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Far be it for me to criticize the construction methods of others. Heck, I married a man who doesn’t know the meaning of square and whose carpentry techniques can best be described as a little off. But I did have to do a double take while driving past this build the other day.
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Call me crazy….
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But I think they’re doing it wrong.
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Day 4, the finale.
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And because no project ever goes smoothly at Casa River…. when they reached the end, something went wrong and piles of rocks had to be removed and replaced.
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And right after I filmed that utterly riveting video (that WordPress decided to cut and only load half, for which you should be grateful)? They disturbed a mouse nest and were attacked by one royally pissed off mother rodent. But finally… late that afternoon, it was declared finished.
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Okay, so it looks a little pregnant in the middle due to a slight bump out.
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But at that point I don’t think their aching backs cared.
Before:
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And though I do miss the curved corner, after:
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Before:
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After:
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Before:
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After:
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To be honest, he dug this one down too far as well… and I still wish it was taller on the high end of the grass. I’m not complaining just to complain…. but I’m the one who has to pull all the grass and weeds that blow in there from the mower because it’s too low.
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But it looks a lot better than it did…. and in 10-15 years when Maine’s notorious frost heaving and shifting earth crumbles this one? We’ll probably hire someone to rebuild it again because we’ll be too old and decrepit. Maybe then I can have a high wall.
🤣
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Stone wall rebuild… Day 3.
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The end was in sight.
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And I thought they were almost finished…
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Until I caught them at the large (also slightly crumbling) stone wall behind the choke cherry tree.
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The dreaded cannabalization had begun.
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Robbing Peter to pay Paul….
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And now sections of the big wall look bereft.
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Good thing they’re almost done.
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Today we can finally say the barn construction is complete. After breaking ground (not to mention our backs) in April 2012, the last pieces were just put into place.
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Said pieces being soffit under the eaves. For years they had been open…
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But now they’re boxed in, vented and painted.
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And also impossible to photograph without massive sun reflections.
If I had my druthers, I’d finish off the porch ceiling as well….
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But for some reason the husband draws the line there.
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I think it’s because people compliment us on the new paint job… the one I wanted and he didn’t. It ticks him off everyone loves it and he has to take his revenge where he can.
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An honest to goodness, sturdy and well built, fully stained and polyurethaned, ready to dance on (or fall under) bar!
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It was a long time coming but we’re pleased with the result.
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The wood grain is lovely, the top is smooth and shiny.
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And once the custom ordered chairs and shelves are ready, it will be time to get down to business.
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The business of mixing my first Barn Mahal cocktail.
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Our contractor has an uncanny knack for showing up when we’re not home or sneaking in when we’re not looking.
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Like the other day when we walked into the barn and found he’d laid the top of the bar on the base…
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And dropped off the stained pieces for the facing.
This end looked good…
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The other end?
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Not so much.
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It seemed the corners didn’t quite fit together as planned.
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So glue and clamps were deployed.
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He called us later that day and told us not to worry, all would be well.
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I’m trusting he knows what’s he’s talking about. And actually, by neon bar light?
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It didn’t look half bad.
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We came home from the grocery store yesterday and found this:
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The contractor had been at work in the barn and started the bar!
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My husband was thrilled… but had to check the measurements to be sure.
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Can you picture me standing back there mixing margaritas?
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I’ve been battling for a nicely stained finish but the husband is trying to cheap out and go natural. I fear neither of us will be fully satisfied… but at least we’ll have someplace sturdy to belly up to soon.
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On second thought, don’t. Some things are simply too frightening to contemplate.
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Next week a contractor will be here to build a bar in our barn.
Yes, you read that correctly, a contractor… one we will pay. Actual money. That surprised me since the husband has does most of the Barn Mahal construction himself, but this guy also built the bar at our local pub… so instead of having a spouse made amateur facsimile, we’ll have a serious bar.
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With these giant extremely heavy boards the husband has kept from the original framing back in 2012.
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The boards that have been moved, shifted, relocated, bumped into and cursed for 8 long years…. so all I can say is, yay.
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Of course the other day we had to move them one last time.
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Because my other half wanted to get an idea what the future boozer would look like.
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And yes, that’s a driftwood Christmas tree on the right.
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My girlfriend made it, used it one year, then gave it to me for our porch. Unfortunately we experience a cross breeze from our neighbor’s field equivalent to the Ames research center wind tunnel NASA uses to test its rockets. That tree literally flew. Which is generally not what you want Christmas decorations to do.
So it’s been inside the barn for a few years and despite my pleading that it would be a nice addition to the bar room, husband wants it gone.
Tons of useless rusty crap? He’ll find the room. One unique and quirky decorative tree? Bye bye.
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The husband was back at it this past weekend.
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Finishing up the (not so) temporary (not so) easy access heat blocker to the upstairs.
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By the time I walked in he had the insulation board attached to the zip siding board …
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Had rigged up small pieces of insulation board on the top step..
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And was busy stuffing Roxul in the small holes.
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And the even smaller small holes.
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Our old doe was munching under the apple trees…
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And Mike Pence was still where no one wanted him to be.
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So much stuffing.
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Please remember… when this barn was built it was not meant to be an airtight and heated space, so there’s a lot of scrambling required to make it one now.
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So when all else fails?
Caulk.
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And then, for the man who didn’t want to use insulation board?
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Another piece of insulation board.
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So yes, there’s insulation board, on top of insulation board, on top of zip siding.
I dare the hot air to seep through that!
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When that was finished and blocked off, it was time to tackle weatherstripping the porch door.
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You know, the free one he brought home from the dump. The one without a frame or threshold. The non standard size nightmare that has gaps all the way around it and at least a two inch above the floor clearance.
Good times.
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Truer words have ne’er been spoke.
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First it was not at all temporary temporary doors. Then insulation and a ceiling and new light fixtures and floor moulding and quarter round.
Now?
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The husband is installing strapping to cover the plywood ceiling seams.
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Technically this is finish work. And we all know that is not where his talents lie.
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Was the strapping straight?
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Not so much.
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Of course when I helpfully pointed that out, I got booted from the barn/man cave/Maine Taj Mahal.
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When I went back 2 hours later? He informed me the strapping wasn’t right and needed to be redone.
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Hmm. Why didn’t I think of that?
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Cutting and more cutting.
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Cutting around the light fixtures I tried to tell him to center 2 weeks ago.
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But all the cutting resulted in straighter lines.
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Aggravating? No doubt.
But…
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We did have gorgeous fall foliage in the background so I’ll call it a win.
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River's world..... 