Over the winter months my wife and I decided on choice of color and what we wanted it to look like, plus what size it would be:  24' x 30'.

It would have doors on each end.  I wanted doors large enough to maneuver the 560 in and out without hitting the muffler at the top or on the sides.  I decided then on 10' x 10' doors on each end.  I could drive all the way through with doors on each end!  Later I decided, I'd need a man-door on the side.  It was cheap enough to add and easy to frame up.  I'm glad I did now! 

 

I called several contractors about pricing one, but it was more than I wanted to pay or had budgeted. I figured with enough help, I could probably save a couple thousand $ by doing it myself.  The problem was, I've never built anything like this.  I mean nothing even remotely close.  The last thing I built was a dog house back when I was 12 years old.  (It is still standing by the way!)  But, the only way to learn sometimes is by doing.  I started sketching some ideas down on paper.  I drew it to scale and started figuring out how much lumber I would need.  I did this several times just to be sure.  My Dad is a good carpenter and my Father-in-Law (FIL) is good at just about anything, so between both of them, I had ample support and confidence to get through this should I hit a snag. 

 

I knew I would need about a week off of work to accomplish this feat.  I felt confident we could get it built in one week...was hoping anyways!  I had 6 family members lined up to help (4 of whom live in Florida and came all the way up just to help me out) during the week and my brother and another friend helped out on a Saturday (they worked during the week).  After checking everyone's schedule and getting all the volunteers, I scheduled the week of May 5, 2003 to be the week that we RAISE the BARN!