We finally tackled the big tear-down project: the old goat pen. The goat pen is basically a miniature barn, with a hay loft on top – but the goats got everywhere, and left their droppings everywhere as well. This building has always been beyond repair, and even our homeowners insurance does not cover it. We thought the three day weekend would give us plenty of time to tackle the project, except that we also had to prune 700 grape vines and plant the second patch of corn.
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| Sunday |
It was not until Sunday afternoon that we actually got started. We began by tearing off the first outside boards and cleaned out everything from the attic level. It was a smelly, dusty mess… we carted 2 full wagonloads of junk to the burning pile, and started a stack of lumber that can be re-used. We basically saved all the old barnboards that looked somewhat salvageable, removing all the nails and hardware before stacking.
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| Mid-day Monday |
On Monday morning we continued tearing off the outside siding boards and removing everything from the lower level of the goat pen. Another two wagonloads of junk was carted to the burning pile, and our lumber stack started to grow. By lunchtime, daylight was visible through all sides. We stopped tearing off the final boards because every time we tried prying a board off, the building started to shake.
Lars and Jeff took off the tractor bucket, so that Jeff could use the bracket as a ramming tool. It only took about 10 minutes for the building to collapse once the tractor started pushing:
