We choose an old stock barn that was built near a hundred years ago and had was owned by a single family for generations. It had a lot of cultivatable land attached to it too. What a blessing. Using the same saw mill type of lumber the barn was built with we made a quite comfortable home complete with all the amenities. And with all the fertile land surrounding it, I became a part time farmer. My account of remodeling this barn home is at http://ezinearticles.com/?Converting-a- ... ;id=991521
Three of our children were partially raised in our barn home and they say they would not have done it any different if they had been the ones choosing the type of home they lived in. My youngest son Will took over the stalls that were used for keeping the horses and cows separate. Matter of fact, he helped me with a major part of the remodeling by building the floors and walls of his room in the same basic rough wood the barn was built with. His big thing was making sure to leave the door open so I could ask him "What's the matter with you? You live in a barn?" to which he always answered "Duh dad, yes I do!".
My daughters, Ann & Kimberly were the hardest to please because of the one bathroom I designed into the house. Seems I never got around to building a second, plus the fact the only bathroom was upstairs in the loft. I'll get around to building that second bathroom sooner or later even though Ann and Will have already moved out and started families of their own.
And my dear wife Connie, bless her heart, is always after me to change this or enlarge that. I learned a long time ago not to ask her for a "honey do list"! Last one she composed took me over a year to complete.
The greatest appeal to me with this type of home is, even though we have a front porch, doors and windows, very few realize our barn is a home. This adds to our privacy which we take very seriously.
The author, Tim Davis has completed an ebook on Converting a Barn into a Home which can be found at http://draftingservice.us/barnhomes/ He also teaches drafting over the internet at http://101info.org
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( 3 / 145 )There is a trend lately to find unique and affordable housing and many have turned to converting a barn into a home. In my area of East Tennessee, there are some fine examples of this including the one I converted.
It's needless to say that there are many barns in various shapes and sizes all around. A vast majority are in bad shape. Please don't make the mistake of buying one that is labeled a unique fixer upper opportunity. Don't fool yourself. If a barn has gotten into the shape where the siding boards are starting to fall off, unless you're buying it for parts, my suggestion is to leave it alone. By the time the boards start falling off the sides, there's major flaws. The main trouble would probably be that the horizontal beams are rotting and the fasteners are turning loose.
The best candidate for remodeling would be one that was painted on the exterior walls and roof. This means that it was at least maintained to a certain degree by it's owners over the years. If your barn has some age on it, it would probably be best to first find all the areas that have been effected by weather or urine from the livestock that was kept in that barn. Animal urine sometimes has a high acid content and anything that has been contaminated with it really needs to be removed from the structure.
Look especially in the loft areas where hay may have been stored close to the outside walls. Chances are there may have been some rain water that had soaked in through the hay bales. This is where you will find most of any rotting of the floor boards. Take a look at the underside of the roof. If you see pinholes and sunlight coming through, water can also seep in. You'll either have to replace the tin roofing where you find these holes or dab the holes with a tar patch and then coat the roof with a fibered aluminum paint.
Inspect the interior walls and see what types of columns are used in your barn. 99% of all barns in the US are post and beam construction. If your posts are buried in the ground, check and see if there is any type of rotting. Older barns will probably not have pressure treated wood in their construction. If your barn is built with a wide open floor area, you are most certainly going to have to build masonry piers inside to support your floors and walls and also find a way to tie the existing walls into the new support system.
Check to see that the horizontal beams are not loose or if there is rotting between them and the columns. Look at the top plates for rot from water damage. If your columns are mounted on a rock or cinder block, check the bottoms of the columns for rotting.
Consult your local building inspector to make sure you can get the proper permits if needed. In my part of the country, building permits for remodeling are not required if you are in the county but your local codes may be different. It would be a shame to buy the barn only to find the powers that be will not grant the necessary permissions.
When I first began my project, all I had to work with was the old, empty barn. Being an old structure it was necessary to examine the entire building to make sure there wasn't any type of structural flaws. Thank goodness there was only one place that had to be bolstered. The inside front left corner was starting to slide off it's foundation stone. I solved that problem by hooking the column to my tractor and winching it back into place with a come-along. Then I built a buttress beside the column to keep it from moving again.
Tim Davis is a veteran Architectural Designer who also teaches architecture and drafting over the internet http://houseplandrafting101.net. He has just released an Ebook entitled "How to Turn a Barn into a Home". The info page for updates on this ebook can be found at http://draftingservice.us/barnhomes
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_J._Davis
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( 2.9 / 215 )There is a trend lately to find unique and affordable housing and many have turned to converting a barn into a home. In my area of East Tennessee, there are some fine examples of this including the one I converted.
It's needless to say that there are many barns in various shapes and sizes all around. A vast majority are in bad shape. Please don't make the mistake of buying one that is labeled a unique fixer upper opportunity. Don't fool yourself. If a barn has gotten into the shape where the siding boards are starting to fall off, unless you're buying it for parts, my suggestion is to leave it alone. By the time the boards start falling off the sides, there's major flaws. The main trouble would probably be that the horizontal beams are rotting and the fasteners are turning loose.
The best candidate for remodeling would be one that was painted on the exterior walls and roof. This means that it was at least maintained to a certain degree by it's owners over the years. If your barn has some age on it, it would probably be best to first find all the areas that have been effected by weather or urine from the livestock that was kept in that barn. Animal urine sometimes has a high acid content and anything that has been contaminated with it really needs to be removed from the structure.
Look especially in the loft areas where hay may have been stored close to the outside walls. Chances are there may have been some rain water that had soaked in through the hay bales. This is where you will find most of any rotting of the floor boards. Take a look at the underside of the roof. If you see pinholes and sunlight coming through, water can also seep in. You'll either have to replace the tin roofing where you find these holes or dab the holes with a tar patch and then coat the roof with a fibered aluminum paint.
Inspect the interior walls and see what types of columns are used in your barn. 99% of all barns in the US are post and beam construction. If your posts are buried in the ground, check and see if there is any type of rotting. Older barns will probably not have pressure treated wood in their construction. If your barn is built with a wide open floor area, you are most certainly going to have to build masonry piers inside to support your floors and walls and also find a way to tie the existing walls into the new support system.
Check to see that the horizontal beams are not loose or if there is rotting between them and the columns. Look at the top plates for rot from water damage. If your columns are mounted on a rock or cinder block, check the bottoms of the columns for rotting.
Consult your local building inspector to make sure you can get the proper permits if needed. In my part of the country, building permits for remodeling are not required if you are in the county but your local codes may be different. It would be a shame to buy the barn only to find the powers that be will not grant the necessary permissions.
When I first began my project, all I had to work with was the old, empty barn. Being an old structure it was necessary to examine the entire building to make sure there wasn't any type of structural flaws. Thank goodness there was only one place that had to be bolstered. The inside front left corner was starting to slide off it's foundation stone. I solved that problem by hooking the column to my tractor and winching it back into place with a come-along. Then I built a buttress beside the column to keep it from moving again.
Tim Davis is a veteran Architectural Designer who also teaches architecture and drafting over the internet http://houseplandrafting101.net . He has just released an Ebook entitled "How to Turn a Barn into a Home". The info page for updates on this ebook can be found at http://draftingservice.us/barnhomes
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( 3 / 265 )Search engines have change their methods considerably in the way they index sites. It's no longer just submit your URL then expect a flood of visits to your site. These search engines are wanting meaningful content and relevance to their links. I agree whole heartedly with their decisions at being more selective. Why? Quite frankly relevance eliminates confusion and promotes order. Because of this choice by the search engines it is now a whole lot easier to find specifically what you are looking for when you search.
And search engines are paying a bunch more attention to message boards and forums for relevant content. The reason is that these sites are where the more indepth discussions on subjects are taking place. And being such are a great opportunity to give your site the exposure it needs.
The way that you can receive search engine attention is as follows:
1. Find message boards who's subjects are similar to your sites content. If you have a website who's subject is marketing, find a message board related to marketing. If your sites subject is ebooks, find a board who's subject is ebooks.
And once you've located that particular board with that particular subject, register and take part in the discussions so that you can build a reputation as someone who is knowledgeable in that particular area. The search engines usually spider and index these boards daily and your post on the subject will be picked up by them.
Make sure you use an avatar with your account. Maybe a picture of yourself as this gives your posts a bit more substantiality.
2. Once you have established a number of posts on that board, look at the rules of that particular forum and see if they allow custom signatures. A signature is an area where you can post a little about you and what you do. It also shows up on every post you make in that message board and as a result, also in the search engines. I need to caution you though, do not go overboard on your signature. In other words, simply make mention of your site and the link to it. Do not try to openly advertise your product on the board. Many boards consider this as spam and will most likely get you banned.
3. Create your own message board and invite others to come and discuss your subject. I just recently did this myself and am now in the process of getting members. This puts the promotion in your hands. I does mean a bit more effort on your part but the rewards can be tremendous.
The forum I mentioned in this article is located at http://receivedtext.org/forum/ and is wide open to use if you would like to try the same method. I plan to write an article later on the subject of promoting your own message board.
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( 2.9 / 330 )A little brainstorming to find out more about what the public is looking for in an ebook subject. General suggestions on communicating with prospective readers.
So you have an ebook and you are wanting folks to know it's there. What do you do? Well I've been an author for several years now and have written articles, courses, and ebooks on subjects like architectural and mechanical drafting, humor, church history and government, bible version comparisons, charity, etc. I've been around the bush a couple of times. And of those times over the years, I've dealt with numerous techniques of marketing and researching to find out what people are interested in for subject matter. Problem is that I feel there must be more ways to communicate with readers for more ideas.
I believe I've come across an idea that a handy tool in research. Being an author, of course I have my ebooks in as many directories as I can. Just recently I opened my own ebook directory where I advertise my various titles along with other authors works. The one thing I hadn't tried was to create a message board or forum and attach it to my ebook directory. With this method I can invite visitors and authors of the books listed on my directory to discuss the books themselves and even get ideas for future ebooks.
I already know this method works because interactions on my support board for the drafting lessons, I periodically ask my students on the board what they think of different subjects and ask them what they would like to see next in a course. Many gladly respond with their own ideas and thoughts. Matter of fact they are pleased to be a part of the process.
One of those conversations went as follows and originally wasn't aimed at research. This particular student was just asking a question about one of the lessons:
Me - Thanks. Would you believe by the way that you are the first in 2 years that actually let me know they found the window missing??? Now what does that tell us?
Student - Tim, Yow! I'm not even gonna venture a guess! <grin> Now I'm almost afraid to mention that I reached the point in Lesson #7 where the center beam for the floor joists should be 12"...
Me - Man, you are right on top of it. Continue to enjoy. Hey, help me out with something, will ya? I have a few projects in the works. If you don't mind, which do you think would be the most popular or interesting?
The projects I have on the drawing board right now are:
1. Creating construction drawings for a strawbale home
2. Converting a barn into a home
3. Mechanical drawing on a drafting board
4. Machine Shop Drafting 101
5. Industrial drafting 101
6. Survey and Topographical Drafting 101
7. Creating construction drawings for an earthship
Student - These are some very interesting ideas! If I were to pick from your list, I'd probably go in this order:
1. Survey and Topographical Drafting 101
2. Industrial drafting 101
3. Machine Shop Drafting 101
These for the possible future earning potential for students, but for me personally, I'd like:
1. Creating construction drawings for an earthship
2. Converting a barn into a home
3. Creating construction drawings for a strawbale home
That's because of my "Mother Earth News" way of thinking, I do believe!
Then another student joined into the conversation with the following:
Other Student - I would like to see these choices from your list, in no particular order...
mech drawing on a drafting board
machine shop 101
industrial drafting 101
survey/topo draft 101
also if you may consider input... i would like to see a few 101's directed toward indust mech sytems, electrical, boiler plants/chiller plants, hvac etc... just my $.02....ya get what ya pay for...lol
Anyway, I thought I'd share this tidbit with you. Just by including the public in suggesting topics can give you a wealth of information.
The forum I mentioned in this article is located at http://receivedtext.org/forum/ and is wide open to use if you would like to try the same method. The drafting lessons the students I quoted were taking is at http://houseplandrafting101.net
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