Barn Improvements

It's never too late to make improvements to your barn!

I wonder how many barn-people like myself have gotten used to the way it is and aren't considering how it could be?  I bet a lot.

For about 13 years my primary way of getting in and out of my barn has been through the roll-up garage door.  My barn has a back door that I find somewhat inconvenient; having to walk around the back of the barn.

It's my guess that on an average day I make around 6 or 8 trips from the cabin to the barn/barn to the cabin.  Since I'm somewhat paranoid about a snake getting inside in the summer and mice year round, I don't like to leave the big door open other then when I'm coming in our out.  That results in opening and closing the roll-up door several times a day.

With that, I finally got around to project #637: installing a new walk-in door on the front of the barn.

This project might not qualify for it's own HGTV spot, "Barn Door Builders", but it was somewhat more involved than your average door project.

I had to first cut out the appropriate rough sized door opening on the inside barn wall, covered in 1.25"x12"x10'  rough-cut pine.  Next was re-routing all the electrical wires (4) located in the 2x6 stud wall which included a 220 wire (220, 230, whatever it takes:) that Dad wired in a few years ago to power a heavy duty planner he gave me.

The next step was cutting out the outside covering of the barn wall and then installing the pre-hung steel door which was recently procured from the Bentonville Lowe's--a good place to buy doors.

After the door was installed, the next step was caulking around the door to seal out the rain, weather, bugs and "such as that".  As a side note, I know a guy who often uses the phrase "and such as that" at the end of a lot of his sentences.  I've always gotten a kick out of that!

Next was putting in a door header and building out the inside door frame., before trimming the frame and painting the door.  These last steps took me quite a bit of time; several hours.  This is likely proof that few people would be willing to pay me by the hour to install a barn door at their establishment.  Which means my life-long dream of being a barn-door builder may be out;  Dang-it!

Aside from the door itself and the paint, I used materials I had on hand including re-claimed redwood left over from a deck-remodel (town project #877) at the old homestead a few years ago, as well as assorted western red cedar I've accumulated over the years from various barn and cabin projects.  I finished off the inside with metal trim originally planned for the inside of the cabin door (Alaskans have it right: don't throw away usable junk if there's any chance you might be able to one day use it).

I finished the door project by building a small canopy from the same redwood and cedar stash I've been pulling from for years.  All-in-all, I think I had about $160 in the project  (the cost of the door) and somewhere between 20 and 130 hours of actual work:)

Having a walk-in pedestrian door at the front of my barn has been a significant upgrade if not complete game changer in the barn category.  Hard to believe I didn't do this years ago! Now onto project #638 and #639.  As always, I'll keep you posted.....

Note: Thanks to my Ol' friend, Nick-Nic-Nick Shepherd, for reminding me I was way behind on posting odds and ends.  Further proof that "you never know who's watching"!