1800’s barn to home conversion. need advice
Christine Case
2 months ago
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jck910
2 months agoJenny
2 months agoRelated Discussions
Looking for suggestions 1800s Home
Comments (14)The house is charming and the paint job you've done on it really makes some of the special details pop. I especially like that you've painted the foundation to go with the scheme and think viewing the "before and after" shows what a lovely and dramatic difference it makes. Actually, there's nothing on the house that I'd like to see covered with plantings. I like everything. There are no blank spaces begging for "help." But like any structure, it needs some larger plantings at a distance to give it that framed/connected-to-earth look. Using one of your photos, I'll offer these suggestion: A) The conifer at the left, while right now doesn't look that bad, I can easily see that as it grows it's going to dominate the space. In order to keep access to the entrance, you'll be forced to limb up the tree. I don't think that in itself is a horror (as some others surely will,) but eventually, the tree will overwhelm the house and seem out of place. Seems like you'd be so much better off to replace it promptly with a smaller flowering tree... something along the lines/size of a redbud or Magnolia soulangeana. It would present a better picture now and for decades longer than the existing tree could hope to do. B) The house has much charm, but the lattice at the steps looks cheap and entirely from a wrong era. I'd replace it with just plain boards painted with the foundation/trim color. C) Given that the Weigela has already halfway turned itself into a tree form, I'd finish the job and make it look much more tidy. Also, I doubt that there is anything behind it that needs hiding, so why hide it? A multi-trunk tree form would give a more open look and "invite" viewers to see what's beyond. (I would not THIN trunks, but remove any that fall outside of the desirable cone-shaped profile.) A different picture (I'm not showing here) suggests that the Weigela would enjoy being placed in a half or quarter-circle shaped bed (depending on how you tie it to the yard) of low/medium ht. groundcover/perennial, for ease of maintenance as well as appearance. D) A marked blemish on the entire scene is the poor quality grass adjacent to the road. Oceandweller made suggestions about it, too, and I agree with him (?) completely. It the turf was in tip top shape, the house would look even much more special and expensive than it already does. If grass is not feasible adjacent to the roadway, then I'd consider a brick walk that abuts the pavement, but serves primarily as a "frame" for the yard, just to dress up the view. Unless there's a real need for a walk there, I'd opt for the grass repair first....See MoreProtecting peaches in the 1800's during winter
Comments (10)The whole growing under glass was a major trend in the mid/late 1800's, both in the northeast US and in northern Europe. For peaches the extra heat afforded in the summer under glass helped ripening times, same for grapes and citrus. It was a rich persons hobby apparently, along with race horses etc. As far as (re)-learning old lessons from these books, that one cuts both ways. There is a ton of knowledge that got lost over the years so there is a lot we can (re)-learn from them, but on the other hand they had some significant misconceptions, for example they talk on and on about this supposed disease called "peach yellows" which is now believed to just be nutritional. Re: the late summer pruning I also believe the old authors have that one right. I should pull out a few of these old books and re-read them, I was reading many of them 4-5 years ago but have not done too much lately. Check out Wright's Fruit Grower's Guide, thats one of my favorites. Fruitnut, you would enjoy reading the long sections on growing fruit under glass. I also learned a lot from their pruning descriptions, it is surprising how advanced their pruning methods were 150 years ago. Scott...See MoreBarn Building Advice Needed
Comments (5)Kat, The US Dept. of Ag has a variety of free downloadable barn plans,.... http://www.ebackroad.com/0mwpsorg-freefarmplans.html That said, you will probably find that they are commercially oriented, but by pouring over them, you can figure out things like minimum space allotments for stalls and coops based on animal type. You need to figure out some things before you "guess out" your barn. Who and what you are going to keep there, how you will clean it, and finally once you have the size, how you will build it. The "cheapest" way to build a barn depends on local traditions and local materials. Around here, it is ether a pole barn constructed from standing timber like a log home, or a driven post and beam barn, (18" posts consiting of local timber, bottom treated with wood preservative, buried 5 feet in post holes, sheathed with 2' wide locally sawn planks lag bolted to the posts. For example, I have two barns, one for horses, one for "livestock", (really just peoples former pets and assorted characters living out their retirement in comfort). The horse barn in on the edge of a 1 acre corral, the livestock barn on the edge of a 10 acre fenced cross section. Both barns have concrete foundations and concrete floors. Entrance, Passage, stall gates and stall size are set up so that I can clean out the waste and soiled bedding with the Skidsteer. There is a central channel leading to a 3" drain and slurry pond, and a 2" water line, so that the walls and concrete floor can be hosed down clean and sterilised. For bedding, from the local Horse shop, I have gotten one inch thick 4 x 8 compressed rubber mats which line the stalls, overtop wood chips and straw are spread. As a result, cleaning all the stalls in both barns, washing the walls and sterilising the barns are a one person, one day chore, ( including loading the waste in the compost bins). The barns get cleaned out quite regularly, every couple of weeks in summer, every week in winter. You could use rammed earth or a floor instead of concrete, ( a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of cement, rototilled into the dirt, dampened, leveled and compressed with a vibratory plate compactor). The horse barn is 24 x 24 x 12 high, with a 16 foot loft for hay and feed storage. The walls are 2 x 6 studded on 24" centers, R22 insulated, (gets cold here), sheathed on the exterior with patterned OSB panels, primed and stained, sheathed on the inside with unpatterned OSB stained white. Stalls measure 8 x 8 with 4 x 4 picket sides and a 8' galvansied economy gate. There are 4 stalls on each side with a 8 foot central isle. The hay loft has an 8 x 8 trapdoor in the center providing access from inside the barn, and at the rear, a 6 x 6 door providing access from outside. Also in the hay lofts are a 6" x 8" Barn Owl entrance. Entrance to the barn is through a 12 x 12 tack room, dressing room, where the horses can be groomed, examined, bridled and saddled and the gear can be stored on the walls leaving the floor space open. Each stall has one double pane 4 x 5 foot sash window, and the east wall of the tack room has the door, and two 2 x 4 windows. The south wall has 3 4 x 5 windows. Inside the barn, at the other end, is another sliding door providing rear access to the barn. We currently have one colt, two riding horses and three dog food horses living with us. The livestock barn is similar, except the stall sizes are different. 4 8 x8 stalls line one side, 8 4 x8 stalls line the other. The cow gets an 8 x 8 stall, the two pigs share a 8 x 8 stall, 3 goats share one 8 x 8 stall, 2 other goats have individual stalls, 2 sheep share a 4 x 8 stall, with 4 sheep total in the barn, and the lamma has the last 8 x 8 stall. Unless ill, injured or nasty weather, everybody spends the day outside in the fresh air, and gets called to the barn at sundown. Pretty sad actually, clearing out beetle killed pine in a manly man way, chainsaw, axes and everything, followed around by a mangy pack of animals looking for affection, treats or just to hang around with me and the dogs. Sad thing is, the Belgan Shepard is nuts about fetch, and so is one of the pigs. I am working hard on getting them to take turns, as open competition is not fair to the pig, but then, I have been doing that for three years now to little success....See More1800's farm house
Comments (10)My pre-Civil War farmhouse in northern NY has no central heat. Always was, and still is, heated with woodstoves. Ours are more efficient and cleaner burning, now. It went through a period when it had coal stoves, but they are awful to live with and a serious health hazard so I wouldn't recommend that. You may not need A/C. Unfortunately the easiest route to A/C is also the least attractive sort of heating: forced air. But you already have some investment in the infrastructure for hydronic heating (hot water radiators). I disagree with other posters about the relatviely efficiency of hot water cast iron radiators vs. hot water in baseboards. Love the first, loathe the second. There are very high efficiency gas-fired boilers (to make the hot water for the radiators and your DHW) if you need to replace the boiler. Fracked gas is much cheaper than Venezuelan oil right now. But tightening up your house and some forms of insulation will give immediate rewards now matter what the season. Before you embark on this however, do read a lot about it as what is often recommended for "newer" old houses (post WWII) is not necessarily the right thing to do with really old houses. Really old buildings that are still extant have a different way of handling air infiltration and moisture ventilating. Combining modern standards with the older technology can get you in trouble. Also do not replace deteriorated old windows. In most instances they can be rehabbed to excellent energy efficiency, while retaining a very critical piece of your house's original design. And old windows, if they need re-rehabbing in another 50-75 years can be done, but newer windows will just be on an endless replacment schedule. One thing that you quickly realize when working with a 19th c house is that what most home improvement purveyors think of as loooooooong warranties, (10-25 years), is barely out of "brand new" when looked at in the context of 150-200 years of service. The very best thing you can do for your house at the outset is nothing other than clean it up and study it for 6 months to a year. Paint some walls, if you must put your own stamp on the place. The ideas you have now need to be informed by what you will discover about the house. And that goes double, or treble, if this is your first old building. The most risky thing for old buildings is a new owner whose bank balance wasn't completely depleted in the purchase. Lucky is the house whose owner had to scrape every penny together for the closing. That's a built-in period of early financial rehabbing instead of early building rehabbing. Below is my standard internet "housewarming present " for new owners. It's a set of documents about caring for old buildings from just common old buildings to museum-level buildings. The principles and methods are the same. And it comes from a non-commercial source (The National Park Service) so they're not trying to sell you anything. Two other valuable websites: John Leeke's (particularly good on structural issues, paint, weatherization and windows): www.historichomeworks.com and a forum of very knowledgeable old-house enthusiasts: www.wavyglass.org (there maybe a "e" in wavy, not sure). HTH L. Here is a link that might be useful: National Park Service Series of Preservation Briefs of many aspects of caring for and repairing old buildings...See MoreChristine Case
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