It's a beautiful barn...and serves it's purpose well. But as we all know, buildings need upkeep. Several years ago, the family had the barn repainted, and Jim had some repairs done to reinforce the barn floor where the hay wagons back in and out and are stored when they're not in use.
Over the winter, Jim noticed that the foundation wall on the north side of the barn was in disrepair. The combination of age, and of cows rubbing against the stones had loosened many of the stones, and they began to fall out. Something needed to be done to reinforce the wall before it got any worse.
On the morning the men came to do the repairs to the wall, I fully intended to get over to take some before pictures. But they were too fast...by the time I finished up with my work at home and headed over, they were done!
Here's a shot of the end of the south wall to give you an idea of what the north wall looked like...
This is the finished north wall...they pressure washed the wall...then sprayed wet cement over the stones to create a solid wall of concrete. This process, called shotcreting, should last for years to come!
This is the finished end of the north wall. We wrote the family name and year in the wet cement...
We're pleased with the results! Jim cleaned away the mess, and the cows were kept out of this side of the barn while the concrete had time to dry. When they were allowed back in, they were a bit skeptical...cows like things to be the same, and this definitely looked different. But after a short time, they've adjusted quite well to their "newly remodeled " accomodations!
I'm linking up to Farm Friend Friday, and Farm Girl Friday, sponsored by Verde Farm and Dandelion House!
* If your comments don't appear today, please be patient...I'm having computer issues at home! Thanks!
