As we had left off of the last post, we had taken a long shot approach and found a local farmer that was willing to take down the machine shed.  After more than a year of cleaning out and cleaning out and cleaning out…we actually get to do some demo work! We cannot begin to explain how excited we were to see something done other than shoveling raccoon infested trash into a dump trailer.

After a bit of logistics, the day was here to finally see the machine shed come down!  For a little nostalgia, below is a picture of the building pre-demo. One of the many odd parts of this house is that the previous owner had connected the house to the machine shed. Kind of like a garage…but without the automatic door opener!

The farmer’s goal was to take down the building piece by piece so that he could reuse it on his own property.  Although it was an older building, it was in really good shape.  Unfortunately, he had to do a little housekeeping to be able to get to the point of taking it down.  The farmer brought two John Deere tractors, a flat bed trailer, and hired help.

On the first day, the farmer pulled out all the wooden shelving and drug it to the burn pile. One day on his tractor got about three to four weekends worth of work done compared to Chris with his ladder, hammer, and crow bar.  This just gave Chris another reason for his “I need a tractor” speech.

After the farmer finished work on the first day, Chris and I did a little tidying up. In the midst of cleaning up, Chris had an entire bottle of lighter fluid spill all over his pants. We did not have a lot of time to work so heading back to our rental would have meant an end to the day.  Instead, Chris shed his work pants and just kept plugging away. Nice legs!!

The second day meant finishing tearing out a small office/storage room built near the front.  It is the one that Chris is climbing on in the above picture.  The machine shed had been heated with a few overhead gas heaters.  The farmer was nice enough to pull them down and save them for us.

They also started the dirty job of pulling down all the insulation.  Years of small roof leaks and mouse nests made this an especially not fun project for the farmer and his hired man.  The end of two days of work came and insulation laid strewn on the ground.  However, the clean wall and ceiling showed off a great looking building.  The farmer rented a large dumpster to get rid of all the insulation and some of the trash. 

They were also able to begin removing the building from the breezeway.  The farmer was extra careful to make sure not to damage any part of the house.  Before the project began, we worked with an attorney to come up with a project contract to protect us, the house, and any liability that may have taken place.

Seeing the building stripped of all the junk and structures along the walls gave us the appreciation for the work being done.  Also, we knew that the bargain had been a fair one.  The building was in great shape and would get a new life for someone that could also use it for it’s primary purpose.

Work continued for the next couple of days.  Each one bringing more and more pieces of the building away.  It also started to open up the space around the north side of the house.  As big as the house is, the machine shed had always made it feel that much larger.

 

 

With the tin sheeting pulled away from the sides and top, the project began closing in on being completed.  Just in time for rain that was being forecasted, as well as an Iowa harvest that needed to get out of the field for the farmer.

 

Five days later, the shed was entirely gone.  We salvaged a basketball hoop that had been laying idle next to one of the barns and added it to the cement pad of the building floor.  We also took a day to start picking up the remaining trash and filled up our 16th load for the landfill.  I guess we should count the dumpster full of insulation too.  That one was one of the large ones used for construction projects and was overflowing.  Maybe we are closer to 20 loads of trash at this point.

With the machine shed gone, the space seemed to open up.  The house could breathe.  We could breathe…and smile.  Things were starting to happen. We were gaining momentum.  That momentum carried us to the next step in the project.  We needed a plan.  Actually, we needed a set of plans and that meant an architect.

Till next time…