Our New Barn!
We knew we needed a barn, so we started planning around October, and by Thanksgiving, we were pretty much done. The design, oversight, and a majority of the construction work was done by Aimee's father, Carl Mellberg, a builder by trade. It was his idea to do a pole barn with tree-bark plank siding.
We also were blessed by friends from Hope Reformed Evangelical Church in Aztec, New Mexico, who came and helped us 'raise the barn'. Thank you, David Bounds, Bo Skeen, and Tom Stamper. They brought their sons to work along side Carl, his son-in-law Ralph, and grandsons Daniel and Josiah, so it was truly a father and son and grandson project! Much thanks are due to many others who pitched in throughout the project: Carol Mellberg, Aimee Cabrera, and others.
 [1] This is the site for the barn -- Carl relocated a shed and cleared the site with his tractor. He then laid out the location of the concrete footings that support the logs that support the roof and walls. The vertical beams shown in the photo are where the barn doors were to be. |
[2] Barn poles are lifted by the tractor and placed on the concrete footers. Tie straps that were put in the footers when they were poured were fastened to the poles with screws. Supporting lumber was put in place to keep the pillars upright and level. |
 [3] Bo Skeen and David Bounds came from Aztec, New Mexico, to help us. Each brought their son to help. Here they getting a measurement for the beam that would go across the poles, forming part of the basic frame of the barn. |
 [4] The eastern wall frame structure is in place. Similar beams went across the tops of the western wall. Because they had openings for the barn doors, the northern and southern walls have a slightly different structure, as is seen in [5]. |
 [5] Tom Stamper and his son, from Aztec, New Mexico, also helped us raise the barn. Here they are putting together the frame of the northern wall. The cross beams are supported by smaller logs that were cut at 45 degree angles on both ends and bolted into the cross beams and the vertical poles. |
 [6] Working past sunset, the guys put up the last rafter, having run out of material. Carl would later pick up the remainder and finish the rafters with the help of Aimee and Ralph. There is a large cross beam in the center of the barn that rests on top of the east and west walls and is supported by logs cut at 45 degree angles on both ends. |
 [7] The structure of the barn is complete! Remaining work: roofing (plywood sheets followed by asphalt shingles), siding (horizontal nailers on bottom and middle of walls followed by vertical tree-bark plank siding), and barn doors (plywood and 2x4 construction, sliding rails). |
  [8] Roofing is next -- Daniel, Josiah, and their Papa are up on the roof placing, nailing, and cutting 4 foot by 8 foot 3/4" thick plywood. Josiah's job was to pound in any nails that the nailer didn't quite complete. Daniel helped man-handle the sheets into place. Carl finished the roofing by putting on the asphalt shingles just before the first snow fell on Thanksgiving. |
The completed barn! The left photo shows it as it appeared in January. Carl completed and hung the doors shortly before the loads of snow that came in February.