The Law Family Homestead experienced a fairly mild winter so we put our time to good use by doing some finishing work on the barn. We cased in the openings and installed the windows. This was the next step before chinking could begin.
We found some windows in a friend's old barn that haven't seen the light of day for I don't know how long. We traded a horse trimming or two and brought them home. I had no idea of the labor it would take to resurrect the old windows!
First, Kit held a consultation with his father to determine for the final time how the windows would fit into the rough openings.
Granddaddy then took some careful calculations and rechecked again before the final marks were made on the logs which represent many hours of labor, blood, sweat, and tears.
The first pencil marks were cut by the chainsaw.
A friend, who purchases our milk, came by while we were cutting out window openings, and offered us the use of his "Big Foot" saw to make the rip cuts easier. This saw is actually a worm drive skill saw with a 10-inch blade on it. This was indeed the tool for the job! Unfortunately they did it so fast I didn't to get pictures of it in use.
While the men were cutting out window openings, CW removed the old glazing and generally cleaned up the wood frames. We have three of these larger windows that we chose to place on the west side of the barn.
These two smaller ones go on the east side of the barn along with the main door.
Once the window openings were made the right size, the guys built a frame to hold the windows. Because the logs have seasoned for nearly five years, the barn has been in place for over a year and a half, and is sitting on dovetail notches rather than coped logs, we chose to fit the openings rather tight. Generally space is allowed above window and door openings for settling of the log walls over time.
One down and four to go. JW2 and TW had to try out the new frame.
We brought out a window to try in the new frame to check fit and also get an idea of what it would look like.
We then agreed upon a design for trimming the openings incorporating Western flare into a hand-hewn Appalachian log structure. We ripped our window trim material from left-over cedar boards used in the original barn raising project.
They turned out really well. It was almost a shame to paint them, but we were looking for something with a little more contrast and a finished look.
But then came the quandary, what color to paint them. I immediately ruled out white, because it would clash and be way to much of a contrast with our goldish colored logs. The fact that it is white and I have six boys, I could foresee dirty white trim all around my doors four feet high!
So we considered a dark brown color that would contrast with the logs. I went to the local hardware store and found the darkest brown they had, which wasn't that dark, and had them mix it up for me. I came back and painted all the window frames that the glass sits in.
And here they are awaiting the old and new glass replacement panes.
While the glass was being put in, I went and painted a coat of primer on the window trim in preparation for putting a coat of colored paint on. But when I stood back and looked at my white primer on the windows, I was suddenly unsure of whether I liked the white color or not. It almost gave a clean, pristine, dairy look to the barn. Hmmm!
But then I remembered why I didn't think white was a good idea in the first place; and yet it did look kinda cool - Oh the Dilemma!
So, since I couldn't decide, I posed the question to all of you and let cooler heads, removed from the immediate situation, weigh in and give me your opinions. Following our unofficial polling, I went with the group and chose the brown.
We had several sunny days the beginning of March, and I finally took one day and decided to put off the house cleaning (which never ends anyway), told the kids they had until about 11 a.m. to get their school work done if they needed help, and then I headed outside to paint the barn.
There was just a slight breeze, but on the east side of the barn it blocked the wind and the sun had been up for several hours so it was really nice and warm.
The first coat of paint. The white you see on some of the windows is not my bad painting job but the glazing that still needs to be cleaned off the windows once it dries out.
Then I moved to the west side of the barn. I got one window finished. As you will notice there is no sun on this side of the barn yet. The wind was still blowing and it was cold holding a can of paint in my hand! So I scrapped the idea until afternoon when the sun would be on it.
By that afternoon, even with the wind still blowing, I was able to get the other two windows finished. It is so nice to have the large window openings plugged up now when the wind blows. You can feel the temperature difference already. The next step on the way to finishing the barn is cutting out doorways and then on to CHINKING!