I assume it’s safe to say just about everyone who has a barn, has a pile of junk similar to this pushed up against the side of it. It sorta happens. tractor implements feel safer there, seasonal things rotate up against the wall, hiding from the elements they are not used to being used in… snow fence in the summer and garden fence in the winter. Yeah, I have been around enough barns in my life to know all of them have some sort of “dark side” like this.
Then – enter Kelli. Not exactly a huge fan of this sort of mess. Nor the currently vacant mobile chicken pasture pen. Nor the old trailer that needs brakes. Nor the pile of old scrap lumber I “might” need some day. You get the picture. She wants things to look nice and kept… which is probably a good thing, because likely left to my own devices, in several years, I’d need to buy one of those meaty brown dogs that snarl and bark – to guard against theft in my developing junkyard. To that end – we decided to build a leanto off the existing pole barn – giving additional space to store all those things that should stay outside but hide them from the view above.
Like so many things in the world today – the project started with a search on the web for plans… but came up empty. So, I took to designing my own. Actually very simple, I planned on attaching a 2×10 header with carriage bolts to the existing headers and siding on the long side of the barn. From there I’d use rafter hangers for 2×8 rafters, 24″ on center, spanning 12′ for the leanto – with a 1′ overhang. The outside would be supported by 4 – 6×6 PT posts, 13’6″ apart – and a 2×12 header on each side. The plan is to finish the ends with matching board and batten so the entire barn looks the same. Simple enough.
Step 1 – Prep the side of the barn and attach the header
Yeah – simple right, cut the battens so I can easily attach the new header to the outside of the barn and use carriage bolts to hold it in place… The morning started with the unexpected discovery – the second board that appeared to “double up” the existing header was really a ripped 2×4 used as just a nailing strip for the siding. You can see the misery here – just that little sliver of wood in there… No way that’s going to be usable.
So the plans changed – cut off all the siding just like this little window here down the 40′ side of the barn and rip off this tacking strip. I can then directly attach the header to the existing board (of course the carriage bolts I already have are too long now) – but no matter. So – back to work I went… This is going to take longer than I thought it would…
