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Review of the Post-and-Beam Barn

This is the final visit to the post-and-beam barn project, for a grand tour and a review of some of the great features installed over the last thirteen weeks. Bob details the contruction techniques and special materials used in this project.

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Heavy-Duty Metal Shelving and Preparing the Boat for Winter Storage Now Playing

Heavy-Duty Metal Shelving and Preparing the Boat for Winter Storage

Tour of the Completed Boat Barn Now Playing

Tour of the Completed Boat Barn

Review of the Post-and-Beam Barn Now Playing

Review of the Post-and-Beam Barn

Clip Transcript For:

Review of the Post-and-Beam Barn

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" I'm often asked how long does it take to do these TV projects in its you know the same as a reelect construction project this started in July it's now mid December so it's taken a good five months to get this far. Now when we began we started by putting together a very unusual structural system which is basically a post and beam system from Maine post and beam and it's made out of eastern white pine and of course this is topped off with a beautiful glue laminated beam for our ridge. Which is from our friends -- industry on the Pacific northwest and once we had that frame put together. We basically put us in on it. And the skin is from our friends at tinsel span which create these. Structural systems which are made out of it's basically sound which made out of rigid insulation in the middle 56 inches of it on the inside at the outset you have oriented strand board so that it has structural integrity and provides a lot of insulation. So once we were close to the weather. Where are wonderful Pella windows that we can look at here -- especially fond of the strangler units that we put in at the gable and once we were close to the weather we got into it. All the technical work that went inside -- let's take a close look at the fabric of the building. Because what gives it. I think a real special look is the flush surfaces. The western red cedar plywood which is a rough sawn product and you know it's it's an architectural -- kind of product you're not going to be able to get this at your home improvement center LSU order. Once you put it together because of its ship lap edges that set her up against your big. Long -- feeling that I think is really exciting for this kind of structure. Same thing happens on the roof where you've got a metal shingle system this is steel it's from a -- called -- us and of course it's punctuated by the velux sky windows up there on either side of the of the roof -- But all of these different elements which are contemporary building products when when put together you can. You can create something that really has the lines in the field of an old New England kind of structure. The design the layout of the structure of the building is is a little bit unusual -- eighty feet long. And it best because we designed thirty feet of it for Automotive News that's the end we've been looking at here where we have two car bays we showed you last week then. The other end of the building which is fifty feet long is divided and has two separate entrances a small. Garage door opening here where we can extensively bring in something on a trailer small sailboat or whatever. And of course we haven't finished the work here. But we do have stone dust laid down good six inches of it. And later this week will probably get delivery of some more crushed stone like we have -- front of the building. And of course at this sandwiches the boat. Entranceway we've got a fourteen foot square dark. Now 1 thing that I am really pleased with is also the landscaping job that my friend Ruth Foster put together for us. She has managed to get some native pines that we've transplanted from a woodland setting and put in here as well as some black -- that we got at the nursery. Which will imitate that kind of irregular growing pattern of the natives. And then she's created an area here. Where in the spring will be transplanting a native oak tree. Which it's it's a red oak and in the in the fall it turns in beautiful brilliant red color and one of the key things in the landscape design here. Is delighted we've we've just gotten our. Our lighting fixtures and from our friends over -- had -- and these are actually. Not bronze although they look like -- there -- Ira Glass products and they take conventional lamp but the fact is that when they're installed. Hopefully before the ground freezes they'll be. Casting light towards the flush face of the building where as these pines grow you'll have very interesting effect. And then the landscaping of course continues along the edges and turns into more of what they call hardscape here where we've got. And access route back to the parking area and the way we treated here's just with some salvage pressure treated lumber walkways that we had. And we put down a material that prevents any weed growth and simply added gravel on top of that. Still have a ways to ago. But just. After a couple of growing seasons here will end up having -- circle line taking over this whole portion of the building but right now it's too too cold to contemplate that. This is our second hand door with a little nautical flavor of the door -- let's get inside."

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Planting a Perennial Flower Garden

Ruth Foster, a landscape consultant, oversees the planting of the perennial flower border in the yard. Smaller plants fill in the front, moving to the tallest flowering plants in back. Foster has chosen deer-resistant plants like summer asters for the front, with echinacea or cone flowers behind. Foster has also selected a vivid, neon autumn joy for the garden. She and Bob look at the early blooming magnolias that have been planted in the yard and the euonomous hedge that will grow to eight or ten feet and turn red in the fall.

Composting 101

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. Compost is known by gardeners everywhere to be the best insurance you can have for a great garden. But making your own gardener s gold has acquired a stigma it doesn t really deserve. Successful composting requires four things: carbon, nitrogen, water and oxygen. A good way to remember how to keep a balance between carbon and nitrogen is to think of them as brown and green. Brown materials are things with lots of fiber like straw, fallen leaves or woody plant stalks. Green materials are things with lots of nutrients like kitchen scraps and lawn clippings. Try to keep a balance of three parts brown to one part green. Contrary to popular belief, composting is not the same as rotting, and it shouldn t be smelly. Keep it moist but not soggy and turn it every week or so to keep it processing evenly. Avoid attracting animals by keeping it tightly covered and don t compost meat or fatty kitchen scraps. Even in colder climates, you can compost year-round. Add kitchen scraps even if they freeze and leaves and lawn clippings when you ve got them. For composting to happen quickly, the pile needs to be about a cubic yard of material. Too small and it won t heat up. Plastic tumbler type composters provide the fastest compost, but you can also just use wire bins covered with a sheet of plastic or a tarp. If you don t have a good place for a compost bin, try sheet composting. You can spread shredded materials up to 6 inches thick over your garden beds in the fall, till them in and let it all process until you plant again in the spring. No commercial fertilizer, even organic, can provide the range of nutrients, enzymes and helpful microorganisms that compost provides. It s impossible to over fertilize with compost. And it puts worms and other insects to work for you as laborers in your soil improvement project. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Planting Bulbs and Overseeding the Lawn

Bob watches as Kelly Brothers plants bulbs while Ruth Foster explains how to do it well. The small, blue scylla are planted in the front fo the garden, with taller alium behind. Foster shows the pointed end that should aim up and suggests that they be planted as a group, in bouquets, so they will blossom in groups of color. Bob uses a bulb planter to prepare holes for the bulbs. These bulbs, from DutchGardens.com can be purchased as good quality, double-nose, and bargain bulbs. Foster tells Bob that the deeper they are planted, the less likely they are to split. If they are planted too shallow, there will be no blooms in the second year. Once planted, the bulbs will be mulched and left to sleep for the fall and winter. The turf that was damaged during construction is ready to be reseeded. Foster suggests a relaxed approach to lawn planting, using perennial rye and fescue scattered over the surface and raked in. Foster stresses that a "freedom lawn" is mown high and overseeded in the fall and again with the melting snow. Foster uses fescue for shade, blue grass in sun, and perennial rye everywhere.

Landscaping Plans

Bob talks with horticulturist Ruth Foster about landscaping for the barn. Ruth explains a few techniques used to assist in drainage and weed control. She outlines the plants she has selected that will thrive in the Cape Cod climate, including a few wild flowers already existing on site.