| DIY People: Building a Barn |
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"I don't really like horses," proclaims motorcycle enthusiast Scott Hazen. "Well, it's not that I don't like them, it's just that there's too much work involved with having horses." But that hesitation over keeping horses didn't stop Scott from building a barn for his wife's three horses. Scott and his wife Sherry had purchased a house in the country with enough land for Sherry to ride. An added bonus to the new house was an existing two-stall horse barn located behind the house. At the time of the purchase, Sherry owned four horses. It didn't take long for Scott and Sherry to realize that the small barn would need to be enlarged. Scott decided that the best approach for enlarging the barn would be to build an exact copy of the existing barn, and then to connect the two structures with a hayloft and roof. "Building an exact copy eliminated the necessity of having to draw plans for the new structure," Scott says. "I just duplicated the construction techniques of the original barn." According to Scott, one of the most challenging aspects of duplicating the original structure was working with the large railroad ties that were used to frame the barn (figure A). "They're very heavy," Scott explains. "We had a truck deliver them to our construction site and it took me, my wife, two children and a lot of effort to drag them into place." Scott used a chain saw for cutting the railroad ties to the proper length. Once the new structure was framed, Scott poured a concrete walkway between the two buildings. He also poured concrete between the new stalls and installed a drainpipe. This area would serve as a wash room for the horses. "With the exception of the railroad ties, I used basic construction techniques building this barn," Scott says. "It's pretty much 2x4's and plywood siding with a tin roof." The one item that Scott feels he couldn't have completed the job without is his propane powered nail gun (figure B). "It made the job so much easier and faster," he says. From a local tool rental store, Scott obtained a ditch witch and dug a trench from his house to the barn's location. Through the trench he ran lines for electricity and a phone. He also installed PVC tubing to deliver water. "This entire project was truly a family affair (figure C)," Scott says. "My wife and I and our children did almost all of the work. I did get some help from a couple of my co-workers with wiring the barn for electricity and adding the roof. But, other than that, we did it all ourselves." As for Sherry and her horses, "we couldn't be happier," she says. "This is like a dream come true. Having a hayloft has allowed me to buy and store much more hay than I ever could. And having a wash room with hot and cold running water really makes it easier for me to take better care of my horses."
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