Life in the Barns

[Super Sport]

Fantastic thread in every aspect! I found myself staring at your finished ticket booth shed in amazement. I didn't think you'd be able to make that look good, but instead you made it look great! Not sure how I've overlooked this thread all these years, but I'm glad I've found it now.

 

[Homebody]

Great work, need updates! Plus 2 on Flickr. What he ^ said.

Thank You. I'd love to give some updates but it just ain't working!

There is a barn in South East Wisconsin that was being used for Weddings. Till Zoning and Health found out about it! They are upgrading to comply with Fire Exits, Bathrooms, Wheelchair Access and a Zoning Variance to run a small Business in an Ag/Residential area!
My opinion?
Better to see the Barn used, than knocked down to lower Property Taxes!

I agree! There was one about 10 miles from us operating illegally also for a couple years, got caught, fixed everything, rezoned it and now is booked every weekend from April thru October. That's our goal also!!

Did you change the tab at the top to bbcode?

No, just copied the URL and pasted it.

What an awesome thread! I can't believe I just stumbled onto this now! Great work both in and out of the house! If I said I was impressed that would be one heck of an understatement!

Thanks Ron, I appreciate the comments!

Fantastic thread in every aspect! I found myself staring at your finished ticket booth shed in amazement. I didn't think you'd be able to make that look good, but instead you made it look great! Not sure how I've overlooked this thread all these years, but I'm glad I've found it now.

Thanks SS, the ticket booth actually turned out exactly as I envisioned it when I first saw it. Took awhile to finally get to it but happy with how it turned out and man is it useful for all the outdoor **** that usually hangs around in a garage taking up valuable space!

Maybe with the long weekend I can figure out how to post pics again and get you all up to date! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

 

[bj383ss]

After you click on the bent arrow that points to your right you will have this screen come up. Make sure you tab over to the far right and use the BBcode and then choose the image size to share.

BBCode tab by bjohnson388, on Flickr


Bret

 

[Homebody]

Ok guys, still haven't figured out the phone uploading issue yet but the laptop version works fine. I was just trying to avoid that..lol Anyways - here we go.

Back in May of this year we decided to put another coat of paint on the big barn (actually two) as it was looking kinda aged and it's the only protection from the elements it gets. Don't want to side this one as we prefer the rustic look on this one.
East side
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
West side
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
North side
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
Bought 50 gallons of paint, borrowed a friends bucket truck and went to town. Utilizing a rented sprayer it took 2 full days to complete the task.
The right equipment sure makes things easy!
I'll just post some pics and let ya see the progress.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[Homebody]

The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

This mound on the West end that was originally going to be a ramp to the upper level had to be knocked down in order for the truck to sit on flat ground.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

Here's the front all painted. Don't panic on the painted windows and stairs..
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

West end all done.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

And a before of that same end.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

I even had a cheering section rootin me on..lol
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

Here I am painting the white on the upper windows.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[Homebody]

North side facing the road looks a whole lot better!
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

More to come, stay tuned!!

 

[Homebody]

Wouldn't ya know it, once the painting was done we had a hail storm and the South side got all pock marked..

Anyway's, with that done it was time to update the lower windows. As you can see they were quite rotted away from years of neglect.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

And when I say rotted I mean the 8x8 beam under it and all.
Can't find the pic right now but I cut a replacement beam and glued it in place to support the new window and look original from the inside.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

I bought vinyl replacement windows at Menards and built my own frames with 2x4's then added 1x4 vinyl boards for the outside frame.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

Never painting these again!!
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

I also replaced the old wooden door on the front with a new entry door.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr


With all of the front windows and door being replaced the ol girl took on some new life!!
starting to look respectable again.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[bj383ss]

That front view looks awesome!

Bret

 

[Homebody]

That front view looks awesome!

Bret

Thanks, hopefully by March the other 3 sides will look just as well.

 

[Farmall450]

Got the paneling up and tore apart an old gate to use as a chair rail.

Are you still in Belvidere? That's a town over from me. Neat set up as well, glad I stumbled on this thread.

Edit: reading through the thread answered that question.

 

[Homebody]

Moving along, I had these two doors in the front of the barn that were no longer useful as the outside grade got higher over the decades. They were no longer needed anyway's so I had to brick up the bottom portion of them to prevent water from coming in during storms.


Here's the inside of one of them.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Gh8Drn] The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

Of course, as with anything in a 100+ year old barn a small project turns into a bigger one.
Here you can see the layout of the two doors. The one on the right was pretty straight forward and easy.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

The one on the left had bad water damage to the concrete slab beneath it.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[Bogdan M.]

Very interesting thread!
The barn looks great and I have read the entire thread and I can say that there's no project too big for you.
I struggle with minor renovations.

 

[Homebody]

Very interesting thread!
The barn looks great and I have read the entire thread and I can say that there's no project too big for you.
I struggle with minor renovations.

Thank You sir. I know my limits and am not afraid to call in the Pro's when needed though!

 

[Homebody]

Just when you think you have enough on your plate, Mother Nature rears her ugly head...

That storm back in June that did the hail damage to our newly painted barn also loosened up the brackets that hold the top 1/3 of the cupola on. Being that I had no way of getting up there to fix it, it was only a matter of more high winds to finish the job.
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

This section is 5' tall. The remainder on the roof is 8' tall!
The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

The Barnyard by Laine Olson, on Flickr

This was a new one for State Farm as they weren't even sure what I was talking about when I called in the claim..lol

In the end though, they said they'd pay to replace only and not repair. Which led to another problem as finding one that looks like the original 100 year old ones is impossible!!

Sooo, I either replace one and have it look ridiculous by not matching the other OR I take both down and put one new one in the center OR I put two new ones up which leaves me footing the bill to take the other good one down and the new one up.

In the end, I purchased two new smaller ones and will replace those beautiful original ones with plain, basic, boring ones. I'll tell the insurance company I saved em another future claim.

The new ones are only 5' tall as opposed to the 12' that are up there now so I hope it looks OK. Time will tell as the new ones should be arriving this week.

 

[Homebody]

Also worked on my pumps over the Summer for the Gas Station.
20170618_175342 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

Here's all the nasty trim that needed polishing.
20170614_172208 by Laine Olson, on Flickr
20170618_162055 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

Cleaned up pretty well for just hand polishing.
20170618_162055 by Laine Olson, on Flickr
20170618_165835 by Laine Olson, on Flickr


I was stoked when I ran a cord to the original wiring and ALL the lights worked!
20170618_175342 by Laine Olson, on Flickr


New decals and rubber seals..
20170601_175242 by Laine Olson, on Flickr
20170601_175125 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[Homebody]

And they're starting to look good again! Note - these are my own version of Texaco pumps and not original in colors at all. I wanted them to match my buildings.
20170605_195532 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

I think they'll look killer once out in front of the shop. Globes are coming.
20170702_125829 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That's so cool

 

[Homebody]

That's so cool

Thanks, Plugging along!

 

[Homebody]

Loving the warm December were having so far! Making progress in the barn!

 

[C_F]

It's been a while since I stopped by your thread, and I must say, you've been a busy guy! The new paint, windows & door on the barn really look good. It looks much better without the outer stairs & door halfway up the wall. Maybe I missed it, did you make stairs inside instead?

Oh, and your pumps are going to end up looking better than new when you're finished. Nice job!

 

[Homebody]

It's been a while since I stopped by your thread, and I must say, you've been a busy guy! The new paint, windows & door on the barn really look good. It looks much better without the outer stairs & door halfway up the wall. Maybe I missed it, did you make stairs inside instead?

Oh, and your pumps are going to end up looking better than new when you're finished. Nice job!

Thanks CF, I have been busy! Two new staircases are being built inside at the moment.
I can't wait to get the pumps out where they belong in the Spring, been a long project.

 

[Homebody]

Cold weather (though relatively warm for December) means indoor work and time for a makeover of the big barn. If you remember, my daughter said she wants her wedding at the farm with the reception in the barn. "Go low buck dad"..lol Love that girl!
Spent the entire Summer clearing out the barn to get it empty and start with a clean slate. My woodshop went, my toolboxes went, everything.

The upper level was filled with car parts and junk that hadn't been used in 30 years.
Here's a look at where that left us.
20171118_124529 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/HJ64zz] 20171118_124552 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/D2zzP2] 20171119_153111 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/HJ65sg] 20171119_153129 by


This old chicken roost was filled from top to bottom with raccoon poop.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/21AeQr9] 20171123_103316 by

I cut a whole in it and shoved it all to it and into the wheel barrow below. Every bit of it sucked like you think it would!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22C8dqG] 20171123_103328 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

 

[Homebody]

Here's the opposite end of the upper level. All those chandeliers will eventually be hung in here.
The Barnyard by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Z8XuSA]The Barnyard by

And here's a look standing near those lights taking a pic over the open drive thru bay and at the area before it was cleaned out.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Gha4Ln]The Barnyard by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153040134@N06/

 

[Homebody]

Pretty much finished up the inside of my cave last Summer also.
Tin ceiling going up.
20170219_163050 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4GrKJ] 20170219_163104 by

Flooring in the carpeted area going down. 5/8" 4x8 T&G over the plastic stuff (forget what it's called!) just to get it up off the cold concrete and for any snow or water that drips off a car.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/229R3hj] 20170318_145415 by

Indoor/Outdoor carpet went down next over some dense padding.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/CTjDyz] 20170319_132003 by

Then I finished up my bar table that just displays various things to remind me of the good ol days.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22cyvuk] 20160308_101757 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4GCg3] 20160308_101808 by



I used an old screen door to top it off. Cheaper and safer than ordering a piece of plate glass with it being tempered safety glass.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22cyuUc] 20160308_103025 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4GzEb] 20160308_103800 by

I even stitched up my own stools out of some ones I found on craigslist.
Painted em and wrapped em with old jeans, then stuffed the pockets with items..lol
[url=https://flic.kr/p/CxZm5D] 20141031_120717 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/HfWZrH] 20141031_115750 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/ZRb3tn] 20141031_115642 by

Made a TV stand out of this old creeper and set of car ramps.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4GoWY] 20170322_100127 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/217hTHm] 20170322_100138 by


[url=https://flic.kr/p/CTjBwt] 20170415_162434 by

I'll put up pics of the completed place tmrw.

 

[C_F]

Your table & chairs turned out great. Very ingenious using old Levi's, I had to when I came across the photo of the pocket items.

 

[dchance]

I like what you have done. Please keep posting so that we can see the finish.

Dwight

 

[Stellaontap]

What a great place. Love the barns and the house and you certainly have a lot of talent doing the renovations. Can’t wait to see the “ reception hall” finished.

Eric


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Bears Fan]

Wow! You have been busy! I need to check in more often, great progress

 

[Wooden Skye]

Great thread! You have really transformed everything that has been done. I really like the old barns and would love to make into a great shop.

 

[Homebody]

Your table & chairs turned out great. Very ingenious using old Levi's, I had to when I came across the photo of the pocket items.

Thanks! Found it in my son's room when he still lived here! lol

I like what you have done. Please keep posting so that we can see the finish.

Dwight

Will do, Thanks for checking in!

What a great place. Love the barns and the house and you certainly have a lot of talent doing the renovations. Can’t wait to see the “ reception hall” finished.

Eric


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I can't wait to see it finished also, huge project that hopefully pays big dividends! Thanks

Wow! You have been busy! I need to check in more often, great progress

You don't have time with all of your own projects...

Great thread! You have really transformed everything that has been done. I really like the old barns and would love to make into a great shop.

They've been great shops for the past 20 years, but I feel really good getting that big barn empty of all my old **** that wasn't used anymore. I think it's future is bright! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Homebody]

OK, when your old farmhouse just has a small basement and the attic is to hot and a guy still needs a place to hangout and call his own what do you do?
You take the old corncrib and turn it into your mecca!

This is the same building that will have the pumps out front in a couple of months. Can't wait for that!

I still need to get a piece of glass for those two tires which will be my coffee table.
As well as a transition piece to the concrete, which will eventually have a checkered Racedeck floor.
20170415_162259 by

I like collecting Nylint trucks. Made here locally.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4Gmim] 20170402_150640 by

No hangout is complete without a Farrah Fawcett poster!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/229QZbQ] 20170401_101821 by

[url=https://flic.kr/p/22cyhC8] 20170401_101830 by

Dog approved!!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/229QZTG] 20170325_110622 by

Watch a cool video while staring at your car, what's better?!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4Gh87] 20170415_162750 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/217hT8U] 20170331_200453 by Laine Olson, on Flickr

I'd say it's come a long ways..
1-2 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/HfWXLZ] 20151004_170309 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22CcQHy] 1-3 by

And how it sits today awaiting it's gas pumps.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/E4GtGQ] 20170216_072447 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153040134@N06/

 

[Homebody]

A few more of the inside.
20170415_163955 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22wxeYZ] 20170415_163656 by

As I said, I like things that remind me of my youth, so I'm a sucker at antique stores and auctions.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/21bDvKP] 20170415_162409 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/21bDvHK] 20170415_162827 by

Big Daddy for Congress!!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/21rMojE] 20170415_164147 by

Here you can see the bar in it's early stages. I used an old door so I actually have a steel door and a storm door with the space in between for neat stuff.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/217iadj] 20140622_142431 by

Tire bubble balancer picked up cheap and turned it into a table.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/21rMqq3] 20170415_163453 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/CTjARk] 20170415_162723 by

Found these cheap at a swap meet last Spring. Not sure if I'll keep em or not. Don't really go with the look I want outside.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/EpcaW7] 20170610_163757 by

You may see random Disney stuff around the place. Whole family is Disney nuts. In fact my son just got married there last September. It was awesome.
Mickey even cut the cake!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/CTjAet] 20170415_164016 by

Check out that Monroe Shock bar stool! Still one of my favorite finds!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/22tPcGb] 20170402_145429 by


Thanks for stopping by, back to the barn build with the next pics!!

 

[FTWingRiders]

What an awesome, awesome place! I could hang out all day in there, and I love the barn. I've been following from the start and can't wait to see whats next!

oh.. I found the same in my boys room once, just glad he actually listened to me about wrapping that rascal!! HAHA!!

 

[Bears Fan]

Holy ****! The Mecca is awesome!!! I had the same Farrah Fawcett poster on the back of my bedroom door when I stilled lived at home

If you want to sell the Texaco letters PM me a price...I may be interested?

 

[Homebody]

What an awesome, awesome place! I could hang out all day in there, and I love the barn. I've been following from the start and can't wait to see whats next!

oh.. I found the same in my boys room once, just glad he actually listened to me about wrapping that rascal!! HAHA!!

lol you should like some of the pics coming up then of the inside of the barn.

Holy ****! The Mecca is awesome!!! I had the same Farrah Fawcett poster on the back of my bedroom door when I stilled lived at home

If you want to sell the Texaco letters PM me a price...I may be interested?

As we all did back then!
I've already offered the letters to another guy on here doing the Texaco garage. I've still got to message him about price though should I decide to sell.
Shipping would be a pain though so you got that going for ya. I'll keep ya posted.
Thanks for the kind words.

 

[C_F]

I like the broad array of stuff you have in there, it looks like a great place to kick back & relax. Thanks for taking us on the nickel tour!

 

[rmalkow2]

Well done there, creating an awesome hangout place. You have a pretty cool collection of toys and memorabilia.

 

[YJ4000]

Looks great!! You have given me lots of ideas.

Ryan.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Homebody , top stuff all round..

 

[Homebody]

I like the broad array of stuff you have in there, it looks like a great place to kick back & relax. Thanks for taking us on the nickel tour!

That it is! Your're welcome, come back again!

Well done there, creating an awesome hangout place. You have a pretty cool collection of toys and memorabilia.

Thanks, it was like Christmas getting a lot of that stuff out of storage after 10 years.

Looks great!! You have given me lots of ideas.

Ryan.

Get to work then!

Homebody , top stuff all round..

Appreciate it!