Chapter XVI: Building the Barn--The Basement

Squaring the foundation site is a simple operation, yet few are able to perform it, and it is seldom that a surveyor is at hand. Buildings are so generally placed with their fronts parallel to the highway or the private way, that the road may be assumed to be the base line. Four stakes set in the middle of the road, as shown in Fig. 96, establish the base line, from which is measured the distance from the road at which it is desired to place the building. The stakes A and B should be placed farther apart than the width of the front of the building; they are connected by a line which is parallel to the road and forms the permanent base line. Next the stakes C and D are placed, and also connected by a line. With a 10-foot pole, six feet are measured off on either line, beginning at the intersection of the lines, and eight feet on the other line. If the line C to D is at right angles to the line AB, the 10-foot measure will just reach from 6 to 8, since 6 multiplied by 6, plus 8 multiplied by 8, equals 100, and the square root of 100 is 10. Should the 10-foot measure be longer than from 6 to 8, the stake D is moved to the left until the pole reaches from 6 to 8; if the measure is too short to reach from 6 to 8, the stake is moved to the right. All of these measurements should be gone over two or three times, as in moving the stake the lines may stretch or shrink. Either a pin or a pencil mark may be used to indicate the measurements on the lines at 6 and 8.

If the building is to be 26 feet deep, that distance is measured on the line CD and the same distance from the line AB. Stakes are then driven and a line drawn from E to F, and in like manner a line is drawn from G to H. The work is verified by squaring the last angle as in the first case. The eight dots represent stakes driven in even with the surface of the ground, at just 10 feet from the corners. Since it will be necessary to remove the lines before the horse scraper can be used in excavating, and as the construction stakes at the corners will be disturbed, the short stakes become necessary that the lines may be restored as the work proceeds and the excavation kept square and true. It will be seen that a line drawn from A to B will restore the base line, and in like manner the other lines may be quickly reproduced. It will be necessary, too, to restore these lines before the foundation wall is begun. By “plumbing” downward from the restored lines, other lines may be placed in the bottom of the excavation, which will be duplicates of those first drawn.

EXCAVATION

Barns are now usually built with a basement story. This implies that the building is to be placed on more or less sloping ground, in which case the removal of some earth will be necessary. The basement story should extend well above ground, to economize construction and to secure dry walls and floors. It is a great mistake to place animals in cellars. The dotted line in Fig. 97 shows an incline rather too steep; and in Fig. 98 one that is not steep enough. It is better to place the barn where wanted, even if the incline has to be changed, than to place it in an unhandy position that the best slope may be secured. It is not difficult to construct a basement barn on level or nearly level land. In the latter case, all of the basement walls may be of wood, since provision can be made for a driveway to the second floor by means of a retaining wall built some ten or twelve feet from the barn; the space between the wall and the barn may be bridged (Fig. 99). Cast-off steel or iron rails form durable and excellent sleepers for such a bridge, the plank being kept in place by spiking two-inch pieces, one on either end on top of the bridge plank. In case no retaining wall is built, and the earth lies immediately against the basement wall (Fig. 100), dampness may be largely prevented from reaching the stable and the animals by building a second wall across the side or end of the barn, inclosing a space or room for roots immediately under the driveway. The floor over this root-cellar should be deafened to prevent frost entering from above (Fig. 101). The second wall will remain comparatively dry, since no damp earth rests against it. This location of the root-cellar makes it convenient for unloading the roots through trap doors in the floor, which are kept partly open for a time after the roots have been put in, to prevent them from heating.

WALLS

The foundation walls for barns need not necessarily extend below frost, if the earth is as dry as it should be; for a slight settling of the building does not result in injury, as in the plastered house. All that is necessary is to make the walls broad and strong and to have them well drained.

Masons understand the necessity of bonding stone walls, and know how to perform the work; but too often they are careless, and therefore need to be supervised. In Fig. 102, a well bonded wall is shown at the left end, and one imperfectly bonded at the other. If the wall should chance to pull endwise a crack would appear to the right of the dotted line, since in the seven layers shown there is but one stone, A, that has sufficient contact to bond the two stones upon which it rests. The wall should also have its face and back side tied together or bonded, or it may split apart near the middle. Two walls, one of which is properly bonded, the other is not, are shown in Fig. 103. One layer only of stone can be shown in the diagram, but it will readily be seen that if the course which is placed on the one shown is laid like it,--that is, if the faulty bonding near the back side be continued for several courses--the wall will pull apart. The small, narrow stones have been placed at the back side of the wall, and the good stones in the front of the wall; this is all very well, but some long stones should reach from the back side of the wall to near the face, if the bond is made good. No stone should reach entirely through the wall, since in cold weather the frost will follow through such stones from face to rear.

There is no economy in using mortar which is poorly mixed or that which contains too much sand and too little lime or cement. If the lime or cement, that is, the binding material, does not come into immediate contact with every particle of sand, then the mortar will be weak. If not enough of the cement or lime is used, the bond will also be weak. For stone walls _not more_ than four parts of sand to one of cement or lime should be used. If the sand be sharp and clean a much stronger mortar is secured than when it is composed in part of rotten sand mixed with vegetable matter. If the materials are good and they are mixed in the right proportion, still good mortar will not be secured unless they be _thoroughly mixed_. The best masons use the least mortar, while poor masons are wasteful of it.

The prices given below are not applicable to the whole United States, but they may serve to decide the relative proportions of sand and lime which should be used, and the kind of lime which can be used most economically. Water lime retails at about eighty cents per barrel, and three parts of sand and one of lime, if the latter is fresh, should make a strong mortar. Water lime deteriorates rapidly with age, while the higher priced cements deteriorate quite slowly. Stone lime should be fresh and in no case air-slaked. It costs about one dollar a barrel and may be mixed three of sand to one of lime. Rosendale cement costs about $1.25 per barrel, and may be mixed four to one. Portland cement costs about $3 per barrel, and if used instead of the cheaper materials named above, may be mixed five to one. It should always be used for pointing walls and in the construction of cemented floors, in which case it should be mixed two or three to one. All this presupposes that the mortar is so thoroughly mixed that a lime film will surround every particle of sand.

The cement and water lime is mixed with the sand before it is wet, and this dry mixing should be most thorough, as the strength of the mortar is largely dependent on the uniform incorporation of the cement with the sand. This mixing can be much more perfectly done when the material is dry than after it is wet. Other precautions are necessary. The mortar should contain the minimum of water which will permit it to work freely, and when the mortar is used it should be solidified, that is, pushed together by means of a trowel or by the material which is laid upon it. In case of cement or grout floors, the material should be pounded thoroughly. The object of all this is to compel each particle of sand to firmly touch other particles. The tendency to “water-log” mortar, to save labor in spreading it, is too common.

If, from any cause, the basement walls must be largely of stone, the tendency for them to gather moisture may be somewhat overcome by plastering them with cement mortar, or studding may be placed against the walls upon which unmatched boards may be nailed (Fig. 104). The warm air of the stable cannot then reach the relatively cold walls, and little condensation will appear on the boards, since they are always more nearly the temperature of the stable than are the stone.

Wooden basement walls are preferable in all ways to those constructed of stone, grout or brick, wherever the earth does not rest against them. An excellent method of constructing the walls of the basement story is shown in a section of the first story, Fig. 104. The studding should be 2 × 6 inches, with short pieces of 2 × 4 placed edgewise between them to serve as outside nailing girts.

A broad, steep water-table is placed just above the upper end of the studding to receive the boarding above the basement and to improve the outside appearance of the building. After the outside boarding of the basement and the window frames are placed, the inside of the wall is boarded horizontally with unmatched seasoned lumber, and as the boards are being put on, the hollow wall space is filled with short straw or straw and chaff. This construction has proved to be the most satisfactory of any tried. The wall is cheap, durable, dry, excludes the cold, and still allows a little fresh air to enter the stables gradually. Objection has been made to this construction on the ground that it harbors mice and rats. After having used buildings with walls of this character for a quarter of a century, I must say that the objection is not well taken.

FLOORS

The floor of the first story should be partly of wood and partly of cement or of brick.

All voidings of the animals should be removed from the stable at least once a day. Allowing the manure to drop through gratings, with the view of letting it remain there more than one day, is decidedly wrong, and any arrangement which does not admit of the thorough cleaning and airing of the stable daily is objectionable. Nor is the practice of washing out the stables economical, since it necessitates great waste of manure or too great expense in caring for and removing the diluted excreta. If the floors and stable be well cleaned with shovel and broom, and dusted with gypsum, dry earth, sawdust, or chaffy material, good sanitary conditions will be secured easily and cheaply. While the stables are being cleaned and treated they should also be aired. The animals meantime should be allowed to stretch their limbs, by which it is not meant that they should be hooking one another around a muddy barnyard, or running foot races up and down the lane. On the one hand, it may be all well enough for those who sell animals at fabulous prices and have long bank accounts, to procure water-proof blankets for them, and to accompany them on their regular daily “constitutional.” The other extreme is where the animals are fastened by the head or neck by contrivances not always comfortable, and left standing for six months without being removed from their stall. Is there not a happy medium between these two extremes?

Top left rooms: 4′ × 10′ and 10′ × 11′.
Midway width: 10′.
Over-all width: 32′.
Bottom left room: 10′ × 11′.
Width of stalls: 3′ 6″.
Over-all length: 80′.
Room central bottom: 3′ × 6′.

Fig. 105. Basement cattle stable. At the right is a cross-section of the stable, showing the convex cement midway.]

Animals are more comfortable on a wooden floor than on one built of either brick, cement, or asphalt. Notwithstanding this, most of the floor of the basement should be constructed of more durable material than wood. If the animals are kept fully bedded, as they usually are not, then it would be best to discard wooden floors entirely. Fig. 105 shows a basement floor designed for cattle. The part where the animals stand is of wood, the balance of hard or pavement brick set edgewise on a bed of sand. The cement or grout floor may be substituted for the brick if desired. If the cracks between the bricks in the floor are filled with thin cement mortar, the floor becomes water-tight, though this is not necessary except in the gutters. The ground underneath the wooden floor should be leveled and pounded, and covered with a thin layer of salt to preserve the wood. The plank which forms the side of the drip should be of oak or some other durable wood. The 2 × 4 pieces to which the floor is nailed when first built, need not be replaced when they rot, since the dirt underneath will be smooth and hard. The large nails which fasten the floor to the oak piece at the rear and the mangers combined will suffice to keep the floor plank in place; the only object in placing the nailing pieces at first is to facilitate construction. The plank of the floor should be of some uniform standard width, as 8, 10, or 12 inches wide, that repairs may be made quickly when the floor gives way.

STALLS

When a dairy of some size is kept, the cows may be arranged in double rows. Fifty cows could be crowded into a barn 80 × 32 feet. But fifty cows of 800 pounds each weigh 40,000 pounds; and if the stable is ten feet from the top of the lower floor to the bottom of the upper floor, it would contain only 25,600 cubic feet of air space. This is manifestly too little, as 1 cubic foot of air space should be allowed for each pound of live animal. Many stables, in fact most stables, provide but one-half of a cubic foot of air space for each pound of live animal kept in them; in such case it is impossible to keep the air approximately pure or the stable decently sweet. To realize what this means, suppose a bedchamber be constructed for a man weighing 160 pounds. If one foot of air space be provided for each pound of live weight, the chamber might be built 4 feet wide, 7 feet long and 6 feet high. This would give 168 cubic feet of air space. If the bedchamber be made proportionally as large as are most cow stables, its dimensions would be 3 feet wide, 6¹⁄₂ feet long and 4¹⁄₂ feet high. To insure good air in such a sleeping room one side of it would have to be knocked out.

If one or two box-stalls and one feed-bin are provided in an 80 × 32-foot barn, with 12-foot ceilings (Fig. 105), and room for a hallway, 3 feet wide, be left at one end of the building, it will then accommodate thirty-nine animals. Each one would have 800 cubic feet of air space, the required amount. The first story of most cow stables is about seven feet. It is seen how easily the stable may be overcrowded. A high story gives opportunity for long windows and for placing them well up from the floor, and for good ventilation. If the ceiling is to be reduced in height, which it well may be, the building should be proportionately longer.

A section of a part of the inside of the wall with swing windows is shown in Fig. 106. The windows should be of one sash and hung near the middle, as shown, by means of a piece of iron ³⁄₈ of an inch in diameter and 4 inches long. A hole for the reception of the iron, and of the same size, is made through the window sash and extends into the jambs of the frame about one inch. A button on the side of the jamb is used to hold the window partly open when required. This allows cool air to pass in at the bottom and the warm, vitiated air to pass out at the top in small, broken streams. It will be noticed that in case of a storm no rain or strong current of air can reach the stable. Usually too few and too small windows are provided, through which the manure from the stables is not unfrequently thrown.

Some additional ventilators should be provided; these may consist of wooden tubes extending from the ceiling through the roof, so constructed that the foul air may enter them. They need not be numerous or large, as the windows when slightly open form excellent ventilators. Two things should be kept prominently in view in ventilation: first, no strong draughts of air, or, as a distinguished professor puts it, “great gobs of raw air,” should be introduced; second, ventilators should ventilate both at the ceiling and the floor, as in these two places will be found the most impure air. Ample air space is most economically secured by high ceilings, rather than by horizontal enlargement. The air can be kept reasonably pure by the introduction, at several points near the lower floor, of small volumes of slowly moving fresh air.

Two stairs should lead from the basement to the second floor in all large barns to economize time; the openings in the upper floor had best be provided with flap doors, which can be left open in muggy, warm weather to assist ventilation, or closed in cold weather to economize warmth.

Many varieties of stanchion for confining cattle in stalls are in use, some really good, but mostly defective in one or more respects. It would take too much space to describe all of the various contrivances and to illustrate them and to call attention to their good and objectionable points. Some confine the animals too closely, others give too much freedom and allow them to become soiled; some are too expensive, and some are not durable. I shall describe but one kind of fastening and manger which, after trying numerous patent arrangements, has been found to be excellent. It is quite possible that there are better ones. The one thing which has been learned about stanchions by experimentation and observation is that they may be so complicated and handy as to be unhandy.

The size and character of the “drip,” the comfort and cleanliness of the animals, the ease of fastening and unfastening, the noise or quiet of the stable, and the effect on the animals, should all be considered. While using one stanchion, the animals became wild and made frantic efforts to pull their heads out when the attendant approached to unfasten them. As soon as another fastening was introduced they became docile. With one stanchion they would lie down more frequently than with another. With one kind of manger the animals are tempted to hook one another, and in reaching for food would fall upon their knees and injure themselves. Most of the contrivances were not easily adjustable, so that when the size, or rather length, of the animals varied the standing room was either too short or too long. Some had posts to sustain the stanchions; these intercepted the light and prevented an unobstructed survey of the animal. They gave the stables a forbidding, dark, prison-like appearance.

The individual stalls should be, for smallish animals, 3 feet 6 inches from center to center, and 3 feet 8 inches for larger animals. The partitions between the animals need extend only far enough backward and upward to prevent them from reaching each other with their horns. When dishorning is practiced the partitions may be lower than when it is not.

MANGERS AND TIES

The cross section of a floor and the skeleton of a bracket upon which the mangers are built are shown in Fig. 107. The mangers of cattle stables should be easily movable. This can be accomplished in the following way: Construct one more bracket than the number of stalls required in the line of mangers. Place one of the brackets at the end and one intermediate between every pair of stalls; fasten them lightly to the floor with nails, which should be removed when the mangers are completed. Fig. 107 also shows the cross section of the brackets, with bottom, front, and back side of the manger placed.

The Newton cattle tie (Fig. 108), though rather expensive, has proved most satisfactory. It is made of one piece of round, durable wood, as ash, about 1¹⁄₄ inches in diameter and bent at the corners, and is furnished with a flat ring which encircles the bow at the middle, to which is attached a swivel; to this is fastened a rope to encircle the animal’s neck, the rope being furnished with suitable fastenings at the ends. The bows are attached to the divisions on a level or a little above the animal’s throat when standing; when lying down the bow rests on top of the manger, which is about 1¹⁄₂ feet lower than the ends of the bow. It will be seen that since the bow describes an arc of a circle in passing downward, it tends to pull the animal towards the manger when it lies down, and hence away from the soiled drip.

In midsummer window curtains, drawn during milking time, serve to quiet the flies and the cows, as does also a light spraying of the animals with kerosene before they are turned out in the morning. A blanket tacked over the entrance door to the cow stable will brush most of the flies off the cattle as they enter.