


Above I have some pictures of some shelves I made with all-thread and 2x12's, now they are wrapped in the same cedar as the ceiling.  There are three of these up there. 


Also, the well would not pump when I got there.  Apparently the cows damaged the wiring for the control.  That needed to be rewired and secured. 


Speaking of cows, they spooked me good when I stepped out of the shed at 4am to pee and saw this waiting on me.  I didnt go back to bed after that. 


Also, thanks veterans, hope you had a great Memorial day

[muldoon]

went up with my five year old son on Saturday and got 5 courses done on the other side of the ceiling over the weekend.  still slow work keeping the overlap straight and in place while nailing it - especially since I'm doing it all by myself, but at least I was out of the city.  made some fine bar-bq as well. 

Shawn caught a bunch of grasshoppers and my wife found a frog in one of his pockets in the dirty clothes pile when we got home. 

[speedfunk]

really like the ceiling :0)

[glenn kangiser]

Looks nice, muldoon.  Frogs in the pockets... nice surprise.

[rick91351]

Even in the wilds of dry old Idaho we can end up with frogs in strange places.  Last year after a rain cloud burst we found one in the shower of the fifth wheel.  Yesterday I found one in a 1200 gallon water tank we use to store water for our orchard.  It is all enclosed tank, and I opened the hatch and looked in.  Right there on top was a little frog - or toad, it disappeared.  Latter I opened it up again there it was, so I slowly got my hand under it, caught it and put it in the creek.  Good deed for the day!   

About the cows they will mess with stuff till they brake it, rub it down, eat it or _____  on it.  A few cheap panels or a little fence goes a long way in protecting stuff.       

[muldoon]

What a pretty weekend, the weather was so fantastic there was no need for either air conditioning or heater, it was just perfect.  Low 80s in the day high 50s at night.  Thats a rarity for central Texas. 

As for my trip, I am very happy to report the ceiling has been completed.



made a new friend too.  he was running willy nilly in the ceiling and got himself stuck on the tape holding some felt paper up.  It became his final resting place. 

[MountainDon]

Nice ceiling muldoon! 

[Redoverfarm]

I think you may have mentioned before but is that Cedar that you are using.  If so how strong is the smell?

[muldoon]

It is cedar.  The smell is noticeable when you walk in the door.  After 10 seconds I cannot smell it anymore.  It's not really overpowering, but it is present.  After having been there a while, I don't even notice it coming in and out.  A good property of cedar is that it keeps the bugs out.  There is no shortage of bugs up there so it's a good thing. 

[Redoverfarm]

When I was growing up (several years ago) I can remember staying at my grandparents.  My grandmother had a cedar bedroom suit.  You could tell when you first entered the house but as you say once inside it sort of deminished some.  But it was an older suit and they actually used solid construction rather than veneers so I guess it had more fragrance than the newer pieces.  Just another childhood memory revisited. Thanks.

[muldoon]

red, those ceiling boards are not veneers, they are solid cedar boards. 

Adding two more pictures to the thread, an outside looking at the building.


And a shot of the newly added yard swing.

[Redoverfarm]

Yeah Muldoon I figured that it was.  I was just making reference to modern cedar furniture is now basicly veneer.

[dridril]

hey neighbor
just moved out to our place just outside La Grange
where did you get the locally milled cedar
i milled a few cedar boards yesterday with my chainsaw mill and they are pretty but a lot of work
give me a shout next time you go out i would love to see your place and sometimes a little local help can be handy

[muldoon]

I have not posted an update in a while.  Not much progress has been made inside because the weather has been too fantastic to work inside.  Here are just a few of the things I am keeping myself busy with lately. 

In no particular order.. 

made a makeshift curtain rod out of some old rusted spurs and aged scrap wood. 


work continues on trails, pasture management, and canopying trees.


cattle wire, hog fencing and continual clearing of the perimeter. .. some of the posts were still stout, some got replaced. 


I liked the idea of a generator tie in from another thread and did the same thing


I have been spending a bit of time cleaning up the pond and getting the willows off the dam.  lots of brush has been removed, still a good bit of work to go, but it's going in the right direction.  I cant wait until we can pull some great big bluegill from it. 

[Sassy]

Nice pond - putting in fence & mending it & cleaning up the brush etc can keep a person pretty busy - I know Glenn has been.  Looks nice!

[duncanshannon]

looking good!  not sure if i missed it.. sounds like you are building a farm/ranch?  Whats the scoop?

[Cowboy Billy]

   Great looking place Muldoon And a beautiful piece of property. While its a lot to do by yourself it sure does give you a feeling of pride it it!

   I had to laugh at the cows scaring you. I graduated HS in 1984 and was living in my uncles old farm house in Michigan's UP. One nite I was over my friends house watching tales from the darkside. About trolls making noise jumping off the roof and grabbing people. I rode my fourwheeler home went to sleep woke up to a chomp chomp noise 3 am outside. Grabbed the 30-06 kicked the outside door open and just about shot a black angus that broke out of the pasture and was eating grass around the house.

BIlly

[muldoon]

Thank you guys for looking and the kind words.

. sounds like you are building a farm/ranch?  Whats the scoop?

Well, I dunno.  
This country follows the practice within agriculture of having specific areas mass produce single products.  For example, oranges from Florida, potatoes from Idaho, apples from Washington, etc.  The specific area in Texas I am located in does alot of beef cattle.  Something like 80% of the entire nations beef comes from a 100 mile radius of Luling, TX.  (which Muldoon, TX is inside of).   All of my neighbors run cattle.  Most of the people within a 50 mile radius of me run cattle.  It's quite easy to let them graze to keep the grass down, a nice brisket or couple of ribeyes out of the deal every now and then isn't so bad.  

To be honest, I could care less about cows.  I bought this property to grow grapes.  I searched for a few years to find the characteristics for it.. soil characteristics, drainage, temperature, neighbors, location to multiple cities, etc.  I have been a winemaker for nearly a decade now, and in time, (perhaps decades at my current pace), I intend to make a go at growing grapes and making wine.  

Until then, its a place to get out of the city, to show my children nature and especially to teach them some very important life lessons about loving something and watching it grow, respecting something and watching it prosper, and of course a place to deer hunt, hog hunt, fish, and just drink a cold beer and ride around on the mower.  I keep plodding along, on a pay as I go, incur no new debt strategy, working towards too many finish lines to count.  I don't have it all worked out just yet, but thats not stopping me from working at it one weekend at a time.  

And a beautiful piece of property. While its a lot to do by yourself it sure does give you a feeling of pride it it!

I dont know about pride, but my back sure gets sore!  I like your project as well, not too many skid based platforms here.  We gotta stick together.  

[duncanshannon]

a nice brisket or couple of ribeyes out of the deal every now and then isn't so bad

mmmmm. beef. do you bbq too?  (im in MN, so not a ton of smoking going on... just getting into it and have a 'cheater' smoker (Bradley).  Dreaming of something bigger some day.

I bought this property to grow grapes.

very cool!  good luck... takes a while (years?) for vines to produce fruit right?

to show my children nature and especially to teach them some very important life lessons about loving something and watching it grow, respecting something and watching it prosper

awesome.

[muldoon]

I got started on the north wall.  Instead of making a shiplap with a dado blade, I used the tablesaw at a 45 degree to put bevels on the edges.  The cedar slides together with about 1/2" overlap.  A little rustic, but seems to work ok so far. 

[backattheshack]

great to see another barn builder..lol... gotta love them short side walls

[muldoon]

Built the shed over the well this weekend.  It was a bit windy for this effort but overall a beautiful day.  Also shock chlorinated the well to deal with appears to be sulfur and or iron bacteria.  I am encouraged by the results, but want to try the treatment again the next time I go up. 

[texasgun]

Thats cheating going with a pre-fab, my pump house is a fourth that size and took me 3 weeks looks nice