So the plan goes like this, I have a floor plan, and I intend to build a timber frame barn over the
course of the next 5 years starting in 2022. After I come up with a materials list with quantities, I'll use this list to gather materials as I am able and store them. I'll build in sections. First year I hand dig the foundation. Second year I build the
concrete foundation and lower sections of the walls. Third Year I raise the bents and roof it. Fourth year I fill in the walls and make the rainwater system. Fifth year I make the doors and install the pasture
fence.
I plan to get help for roofing it, as I'm unsteady on my feet and have trouble walking or standing for long periods, and that doesn't mix well with heights. I was electrocuted last year by 60 amps of electricity and it caused nerve damage in my legs. It's actually why I have to have barns for my stock and can't raise them in electric netting anymore. I can't lift my legs high
enough to step over the netting anymore. Turn the problem into a solution I say, so we're using my injury as an excuse to build a cool barn and make our livestock
experience easier. Don't worry tho,
chickens will still get lots of bugs and grass. I have a cricket and meal-worm raising setup I'm also building (partly for me and partly for the
chickens, because bugs are a tasty snack).
The Barn's specs are as follows:
The frost line is 2 ft, so the foundation is 3 ft deep, the concrete wall comes up 2 feet above grade in stalls and 1 ft above grade for walls not adjoining a stall.
The length of the barn is 48 ft, and the width without the
feed storage room is 24 ft. The Feed storage room is 18 ft x 18 ft.
Grade to plate is 8 ft on the south side, and 9 ft on the north side. There are king post shed trusses offset from north to south sides to allow a ridge vent. Northern trusses are 1 ft higher than southern trusses. Walls are sheathed with hinged panels like a tobacco barn that can be opened during hot weather to admit more airflow, preventing buildup of moisture,
carbon dioxide, and ammonia from the deep bedding system.
Every third roof panel is clear polycarbonate to admit dappled sunlight. I plan to use Opaque white polycarbonate panels for the rest of the roof and for the tobacco barn vents.
A welded wire inner lining to the stalls lets me see the stock but keeps them from escaping, and keeps predators out when the vents are open.
All Barn doors are 2 inches thick and made of solid yellow pine 2x6 boards. I'm actually pretty good at making batten doors and there's a hand built dutch door in my blacksmith shop. The door in the feed storage room will be tight-fitting to keep rats out.
Walls that are un-vented will be wattle and daub (the front and back walls of the mow and the walls of the feed storage room). This is just cheap infill that I'll have a lot of materials for from digging the foundations. My soil is perfect as is being an alluvial deposit of clay and sand. I just have to add horse manure and
straw to get a
cob with really nice properties, then give it a nice double coat of lime stucco and draw on it with red ochre.