Living in a very rural area in Upstate New York, people are far and few between, and lending a hand when a big project is to be undertaken is what I enjoy the most about homesteading.
The project that needed to be addressed was rebuilding the entrance to a barn that was constructed back in the late eighteen hundreds.
Having quite a bit of experience in construction, this project was right up my alley.
There are so many barns in the area that have not been given the loving care needed to keep these structures intact.
Last November I did a blog on a barn about a mile from my home, it had been neglected for years.
I felt a real sense of sadness as this once magnificent structure was literally falling onto the dirt road, a piece at a time.
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One can only imagine the man hours it must have taken to erect such a structure. Back in the day, muscles and perseverance were the tools of the trade.
Well , in this case I was almost ecstatic knowing that Uncle Lou's barn would not succumb to such a sad ending.
Going in, I knew that muscles, 
perseverance, and a couple pieces of heavy equipment, would do the trick. Thank God for the heavy equipment..JPG)
A week before starting the renovation, we took a stroll up the road to scope out the job. The family was up that weekend, and a visit to the barn is always an exciting adventure for the grand kids.
The guy with the hat on is one of Uncle Lou's sons. He owns his own construction company, and he will operate all of the machinery.
First step was to get all of the supplies on the job site.
I would be picking up the necessary timber from Beardsley's Saw Mill.
The mill cuts special orders, and we would need ten 6" x 6 " x 10 foot timbers for the floor joists, which would span the opening.
2" x 10" x 16 foot timbers would make up the decking.
We would be storing the timber in the barn, and there was no way I was going to bet on the old floor system handling the weight of the load. We would carry the timber into the barn!
Chris called these 3,000 lb monsters, Mafia block. The name for these block may have something to do with Jimmy Hoffa.😁 They would be the foundation for the floor system.
With all things in place it was time to start hobbitizing.
This is a side view of the entrance to the barn. As you can see, the hand placed rock foundation is showing the wear and tear of almost 200 years.
Over the years the foundation has sunk into the ground, and the entrance walls and the roof to the entrance have sunk with it, pulling apart the main support attaching the entrance to the barn. Back in the day the joinery was done with wooden spikes. You can see that the wooden spikes have been sheared off over time, and the two supports have separated.
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The floor system needed to be removed before Chris could dig out the old rock foundation.
With the floor system out of the way we started to remove the old stone foundation.
The volume of rocks that were hand placed for the foundation was simply amazing.
Back in the day, when a barn was being build it was a community project. This would have to be the case, otherwise the farmer might spend his entire life constructing the barn.
In order to remove the foundation under the side walls to the barn entrance, we used the smaller back hoe to hold up the wall.
This maneuver was a little risky as the earth continued to collapse. Hustling, we lined the bottom of the ditch with clear stone and were ready to set the first block.
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Over my left shoulder you can see a large void where the rock and earth continued to collapse.
Not only was the rock placed to carry the floor system, it had also been placed at the entrance . As we dug, the volume of rock leading into the barn entrance had to be 5 times the amount used for the foundation.
Moving as quickly as possible, and thinking safety first, the wall needed to be supported so that we could remove the smaller backhoe before it fell into the hole.
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Almost there! You can see Chris looking rather concerned as the earth continued to give way.
Just after taking this picture, Chris stepped on the grass where the earth below had collapsed, and it gave way.
He fell partially into the hole, but managed to scurry to safety before falling to the bottom. It was a good thing it was not me, my man is about 25 years younger. There is very little scurry left in me, slow and steady is the way I roll.
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With the wall sitting on the foundation, we removed the smaller backhoe, and started to dig out the center portion of the foundation.
We would address bringing the wall to plum after the remaining block were set.
One side down, one side to go.
Looking pretty good, BUT the floor joist located under the wall was rotted and would also need to be replaced.
This would require some ingenuity, as the wall would need to be lifted off of the block, and the joist replaced.
We decided to address that later. After digging out the remainder of the foundation, we tackled the second side wall.
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Once again, things got a little hairy.
Having dug out most of the remaining foundation, we had room to temporally set some block, and support the second wall.
The floor joist under this wall was also deteriorated beyond repair, and it would need to be replaced.
Now, that is a look of satisfaction.
It didn't take long to stack the middle block.
With all but two block set, we were making good progress. In this picture you can see a horseshoe we found. If you look closely you can see the horseshoe sitting where the next block will be placed. Luck would be on our side for the remainder of this project. Uncle Lou must have been watching from the heavens and smiling all the time.
With all of the Mafia block in place we were able to temporally support the side wall. With the wall supported, the old floor joist was removed and a new timber was installed. One side down, and one side to go.
Rinse and repeat for the second side, and we were ready to install the remainder of the new floor joists.
With the timber having been milled just a week ago, the s--t was heavy as ever.
The block are all interlocking, and the tongue on the top of the block had to be removed where the joist would cross the block. Chris had brought his demo saw with a diamond tip blade which he used to cut out the tongue.
After putting multiple slices in the tongue, we beat on the concrete to remove it.
The remainder of the floor joists, and the decking were installed in a matter of hours. Prior to installing the flooring, the walls had to be moved back into plumb so that the doors would close properly. The walls also needed to be lifted. The left wall was lifted 13 inches and the right wall 9 inches, before letting them down on the new foundation.
With construction of the barn entrance completed, it was time to back-fill.
A new drainage system was installed for the entire length of the barn.
After covering the drainage pipe with gravel, and using some of the rock to build several retaining walls, the job was complete.
Here are just a couple of pictures of the completed job. Besides cutting down the bottom of the right door, things are looking swell.
The day after finishing the project I went back up the road to check things out. The first thing I wanted to see was if the beams that had separated had gone back into position after lifting the two walls. To my surprise, the gap had closed about 60% of the way.
The doors were also closing without hitting each other.
Yea, slippers are on, and I need to just hang out and smoke a big fat one. Nothing like a victory cigar, or better yet, a blunt!
The maiden voyage over the bridge put a big grin on my face.
Here is a picture of Uncle Lou hanging out with us. He is the only reason I now live in Upstate NY. In 1979 he convinced me to buy the property down the road from where he had recently purchased his farm. It didn't take much convincing as we purchased our property just weeks after he mentioned it to us. It is because of this wonderful man that we now own a small piece of heaven.
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Uncle Lou passed several years ago on November 6th 2017. Coincidence would have it that November 6th is my birthday.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed helping a neighbor.
What an epic project!! Team work and the help of a little heavy equipment never hurt nobody but it did bring a breath of life to the old barn. That looks like a great project that I could really get involved in. A little sketchy... that’s my kind of action. Lol.
I think that bridge turned out really nice and I love the rock that was placed next to the blocks. You sir get a big
Cheers from me!!
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Thanks @jlsplatts, The whole project went very smooth. There were so many rocks that we dug out of the foundation that we had more than enough to build that wall next to the blocks. Chris, the dude that operated the heavy machinery was only available for a week. He works for PSE&G and took a week of his vacation to work on the barn entrance. I know his Dad Uncle Lou would have been proud as ever of him. With only 7 days to complete the project there were some very long days. thanks for stopping by and thanks for the compliment. Had a couple of cold ones myself after finishing the job.
On a different note, you haven't gone on that fishing trip with your brother, father, and Mel Jr. yet have you?
I have a guy I went to Lineman college with that works for New York gas and electric or something?? Jeff Nixon is his name, funny thing is I just talked to him via Snapchat a couple weeks ago. What an awesome project to be a part of and to think, you didn’t have to take time off work to do so. Lol. Aaahhh the retirement life. Lol my dad just retired about 2 years ago and it’s funny because between the house fishing/hunting/ and my moms craft business he doesn’t stop. Maybe that is where I get it from. I’m trying to get my mom on steemit to sell her stuff. She creates some amazing things. Jillzee’s Treasures on Facebook keep @farm-mom away, she might get some crazy ideas. Lol
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I grew up in construction but this barn would have me scratching my head lol. I love older structures. Yeah yall did a great job! Thank God for heavy equipment is right lol. 👍😎
Thanks for the compliment @weirdheadaches. Everything worked out really great, and we finished the project just in time. Chris, the guy operating the heavy equipment only had a week, and we finished up with 1 day to spare.
You are an amazing man Mr. J, I love you more everyday. AND I love your surprises.
Thanks farm-mom, and thanks for all of the food and drinks you supplied through the entire project. This was definitely not a union job, as most of the time we were eating while working. Love you.
Did you say “safety first” following the picture of walking that 3k block without gloves? 🤔 Speaking of slow and steady..
:Dear Sweed’s followers: “the long game always wins.”
Phô King amazing article @thebigsweed! Good lookin out @m31, you’re a gangster of a curator and I’ve never said that to anyone else.
The dude died on your birthday, are you frikkin kidding me?! This article was a homerun from the very first line to the last period, Bob, thank you for sharing this one with us and congratulations on the ocd mention. 👍🏿
I mentioned to you earlier this week how you’ve been quiet lately but got dang—you sure know how to deliver when you come back. Great article, sir. Thank you (again).
Hello @dandays, thanks for taking a look. Your compliments are always topnotch and comming from you make them even better.
You know, at my age you try to let the birthdays pass without too much fanfare. With Uncle Lou passing on my birthday, I will always remember him and just how much I admired him.
Have a great weekend!
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