HappyDay: Barn Work

Casey O’Neill is a cannabis and food farmer in Mendocino County who has been writing newsletters about his efforts to provide sustainable produce and marijuana. We feature his column once a week.

We did it! Barn roof repair is complete after 4 days of intense labor, and I’m in a state of awe that reminds me of what it felt like to get out of school for summer. Never has a project hung over me with such intensity, overwhelming and consuming my thoughts in the days since the storm. I wasn’t even sure we’d be able to do it, what with the height of the barn, old materials, lack of money and lack of surety about how to proceed.

      As in all things, it turned out that the way to move forward was one step at a time, and with the help and support of community. Uncle Matt loaned us scaffolding, harnesses, roof jacks, experience and knowledge with how to begin the work. Oni loaned rope, harnesses and donated copious 2×6’s that he had milled. Lizard donated screws that were key to the final push to button up the metal. Neil brought more rope, harnesses and helped with the work. Echo, brother Lito and I were on the project from start to finish, and we relied on the moral support from so many folks who reached out.

     Day one was gathering materials, scratching heads and figuring out how best to begin the project. We set up the scaffolding and got the construction tools out, charged batteries and picked up the 2×6’s to use as nailers underneath the metal roofing. Echo and Lito both bought screws and lag bolts; it’s amazing how many fasteners a job like this takes!

      Day two we had to figure out harnessing, and our first attempt had me tied off to a hard line that had to be adjusted by someone on the ground to lengthen or shorten my rope. The roof had blown up and folded over on itself so that the screws and the old, rotten nailers were sticking up to the sky. I used an angle grinder and sawzall to cut the sheets of metal apart, passing them down the roof to Echo and Lito one at a time.

      Disassembly was the most daunting part of the project because I didn’t know how it was going to go, and because everything was upside down so all screws had to be cut off. Where the sheets lapped together the remaining threads underneath where I could cut made it difficult to separate the panels, and for December it was hot up there on that roof. Once we got into a rhythm with it though, the work went smoothly, though it was intense physical labor.

      While I worked on cutting panels, Lito and Echo set up the sections of scaffolding under the area to be rebuilt, and we figured on how to install the 2×6 nailers. We used long 6” and 8” timberlok lag screws to go through the 2×6, the old redwood shakes, the redwood 1×6 runners and into the fir poles that make up the barn rafters. In the field between the rafters we used 4” deck screws to anchor into the redwood 1×6’s.

       The next day Neil came with a climbing harness and knowledge of knots that set me up to be able to belay myself so I had flexibility to move up or down the roof as needed without someone having to adjust from the ground. This made a major difference in my ability to maneuver around the jobsite and was a whole new experience in safety and capability for me.

      We finished laying down the 2×6’s that day and started putting the roofing back into place with heavy duty washer screws and lots of schmookie (hillfolk term for caulking) to cover any holes in the old metal roofing. We were able to reuse all of the metal panels, which is key since with costs these days we couldn’t afford to buy new sheets.

      Day four we buttoned up the roof cap and the last sheets of metal out on the edge of the roof, looking down at the long drop and feeling glad that the work was almost done. My fingers, shoulders, ankles, heels, toes, knees and back were screaming by the end of each day, and I’m definitely feeling it as I sit here writing in the predawn.

      I’ve been reflecting on the duality of the experience; the feeling of being empowered by what we’ve done but daunted by the realization of how much work needs to happen to make the barn able to stand for the long-term. I shattered the mental blockage, coming to feel like “we CAN work on the barn!” By the same token, I’ve come to realize that we’re going to be working on the barn for the foreseeable future, and that it will require every bit of resources and energy that we can scrape together.

      We had been planning a major operation this winter to put in new concrete footings, posts, and beams to replace sagging supports, but found ourselves having to turn our attention to the roof after the storm catastrophe. Now, in the weeks to come, we’ll be marshalling our energies and resources to try to gear into the originally intended project. At some point in the future we’re going to have to re-do the other parts of the roof we didn’t tackle yet, and we’ll be shoring up rafters and pouring footings and repairing the north wall.

     The biggest takeaway for me is the love and support of community, the deep camaraderie that comes from shared effort, the joy of working together even through the hardest of labors. We keep it light and fun, cracking jokes and laughing. Grandpa always said “let us be happy in our work” and that lightness is what keeps us from sinking into sullen drudgery. I’m coming to realize that caring for a barn is a deep labor of love, yet also a deep drain on the pocketbook. We took on the ranch in 2021, and the scope of what is needed is still becoming clear to me. That feeling of being both daunted yet empowered is one I’ll have to sit with for some time, but it feels good to be in this current milestone of accomplishment. As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!