Big Barn New Roof

Our second major project during the summer of 2014 was putting a new roof on the big barn.
Here is a before pic.  Notice how some tin is missing.  The other side of the barn roof was even worse.

So, the boys and David and even Grandpa Phil, tore tin off of the small barn to use on the big barn.  They then repaired and replaced the old tin on the back side of the big barn.  Doesn't it look great!

 The "finished" back side of the big barn roof.

This pic is out of order, but this is Dane and David doing the repair work.  

 The front side of the big barn roof was a different story.  The boys heaved large panels of metal roofing up the ladders to David, who then screwed it in place.  See David tethered in so he doesn't fall off!

 This was a hot, heavy, long process!

This pic makes me nervous!

 Here is the finished front side of the big barn roof.  Notice the skylights!  David put some clear plexiglass roof panels between some of the rafters to let sunlight into the barn loft.  It looks nice and bright up there...pics to come!

 The almost done roof with the new metal roofing.

The finished back roof with the repaired tin.

Our new front porch!

Our front porch was a two summer project.  During the first summer we removed the wood columns so that we could repair and paint them.  We then had to jack up the porch and try to get it more level. Finally we replaced a lot of the damaged deck boards.

Here are some pics of our hard work.  First, some pics of the original front porch.  Needs some TLC!

 Miles and David are repairing the columns and the floor joists.

 The front steps could use some work...what front steps is more like it!

 The columns were heavy!

 No going back now!

After a hard day's work.  We drank lots of water during this project.

Our new front porch, part two!

During the second summer of our project we caulked and primed and painted...and in some cases we then primed again and painted again.  Sometimes this farm project is two steps forward and five steps backward.  It's a miracle we make any progress sometimes!

I don't have any pictures of us doing all of this work...we were too busy working! But here are some "after" pics that show our finished product.  I can't wait to decorate my new porch with mums and furniture this fall!

 Look closely at this pic and you will also see the new roof on the farmhouse!

This is the new porch deck.  Our first coat of paint chipped over the winter and we weren't really happy with the color.  So this is our second and final color.  We had to sand and re-prime the entire porch (me and Dane) then give it a second coat of paint.  That was a lot of work!

 Surprise!  David and I debated whether or not to paint the porch ceiling blue, but then David decided, "why not!" so we went for it and we LOVE it.