A Farm Clothesline

We are repairing and staining the clothesline supports inherited at this horse farm. They are fashioned after the pergola design off the back of the house nearby and classic in design elements. One lattice was replaced and all parts power washed before covering with Benjamin Moore Exterior Stain in white like the back deck railing and pergola will be.

The lattice is held in place with pieces of routed pine into which it is slid before fixing in place with the bottom piece. They are attached to 4" pressure treated square posts.

Finally, we will stain the back deck Benjamin Moore's Arborcoat in "Misty Gray" if the weather stays dry enough.

Inside A Barn Wall

Early in the day we replaced two panels of T1-11 on the North side of the small animal barn which exposed old wooden framing and dated the building close to the 1780's age of the house. New panels were levered into place while the gutter was disconnected and old worn-out fascia board removed. Galvanized button head nails secure the new panels along four snapped chalk lines and the materials cost was about $90.00 for the entire repair. The last old window has also been removed here and next for re-framing in.

The original wide plank siding remains in place on three sides of this oldest portion of the barn.

Building A Barn Window Shutter

We have rebuilt two barn doors and now a window shutter for the small animal barn. All have reused existing wood which had been improperly braced, or now served as a pattern and both provided great old hardware. In the case of this old window shutter, we bought new 3/8" plywood, a 3/4" X 6" pine board and 3/4" primed Quarter Round Moulding since only the hardware could be saved. Although the design appears to be simple, it took some calculating to make the corner interior board cuts and not one triangle matches another. Locktight 3X Carpenters Glue and galvanized nails were used to assemble all of the parts which will get plenty of weather exposure. The Quarter Round gets added to the triangles.

Wonderful Windows

Lately we have been re-glazing and installing old windows at the farm. I have found wonderful vintage Tudor diamond shaped casement windows from a 1920's house in Princeton NJ, we will build out to replace the tractor shed windows which are breaking apart. They are in excellent condition and came with ornate solid brass hardware we will save to use elsewhere. The wood muntins are 3/4" thick and stepped inside while the exterior wood ones now have newer glazing. They came painted "White Dove" matching the shed which is amazing. Bill used a biscuit cutter to marry the new wood to the window.

The wonderful new Velox Cabrio balcony skylights would be nice to use on the front roof of Old Farm to the right of the trellis although the pitch is low enough to get a similar effect with two regular skylights installed near the floor while the difference in price is dramatic. A Cabrio costs about $4,100 and a similar sized opening skylight is about $625. The Cabrio is also a more challenging installation as it is larger and comes in two parts which get installed individually.

Also, two skylights could go on the back of the house between the trellises there instead. Velux images via Pinterest. 

Painting Red and White Barns

We will manage to paint two barns and outbuildings this summer using Benjamin Moore's Arborcoat solid stains + mildewcide which cover in one coat and are easy to clean up. Having all sized new Purdy paint brushes (4" for big spaces) and a pack of blue painters tape to mask red from white in spots, the work has gone quickly. We now have two front sides of the last barn painted enough to think it is beautiful, although it has a few repairs still in the making. How lucky to have a lot of sun this summer and a new acrylic stain that dries quickly in case of a sudden rain storm. Arborcoat can be painted over oil based primer and I have 80 grit sanded old oil based trim paint before using it.

Repairing A Small Animal Barn

After power washing and removing doors or shutters to be replaced, this small animal barn is ready for some scraping, painting, and two new sheets of T1-11 siding on the back. The hayloft and main entrance doors have been rebuilt and a new cupola will be installed soon. Removing the side window screens we discovered that the windows slide open with interior metal bars. So cool.