924Board.org

[ideola]

We have less than 18 months on the commercial lease back in MI, so time to get busy. We are converting the existing 85' x 25' steel girder structure attached to the back of our barn to the 3rd iteration of "Ideola's Garage". Groundbreaking was this week. The entire roof and all exterior walls will be replaced with new, insulated, seamless sheet metal.



First step: remove the old heaved concrete to make way for an insulated and radiant heat tubing system in the new floor:






The original slider doors will be removed and used as salvaged barnwood. These will be replaced with conventional 36" man doors on opposite sides of the building. The old sheet metal will be removed and replaced with new insulated sheet metal, inside and out.


The existing framing is being reinforced using a reverse framing technique. We will be installing large windows on both ends of the structure. The original steel posts at the three openings are being replaced with I-beams which will be framed in to support three 12' wide by 10' high overhead doors.


The utility room which will house the boiler, electrical panel, and stand-up compressor will be situated in the south-east corner of the barn basement.


The barn basement, which has a concrete floor, will eventually setup with radiant heating coils hung from the floor joists, as well as re-wired for fresh electrical. This space will be used for a variety of purposes, including the machine shop, and storage of spare parts.


West (back) side of the barn


Glamour shots of the interior of our centennial barn. The music studio will eventually be built at the west end by repurposing the existing 35' x 15' feed storage rooms (situated behind the pop-up camper). For now, the rest of the barn will be used for family gatherings, parties, etc. We are considering a variety of other commercial uses for this space.






View of "Ideola's Garage" from one of the interior barn windows:


I hope to provide more updates as the construction progresses.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[Grenadiers]

Wow, that is a big barn!! Good thing the roof looks newer, leaking rain is the number one killer of old barns.

Rustic barn weddings are a big thing here in Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota. Check out this website to find any near you that would be competitors, or just for ideas. We're thinking of turning our white barn into one of these. We'd make more money doing weddings and events than selling pizza and beer. Since we already have a liquor license, this would be a great idea. But, we're older and don't have the energy to do this at the moment.
http://guide.rusticweddingchic.com/
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'83 944 Track car.
'88 924S Track car.
'89 944 Turbo
2004 Winnebago Vectra monster RV
2012 Jeep Wrangler
2014 Kia Soul
2001 Ford F350 powerstroke

[924-76]

"Ideola's Garage v3.0" that's great news, keep us update
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1976 924 N/A ROW SOLD
1980 931S
1981 931 Part car RIP

[ideola]

[gerben1986]

Looks great!
Now I can understand why you aren't here that often as you used to be.
Good luck with your building activities!
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911SC - 1980

[musicalannette]

That looks fabulous, you probably not a farmer so might not know, why do they build the barns so high? It doesn't look like they were originally use for storage?
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I KNEW white wall tyres were invented by Americans .....just not at Boeing.... to be fitted on the 737.....

[Grenadiers]

Hay bales were rectangular back in the day, easily stacked in barns like Dan's. The cows were below the loft, and feeding them was pretty basic. However, with the advent of corporate farming, and multiple cow barns, farms like Dan's became not profitable. 50 to 75 head of dairy cows, which would have filled Dan's barn back then, became not profitable. Farmers with business awareness, had to decide if they wanted to continue in the dairy business. Family owned farms with lots of land that could support growing alfalfa and corn, were the ones that had a chance.

As to hay, today, you have round bales, or, when hay is cut, some farmers will windrow the cut hay and then blow it into trucks. Then the trucks will haul back to the farm and dump their load into a 'concrete bunker', the farmer covers these bunkers with black plastic.

Modern dairy farms might have 3000 plus cows in the midwest. In our area, they divide their land into growing alfalfa and corn. The corn is chopped in the early fall and stored in silos for the winter. As an off topic thought, since I'm in dairy land, you have farm price supports for their milk, a classic 'entitlement' situation, and our neighbors are REPUBLICANS. SNORT!
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'83 944 Track car.
'88 924S Track car.
'89 944 Turbo
2004 Winnebago Vectra monster RV
2012 Jeep Wrangler
2014 Kia Soul
2001 Ford F350 powerstroke

[daniel]

Looks like a lot of hard work and expenditure ahead!

Good luck!
_________________
Over the top of skyline, total brake failure.... hit the wall at over 200 kp/h at the dipper, so anyone who has to brake for the esses is a pussy.
1977.5 Race Car, CAMS Group S Spec
1989 944 Cabriolet

[techfx]

Music studio? You mean you could record drums and work on your Porsche in the same building?
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81' 924 Turbo, 02 Golf TDi, 88 Scirocco 16v (RIP)... and the Subaru.

[motormouth]

You should invite everyone for a toofah gathering/barn raising this summer lol Dan. It's good to see you're going to be back in business.

[924RACR]

That'd be a hoot!
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Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[notfrommt]

Looks like a great start to a nice setup.

I would like to swing down one day and take a look, once I get my 931 back on the road. It would only be a couple hour drive.

(My first post, btw. Long time lurker, first time poster)

[DZGunner]

Going to be selling things again soon?

[canyonblaster]

COOL!!!!
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PCA Licensed Club Racer & Driving Instructor Current P cars: 1981 931
Past P cars, 1985 944, 1987 951, 1990 911 C4, 2002 Boxster S, 2005 996 GT3, 2013 911 C2S
Daily Driver P cars: 2008 Cayenne GTS, 2013 Cayenne GTS

[kcoyle]

Can't. Imagine. That much. property. (says the guy with a 60 x100 lot)

I'm totally jelly. Good luck with it!
_________________
1982 931- Stock with MBC at 8psi

Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.