Finishing Touches

The Storm was rolling in so we all teamed up to get the trim painted

We were so cold our hands could barely hold the paint brushes, but we kept at it working in the dark until it was done.
We are so excited to
 have it finished!!!
It started pouring the next morning
and hasn't stopped since.

Finally some paint

it was hard to draw a line at what boards we replaced and which ones we left. We could have spent a lot more time repairing but had to draw a reasonable line somewhere. After most of the damaged wood was removed we power washed the front of the barn. I like how it almost looks like the shadow is doing the washing. Then finished adding some of the missing trim pieces.





There was a rain storm that set us back for at least a week but after the wood dried back out we got a coat of primer on.


Then we painted a couple of boards to help us decide what color to paint the trim. The barn has always been straight white as far as I know but it was just too much white and needed a little contrast

More photos from repairing the barn

This picture shows a lot of what was in need of repair on the front of the barn.


The metal roof is in very rough shape in spots. It needs to be replaced soon because of the amount of water that makes it through is causing the wood and nails below to deteriorate, especially the floor of the hay loft. The remaining vent on top of the barn needs to be secured before it blows off.


It is over 41 feet from the ground to the ridge. I had avoided working above ground until this point. There are few reasons why I would have ever do anything above about 10 feet.




The siding was replaced with matching boards that were removed from an old caboose many years ago. We are lucky someone stashed them between the floor joist of the old barn until now. They are much smoother than the old weathered wood on the face of the barn.


We replaced the boards the main door rails were attached to and remounted the rails a little higher to keep the door from dragging on the ground. Most of the siding, soffit, and facia are repaired at this point but there is still a lot of work to be done before painting.

Preserving the Old Milk Barn