Progress is being made

The second side of the barn has a number of usages; log store, workshop, storage, shelter for the trailer, and garage for our car when we have guests. We like to leave them access to the main garage to park their cars.

So what we are doing to help organise the area better is to put a dividing wall, splitting the barn space in two, providing Brian with a workshop area, where he does not have to think about keeping it too tidy all the time and his tools are organised together, and a separate log store and parking area. What we need to accommodate in this plan though are a pair of large doors, so that we can push the trailer in to store it within the workroom space, as it’s a bit unsightly for when guests are here. I actually think this is one of our most difficult projects yet, as we are trying to solve a lot of things, reuse existing materials we have wherever possible, and tackle some very odd angles. But Brian is having a lot of fun with the challenge and really enjoying creating his own piece of space.

He started off by fixing a horizontal beam, on top of some old brick work from a previous wall, where the first door pillar will go. He then fixed a vertical beam in place to be the left hand upright for the door. So far so good, he had found the right wood for what he needs.

Then he started to board out the left hand side wall. For this he’s using some wood we saved from the dismantled ‘library’. He does not have enough planks though, so he is fitting in some old shutters that had been left by the previous owner to help fill out the wall. They’re actually looking really good.

He made up the doors the other day as he wanted to ensure he had enough wood available. He made them by using the table saw to take off some old tongue and groove edges – off of the old floorboards we’d recovered – to make them square again. Then he screwed batons to the back of the planks to create ‘barn doors’. He has now hung one of them.

There’s still a long way to go on this project, but I can already see what a difference it will make.