Lots of progress as we are plugging away on the recycled barn. On the back side, milled scrap, redwood bark slabs were cut 4 ft. as siding. The redwood bark was salvaged from burnt redwood trees from the CZU Lightening Complex Fire in Boulder Creek. Some slabs are charred black. Once the roof is added, we’ll decide where to add more up to the roof line and possibly enclose some of the window openings.

Farmhand Will Burke filled in the trench with drain rock. He also filled in the step up outside the barn door. It took a yard of drain rock.

Next, Will and I installed a farm gate bought off craigslist over a year ago. There was never the “right” place for it until now. I had opened the doors up to the hillside, and Shasta decided to go up, but he jumped both steps, very leery of the steps as well as going through the horse stall. He would not come back inside the corral to eat. We had to move a horse pipe corral panel we had leaning up to block the space so he could walk back in. If we installed the farm gate, then there would be a third in/out door for us and the horses. Plus, it saved me from having to build more of the redwood bark wall.

As our third project of Saturday, Will and I installed cross pieces of the barn labelled by the previous owners. We worked together to hold up, level, and drill in the fir 2x4s. We tried to place them in the nail hole locations. It’s slowly coming together as we figure out the barn puzzle pieces.

Other random upgrades to the barn include a side door. I removed the pieces of the wall, and I’m working on a door that will match the other two barn doors.

The back wall of the barn is also done. Because there was a door there in it’s original form, the pieces did not fit together. There were two extra panels. Basically we put the two inside wall pieces on the front and these had 8′ 2x4s on the sides.

The two extra panels not installed were for the front wall, and each had an 8′ 2×6 on the side. Instead of taking the whole front off and switching, I just removed the 2x6s on these panels and put them on the front. The panels were all the same, the inside pieces had a 2×4, the front wall had a 2×6. Now, the front opening is centered with an 8′ 2×4 and a 8′ 2×6 on each side. I like this because it narrows the opening of the door frame which fits a horse perfectly.

For the back well, I had to enclose the original door opening, I put one panel in the center. This left a gap of space about 15.75 inches on either side. I cut the other panel up and used all the wood to stitch the back together. I also used the wood I removed for the side door. Nothing was wasted, and it works! I like seeing the fir wood on the inside since it is rough cut. The whole outside will be covered with redwood bark so we won’t see the frame again. This is just one spot where the outside style is visible.