Gutting My 1890 Barn And I Have No Money To Do It

Up in the hills of North East PA, you can look out my barn and simply embrace the view. Yup, the picture above was taken outside my old 1890 barn. It is priceless and I was about to lose it until recently.

I am not the handiest man in the world however the one thing that really sold me on the purchase of my property was my barn.

This is an 1890 barn that is 40 feet wide--one of the largest barns built in the time-period utilizing single beams (yes, what I am saying is the original owners who built this barn utilized four massive trees, cut them to 40 feet in length, and positioned them high above as support. )

I love this barn and realized recently that the main support had an issue --three of the lower support beams were no longer grounded so with the knowledge of a friend who instructed me in what to do, I made a fix.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "when it comes to a barn, you need to use it or you will lose it."

I am not a farmer even though I would love to be one. This means, the barn is not going to be used for farming as it last was between 1890 until the late 1970's.

So, what does one do with a barn?

Turn it into a wedding reception rental? A rental for reunions, mini conventions, parties? Yes, all of the above.

This means, the barn needs an extraordinary amount of work--work I cannot afford to outsource--the majority of which I need to do on my own.

Just this week, I took the bailing dividers out and raised them over 8 feet in height to "open" the floor plan of the barn. Once I finished that, I began tearing out the original squishy floors and replaced them with 2 inch rough cut.

Unfortunately, I need new electricity wiring and a new electric box in the barn as well as running water. That is something I just cannot do on my own. And, both projects will cost me several thousand dollars for costs and labor.

Unlike many on Steemit who I personally believe abuse the forum seeking charity, I am not doing that here. You read that correct, I am not making this post into some charitable seeking piece. So, if you upvote this, great! I appreciate it. But please know that is not what I am seeking here.

I am seeking people willing to read this and get some motivation--motivation that will help them get off their feet and bust their asses to truly earn what they seek via hard work.

I am going to work my ass off as I do with everything in life. I am going to put up some items I found in the barn for an online auction like this spinning wheel below.

I am going to do additional odds and ends to help offset some costs.

I am going to make it work one way or another and I am going to do that with getting my hands dirty, sweating profusely, and going full tilt on the grind.

After everything is said and done, this barn make-over will likely cost approximately $50k--electric, pluming, windows, deck, lights, wood, nails, screws, etc.

Do I have $50k to spend on this? Absolutely not.

So, why do it? It is an investment.

This is an investment that can easily yield $100k annually on weddings and other party venues starting 2019.

Is it a long road ahead and a risk?

Almost everyone on this platform is an investor of sorts and you know that answer already.

Is the risk worth the reward? At a minimum, I am saving my barn--so yes.