Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Things built, torn down and other projects.(Pictures)
- Thread starter Orangeslice13
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Behr
RIP Toby.
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Tin Man
Dirt's Childhood Playmate
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Tin Man
Dirt's Childhood Playmate
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Behr
RIP Toby.
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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buckfama
Volnation's official hillbilly
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buckfama
Volnation's official hillbilly
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Tin Man
Dirt's Childhood Playmate
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Orangeslice13
RockyTop is back, Let’s Go!!
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buckfama
Volnation's official hillbilly
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buckfama
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Here is a story about a barn I took down. Since Memorial day was this past weekend I guessed it's sort of fitting I tell this story now.
The barn was in Sweetwater Tn. It was a BIG barn, leaning heavily to one side. The landowner needed it gone. It was too close to his house and his insurance company refused to insure his house until it was gone.
It was in decent shape structure wise, but the foundation was bad. Groundhogs had undermined it and now it was beyond saving.
I agreed to look at it to ensure that I could get enough wood out of it make it worth my time in taking it down.
It was an odd barn, and I mean that by the way it had been used . It was built as a hay/stock barn. It had the stalls lining the main hallway through the middle like most barns, but hay loft had been converted into an area to dry tobacco. Not sure how efficient that was considering how large the hay loft was, but I guess it had served the purpose well enough.
As I climbed the ladder into the loft, I saw an old recliner sitting in one corner.
That's not something you see every day in a hay loft.
It was a patchwork of the original fabric covering, with foam and springs showing in lots of places. It was a heavy sucker and it took having a purpose to get it the 12 feet off the ground and into the loft.
After I climbed down, and finished my inspection , I finalized the deal with the homeowner with a handshake.
After we were finished with the business side of things, I brought up the old recliner .
The look on his face changed and he said "Yes sir, that was my brothers,"
Their father and granddad built the barn around 1910. It was a well built barn, built with care by 2 men with pride in what they were doing . It showed in the way the beams were notched and carefully fitted together, the tight joints.
Him and his brother had grown up playing and doing chores in that old barn. Helping their dad feed the animals, putting up hay and tobacco, normal stuff for a boy raised on a farn.
Years passed and WW11 broke out. His brother joined and was sent overseas to fight the Germans.
Luckily his brother survived and came home, but he wasn't the same brother that had left. He had trouble coping with people and crowds. Loud noises brought him terror. Back then they called it shell shocked. Nowadays we call it PTSD I guess.
There was 1 place that his brother felt safe and could cope with what he had seen and been through.. it was the loft of that barn .
His brother lived in the loft of that barn for over 30 years, battling his demons. He would drink sometimes when it got really bad, but otherwise the isolation in a place he felt safe was all it took . That recliner was his.
Me being a vet, this hit me hard. I can't imagine what horrors someone could go through to make them want to live in a barn loft until they pass on.
I give every job I do the utmost respect possible . I asked the brother what he wanted me to do with the recliner . He said it was up to me, that he didn't want to save it. I almost kept it, but then thought it was best if it stayed with the barn until the end. That way his brother had a place to rest if he ever visited.
I guess what I'm getting at with this story is this... when you go into an old abandoned barn, or store, or house and you see objects lying around like shoes, or an old pot, or even a recliner in a barn loft. You never know what memories are attached to that item or building.
Nothing spectacular happened in that barn loft in Sweetwater Tn, but at the same time it was the most important place on earth for 1 man.
His story won't be printed in any history book. It was known to 2 men before today, and now I'm sharing it with you.
Respect the old things that came before you. They carry our stories and history with them .
The barn was in Sweetwater Tn. It was a BIG barn, leaning heavily to one side. The landowner needed it gone. It was too close to his house and his insurance company refused to insure his house until it was gone.
It was in decent shape structure wise, but the foundation was bad. Groundhogs had undermined it and now it was beyond saving.
I agreed to look at it to ensure that I could get enough wood out of it make it worth my time in taking it down.
It was an odd barn, and I mean that by the way it had been used . It was built as a hay/stock barn. It had the stalls lining the main hallway through the middle like most barns, but hay loft had been converted into an area to dry tobacco. Not sure how efficient that was considering how large the hay loft was, but I guess it had served the purpose well enough.
As I climbed the ladder into the loft, I saw an old recliner sitting in one corner.
That's not something you see every day in a hay loft.
It was a patchwork of the original fabric covering, with foam and springs showing in lots of places. It was a heavy sucker and it took having a purpose to get it the 12 feet off the ground and into the loft.
After I climbed down, and finished my inspection , I finalized the deal with the homeowner with a handshake.
After we were finished with the business side of things, I brought up the old recliner .
The look on his face changed and he said "Yes sir, that was my brothers,"
Their father and granddad built the barn around 1910. It was a well built barn, built with care by 2 men with pride in what they were doing . It showed in the way the beams were notched and carefully fitted together, the tight joints.
Him and his brother had grown up playing and doing chores in that old barn. Helping their dad feed the animals, putting up hay and tobacco, normal stuff for a boy raised on a farn.
Years passed and WW11 broke out. His brother joined and was sent overseas to fight the Germans.
Luckily his brother survived and came home, but he wasn't the same brother that had left. He had trouble coping with people and crowds. Loud noises brought him terror. Back then they called it shell shocked. Nowadays we call it PTSD I guess.
There was 1 place that his brother felt safe and could cope with what he had seen and been through.. it was the loft of that barn .
His brother lived in the loft of that barn for over 30 years, battling his demons. He would drink sometimes when it got really bad, but otherwise the isolation in a place he felt safe was all it took . That recliner was his.
Me being a vet, this hit me hard. I can't imagine what horrors someone could go through to make them want to live in a barn loft until they pass on.
I give every job I do the utmost respect possible . I asked the brother what he wanted me to do with the recliner . He said it was up to me, that he didn't want to save it. I almost kept it, but then thought it was best if it stayed with the barn until the end. That way his brother had a place to rest if he ever visited.
I guess what I'm getting at with this story is this... when you go into an old abandoned barn, or store, or house and you see objects lying around like shoes, or an old pot, or even a recliner in a barn loft. You never know what memories are attached to that item or building.
Nothing spectacular happened in that barn loft in Sweetwater Tn, but at the same time it was the most important place on earth for 1 man.
His story won't be printed in any history book. It was known to 2 men before today, and now I'm sharing it with you.
Respect the old things that came before you. They carry our stories and history with them .
malinoisvol
Pick up your Balls and Rattle your Cannons!
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508mikey
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buckfama
Volnation's official hillbilly
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Finished this one.. not sure when I'm moving onto the next.
I have had a 3 year plan to transition to the dealer side of this business. It was doable and gave me time to learn who the players are on that level, price points in the market, marketing, etc.
I have always been transparent with my buyers in my ambition and business plans. I tell them up front that I'm going to ask questions about that side of the business in order to learn and help my transition later.
Well.. it seems one would rather work with me than against me. So he has offered me a partnership of sorts. We will still maintain different companies, but he will help with my learning that side of the business in return for combining business contacts and me being the eyes and ears out in the field.
I have spent the last week at his place, getting a crash course in marketing, sales, the big players in this business, price points in the market, you name it. He has shared a wealth of knowledge that would have taken me 2 years on my own.
This business is definitely taken in steps/stages.
I have completed the first 2 and now I stand at the beginning of the 3rd. I feel like I'm standing at the foot of Mt. Everest looking up at the summit. I'm a little nervous about it but I will get there.
It's not going to be an overnight transition. I'm still committed on 5 barns, but during this time I'll be growing my knowledge base , customer and dealer contacts, and eventually no more days in the field. At least not in the same capacity.
I will still be traveling, visiting customers , still may buy barns and have them taken down, but I will be too busy handling other things to have crow bars in my hand all day.
God keeps blessing me.. not sure what I'm doing to deserve it, but I'm grateful.
I'll keep posting on my final few barns until they are done.
Oh.. I changed my business name on the recommendation of a marketing friend of mine.
It's going to be Barnwood Renaissance. Honeysuckle​hardwoods would never show up on a web search for barnwood.
So new name, new opportunities, new chapter.
I have had a 3 year plan to transition to the dealer side of this business. It was doable and gave me time to learn who the players are on that level, price points in the market, marketing, etc.
I have always been transparent with my buyers in my ambition and business plans. I tell them up front that I'm going to ask questions about that side of the business in order to learn and help my transition later.
Well.. it seems one would rather work with me than against me. So he has offered me a partnership of sorts. We will still maintain different companies, but he will help with my learning that side of the business in return for combining business contacts and me being the eyes and ears out in the field.
I have spent the last week at his place, getting a crash course in marketing, sales, the big players in this business, price points in the market, you name it. He has shared a wealth of knowledge that would have taken me 2 years on my own.
This business is definitely taken in steps/stages.
I have completed the first 2 and now I stand at the beginning of the 3rd. I feel like I'm standing at the foot of Mt. Everest looking up at the summit. I'm a little nervous about it but I will get there.
It's not going to be an overnight transition. I'm still committed on 5 barns, but during this time I'll be growing my knowledge base , customer and dealer contacts, and eventually no more days in the field. At least not in the same capacity.
I will still be traveling, visiting customers , still may buy barns and have them taken down, but I will be too busy handling other things to have crow bars in my hand all day.
God keeps blessing me.. not sure what I'm doing to deserve it, but I'm grateful.
I'll keep posting on my final few barns until they are done.
Oh.. I changed my business name on the recommendation of a marketing friend of mine.
It's going to be Barnwood Renaissance. Honeysuckle​hardwoods would never show up on a web search for barnwood.
So new name, new opportunities, new chapter.
Last edited:
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