Do it yourself barn ideas

[Greymeadows Farm]

We had the shell of our barn built and now we're finally getting around to putting stalls, doors, tack room, etc in and am looking to share ideas on how to finish the inside.

Anyone created there own stall grates, feed doors, stalls doors, etc.

Please share!

[JSwan]

We built our barn. It's a 2 story barn, 5 stalls, and tack/feed room. Concrete foundation, real brick pavers in the aisle. Concrete in the stalls with rubber mats.

We built out the stalls, too. Welded the stall grills, made the doors. Stained paneling for the aisle and wall around the tack/feed room.

Hardipanel siding.

It took forever to build - it was just the two of us.

I'd rather have needles stuck in my eyes than do it again.

[kookicat]

Unless you already have everything you need- tools, supplies, etc- I'm guessing that it won't be cost effective.

[Sparky Boy]

JSwan, your barn sounds very nice. :)

We rehabbed an old barn on our property. Took it almost down to the frame.
8 stalls, feed room, tack room, wash stall, concrete aisle, roughed in for bathroom and washer.

We had 2 carpenters come in and work for us. We were "helpers". Originally wanted the tongue & groove walls but opted for regular lumber and am totally happy. Stalls are 12x12 with one being extra huge (12x18 maybe), for lay-ups or whatever. You never know what you might need in the future.

A friend welded the stall bars with a feed opening in each corner. I purchased stall doors from Big Dee's. The metal mesh with V-yoke. I also spaced the side walls between stalls for ventillation about 1.5-2".

The worst job was staining the outside. I hate painting/staining. I would do it again though. It was a lot of fun seeing it all come together.

[SMF11]

Our barn was built in 1845 and we reconfigured the inside for horses, using some of the existing walls. We had a handyman build some stall walls, lay rubber mats and build doors. For us it was WAY cheaper than buying stall kits (if we had done it ourselves it would have been a disaster!). I don't have time to write a long post right now, but a lot of thought went into our barn, and I'd be happy to describe how we did the stalls. Also, we have a ladder attached to the ceiling that lowers with a rope to climb up to the loft at an angle to get hay (vs. the ladders built into walls that are vertical). The ladder lies flat on the ceiling when not in use.

The other cool thing our barn has is an "automatic" watering system, where a hose connects to the frost free hydrant in the barn, runs up to the hay loft and then plastic pipes branch off of it down to each stall, each with a shut off handle. So to fill six buckets all I have to do is connect the hose, make sure all the handles are in the "on" position and then turn on the water. The water flows into each bucket and I then shut the water off at the hydrant and let it drain out of all the pipes into the buckets. Then I disconnect the hose (so they hydrant doesn't freeze). If you need more details let me know. I LOVE this system!

[shakeytails]

I've posted pics of mine a zillion times. If you haven't already seen them- http://community.webshots.com/album/173549613QWbziI . DH is a carpenter (and he can weld, too), so our barn was a DIY project. If you have any questions feel free to PM me, but I've got finals this week so the response might not be quick.

[MunchkinsMom]

we have a ladder attached to the ceiling that lowers with a rope to climb up to the loft at an angle to get hay (vs. the ladders built into walls that are vertical). The ladder lies flat on the ceiling when not in use.


Is there any way you could post pictures of that? I have home made ladder up to the loft (came with the barn when we bought the place), and I really want to be able to configure it so that I can raise it up to the ceiling and out of the way, it is a pain the way it is right now. Years ago I leased a barn that had the pull up ladder, but for the life of me, I cannot remember how it was attached to the opening in the loft. My current ladder is extra long, so it extends up into the opening, and just rests against the opening, which means it can (and does) slip down from time to time.

The stalls in my barn are also "man made" with spaces between the boards in the front and side walls. The grills and the doors (hinged mesh with V gossip part) were "store bought". I think I would like to put in the manufactured stall walls sometime, because the way that they installed the stall wall lumber is not well reinforced, so from time to time, when one of the horses rubs their butt on the wall, they pop the boards off.

[kookicat]

Is there any way you could post pictures of that? I have home made ladder up to the loft (came with the barn when we bought the place), and I really want to be able to configure it so that I can raise it up to the ceiling and out of the way, it is a pain the way it is right now. Years ago I leased a barn that had the pull up ladder, but for the life of me, I cannot remember how it was attached to the opening in the loft. My current ladder is extra long, so it extends up into the opening, and just rests against the opening, which means it can (and does) slip down from time to time.

The stalls in my barn are also "man made" with spaces between the boards in the front and side walls. The grills and the doors (hinged mesh with V gossip part) were "store bought". I think I would like to put in the manufactured stall walls sometime, because the way that they installed the stall wall lumber is not well reinforced, so from time to time, when one of the horses rubs their butt on the wall, they pop the boards off.

I have something like this:

http://www.ladderstore.com/loft-ladders-timber-loft-ladders-c-5_26.html

The ladder is in two sections, and the bottom section can slide so you can half the length. The top is attatched to a swivel thing so it rotates through 90 degrees.

[MunchkinsMom]

I have something like this:

http://www.ladderstore.com/loft-ladders-timber-loft-ladders-c-5_26.html

The ladder is in two sections, and the bottom section can slide so you can half the length. The top is attatched to a swivel thing so it rotates through 90 degrees.

We have the same concept in our home, with a pull down manufactured ladder that is in the garage and goes to the attic, I asked my husband if that would work in the barn, and he said no, but then again, he might have said no because he didn't want to do it :D.

Guess I need to save my pennies and hire a handyman.

[KnKShowmom]

It took forever to build - it was just the two of us.

I'd rather have needles stuck in my eyes than do it again.

You're not kidding about that - the only thing I plan to do on the next barn is (a) call a builder and (b) write a check.

Never, never, never will build it ourselves again. :no:

[SMF11]

I have something like this:

http://www.ladderstore.com/loft-ladders-timber-loft-ladders-c-5_26.html

The ladder is in two sections, and the bottom section can slide so you can half the length. The top is attatched to a swivel thing so it rotates through 90 degrees.

Those are *way* fancier than mine! Mine is a plain aluminum ladder from the hardware store. It is attached to the ceiling with a hinge (one end screwed to the ceiling, one to the ladder). A rope is tied to the bottom rung and runs through a pully-like wheel attached to the ceiling at the barn wall, about 6 -8 feet from the entrance up to the mow, and then on down to the ground. When you pull up the rope, the ladder is up against the ceiling, the rope runs down from the wheel-thingy along the wall and we wrap the rope around two nails stuck in the wall. The ceiling of the barn/floor of the mow is pretty thick, so there is no gap between the top of the ladder and the mow.

I write all this because I am too technically-challenged, particularly in the digital photography area, to easily post pictures!

[manyspots]

This is one of the albums of my barn, which we built last fall:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=178128&id=574555412&l=f8f0c12da2

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=192245&id=574555412&l=75712b8127

Long story short, we built a 24 x 36 three stall barn with a tack room. My stalls are 12 x 12 and the hall is also 12 feet wide. We were fortunate enough to have a friend with a portable saw mill and the expertise to drop trees and run it. 90% of the barn was milled on site from our trees and some others that were brought in. My fiance is a carpenter and we have friends who were willing to shed blood and sweat to make it happen.

Some creative things we did:
1) Barn is 100% rubber matted. We got a rubber conveyor belt from a local gypsum (sheetrock) plant to use.

2) My brother made my grill work... in retrospect I spent the same amount on materials and paying him for his labor as I would have ordering from a place like Country Manufacturing but they are MUCH nicer!

3) We built my doors... extra large dutch doors for the hallways and large doors for each end of the barn. On the dutch doors... we set the posts at 54 inches on purpose instead of 48 inches. In addition, the doors are 48" high, but set at about 54" leaving a six inch gap between the door and the floor so stuff does not get caught against the doors and increases airflow.

I LOVE MY BARN, but it was a stressful couple of months. I am thrilled we did it on our own and we would do it again, but we were lucky enough that things like the mill and a gifted excavator came together for us. If you have any questions let me know!

[Elghund2]

We built our barn several years ago. Morton built the exterior and we did all the interior work. We ordered the grates but everything else we did. It is not hard to build stalls.

We also created the wash stall area, graded out the gravel and set the rebar. When they poured the concrete for the basement of the house they poured the concrete for the wash stall, tack room and aisle apron.

Before the concrete was poured we brought in the water lines and set the hydrant. I did the rest of the plumbing.

I also did all of the electrical work in the barn including installing the main and panel. Barn wiring is relatively easy to do. If you don't know how to wire but have a friend that does, you could save a lot of money by being the wire puller.

[Bluey]

We build our horse barn as an extension to the Quonset barn built in 1956.
My neighbor and I did all the framing and I lifted the sheet metal and he screwed it on.
We used extra bracing, as we have very fierce winds.
We did it in two phases, the first one still let some rain and snow in there, so we extended it further in front and closed in the West side some more two summers ago.
A friend that is an electrician wired it for us.
The stalls are 14' x 14', portable and can be moved around or taken out completely:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a298/Robintoo/Horses2-20-07921.jpg?t=1242134131

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a298/Robintoo/Horses2-20-07852.jpg?t=1242134434

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a298/Robintoo/Horses2-20-07553.jpg?t=1242134522

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a298/Robintoo/Horses2-20-07865.jpg?t=1242134595

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a298/Robintoo/Horses2-20-07407.jpg?t=1242134706

We are working on plans to cover our roping arena with a 120' by 250' roof, a big job we may be able to start next winter and maybe get the first 120' by 175' done now, the rest later.:)

Anyone did that or has been where someone did, cover half and the rest later and how did it work while you only had half of the arena covered?
I have seen some arenas like that, but don't know what problems they may have had from it, if any.

[MunchkinsMom]

Those are *way* fancier than mine! Mine is a plain aluminum ladder from the hardware store. It is attached to the ceiling with a hinge (one end screwed to the ceiling, one to the ladder). A rope is tied to the bottom rung and runs through a pully-like wheel attached to the ceiling at the barn wall, about 6 -8 feet from the entrance up to the mow, and then on down to the ground. When you pull up the rope, the ladder is up against the ceiling, the rope runs down from the wheel-thingy along the wall and we wrap the rope around two nails stuck in the wall. The ceiling of the barn/floor of the mow is pretty thick, so there is no gap between the top of the ladder and the mow.

I write all this because I am too technically-challenged, particularly in the digital photography area, to easily post pictures!

Thanks, that is the part that I am "challenged" with, how to attach the existing wooden ladder to the opening in the ceiling. In my old barn, I think it was on a metal pole, sort of like a closet rod, that went right through holes in the ladder side supports at the top, instead of hinges. I suppose hinges would work just as well if not better.

[alabama]

Is there any way you could post pictures of that?
My SO made me a ladder that also lies flat along the ceiling. It was all one piece and was on a pulley system. It worked really well. I'm trying to find the pictures of it but not having any luck here at work. I'll look on my home PC tonight. :)

Oh good. I found them. Please excuse the messy barn. ;)

http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder1.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder1.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder2.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder2.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder3.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder3.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder4.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder4.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder5.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder5.jpg)

BTW, this was a heavy ladder but the pulleys made it easy to raise and lower.

[SMF11]

My pulley system is just like Alabama's, except the rope is just tied to the last rung of the ladder.

[Bluey]

The access ladder to the attic I have in the garage is a ceiling door, that when you pull a string, it comes down half way, the ladder is attached to that door, folded three times and I unfold it and it sits there like a regular ladder.
To close it up, you can refold the ladder and push that door back up and it seals the attic from the garage.

They sell those attic ladders and all other kinds of them at Home Depot and Loewes, you may want to look at theirs for ideas.:)

[MunchkinsMom]

My SO made me a ladder that also lies flat along the ceiling. It was all one piece and was on a pulley system. It worked really well. I'm trying to find the pictures of it but not having any luck here at work. I'll look on my home PC tonight. :)

Oh good. I found them. Please excuse the messy barn. ;)

http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder1.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder1.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder2.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder2.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder3.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder3.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder4.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder4.jpg)
http://home.hiwaay.net/~thrasher/images/ladder5.jpg (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ethrasher/images/ladder5.jpg)

BTW, this was a heavy ladder but the pulleys made it easy to raise and lower.

THANKS! Hope you don't mind, I saved the picture with the hinges so I can show my DH! Or. . . the handyman that I might have to hire to get it done.

[alabama]

THANKS! Hope you don't mind, I saved the picture with the hinges so I can show my DH! Or. . . the handyman that I might have to hire to get it done.
Not a problem! If you get your DH to built it, I hope you have better luck/speed than I did with the SO. He kept redrawing the plans for it over and over (I mean for days on end) until I finally just shouted at him, "Just build the damn thing already!" :lol: He's a wanna be engineer and had all sorts of ideas plus he's Mr. Safety. I have to say, it did turn out really well - completely safe and very usable. :) I'm going to wish I had it in my new barn. I might have to get him to build me a new one. :)

[Greymeadows Farm]

2) My brother made my grill work... in retrospect I spent the same amount on materials and paying him for his labor as I would have ordering from a place like Country Manufacturing but they are MUCH nicer!



I wish your brother was around here to build some grills for my barn. As I have started building the stalls it is becoming more apparent that our builder figured that the stall sizes were a ballpark and a few inches here and a few inches there wouldn't make any difference. That is unless you wanted to order a standard sized metal grate. Too bad 12' grates don't fit nicely on 11'8" stalls.

Oh well, everything else he did was excellent and the barn is slowly starting to take shape.

SMF11 - I really like the "automatic" watering system that you have, and it can just be unscrewed from the hydrant during cold months.

I've read in other areas where people have removable partitions between stalls to make a smaller stall into a foaling stall or something similar. Anyone done this and how?

[MunchkinsMom]

I've read in other areas where people have removable partitions between stalls to make a smaller stall into a foaling stall or something similar. Anyone done this and how?

The barn where I used to board did that. Basically the boards between the two stalls slide into a "track" made with wood on both sides (the part that goes up and down, is where the two boards are to form the track). Whenever they needed to make it one big stall, they just removed the horizontal boards from the tracks and stored them until they were needed.

[dmalbone]

I've read in other areas where people have removable partitions between stalls to make a smaller stall into a foaling stall or something similar. Anyone done this and how?

You can buy metal u-channels instead of making wood ones. They just screw into the wood and you drop the boards in. We're using tongue and groove and this way they're in the middle of the support beams so you don't have one stall a little bigger than another if you screw them onto the side of the support beams. Make sense? I don't think I did a good job explaining lol! If we need to make a bigger stall we can just pull the boards out and not have to unscrew anything. http://www.countrymfgstore.com/st7ftwach.html

[shakeytails]

Instead of buying u-channels (which are difficult to find locally), you can also use two pieces of angle iron bolted to the wall.

[Wizard of Oz's]

Wow I am really jealous of y'alls building skills. I would never be able to do that!