poplar road

The first two weekends of this month (before the cold weather returned with a vengeance this Friday), Richard excitedly started work on the next phase of his project to transform our 35-year old horse barn/chicken coop into a 1000 square foot shop. (Click the link for a recap of the first three years.)

The latest challenge is a floor like moon rock. The so-called slab appears to have been dumped in bucket loads and left to dry as it fell, and there’s a varying slope which amounts to a 6” difference in height between the east side and the west. Richard came up with a simple solution to a) lay a new slab capable of supporting the weight of his hoist and other shop equipment and b) ensure his 14 foot ceiling remains to allow for the hoist.

He began on the 5th, with (forgive me, fellas) the most adorable little red jacks I’ve ever seen. Once all the walls, posts, and roof beams were supported with criss-crossed struts, and the handful of bolts that were all that was holding the walls to the floor had been cut, eight or nine of these bottle jacks was all it took for him to begin lifting the barn off its footings. I couldn’t believe he actually did the entire lifting process by himself—to about 10” above the footings. In the space he inserted concrete cinder blocks. These will form a strong new perimeter within which to pour the new slab overtop of the old one, the height allowing Richard to make it completely level from east to west without having cement touching and rotting the walls.

Chris and Dagny came up for the weekend again, and the boys spent all day Saturday and well into the night laying the cinder blocks with rebar and buckets of cement. They had to call it quits at 2am with only a dozen blocks left to do, which Richard will finish when he recovers from this flu. (Let’s hope the cold weather will be gone for good by next weekend!) Next he’ll fasten the walls and posts to the blocks and cement everything in place, and then an expert will pour the new concrete pads, both inside and out. After that, the interior of the barn just needs basic finishing work to get it ready for its new life as Richard’s shop. It’s about time.