Corn Crib Converted Into Beautiful Farm Home

Corn Crib Converted Into Beautiful Farm Home AG WORLD 33-6-23 All Mike Koopman could see was potential when he bought 5 acres of overgrown farm property with several fixer-upper buildings. Initially he planned to tear down the corn crib to salvage the wood. But as he gutted it, he realized the corn crib was in better shape than the run-down farmhouse. So he drew up plans to convert the corn crib into a home. After 4 years living in a trailer and working on the building in his free time, Koopman plans to move into his new home at the end of this year. "Structurally, corn cribs are very strong," the Kanawha, Iowa, resident says. The oak and pine lumber were in excellent shape. The 18 by 40-ft. corn crib had two 8-ft. wide bins with a 2-ft. alley. He tore out the two middle walls and removed the exterior 1 by 6-in. boards. He reused the 2 by 6-in. boards from the center walls for floor joists over the concrete slab, shimming them level where the floor sloped. The walls were 14 ft. tall, and Koopman added 6 1/2-ft. lean-tos on both sides to widen the building to 31 ft. with 8-ft. walls. "I wanted a cathedral ceiling in the living room area, so I added a dormer on one side," he adds. He had to cut some original roof joists to open up the 16-ft. wide section and was concerned about ruining the building's structural integrity. He had a neighbor watch as he cut the joists. The neighbor said nothing moved. Koopman purchased double-paned, energy efficient glass at a discount warehouse to build a glass front. "I'm trying to make it as unique as possible," he says. "The 26 by 16-ft. living room is two stories high. It's really impressive with the open ceiling." Shingling the roof with its 12/12 pitch proved to be the biggest challenge. When he started shingling Koopman only had a few toeholds, and he thought the roof was shaking. He realized he was shaking. "I put a lot more toeholds on it," Koopman laughs. Another challenge was combining old lumber with new. The old lumber was 1/4- in. thicker and wider than new boards so he had to shim the newer boards to match up. Koopman finished the exterior with OSB board and white vinyl siding. He insulated and covered most of the interior with new pine boards on the walls and sheetrocked the ceilings. He bleached and stained some of the original 1 by 6-in. boards and spaced them 1 in. apart to create an 8 by 8-ft. section on a living room wall that looks like the interior of a corncrib. He has plans to coat ear corn with varnish and mount them in between the boards. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mike Koopman, 1645 James Ave., Kanawha, Iowa 50447 (ph 641 762-3921; mike.koopman@ghseeds.com).

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