Today I got a load of trash off of the wellhead. When I fenced the pasture, it was really hot and I just wanted to get the horse home already and I ended up tossing all the trash over on the fenced-off strip of land where the wellhead is. It's conveniently out of sight so I've been blissfully ignoring it for a year and a half, but I guess it's gotta go.
Those are 7' solid 4x12's on top. Why would you spend at least a hundred bucks on that kind of lumber and leave it to dry-rot in your back yard?! People never cease to amaze me.
Anyway, after I got that disposed of, I tackled the run-in. It's three 8x12 stalls. One of them was a pigeon coop or something, and I tried putting the chickens in there but that was a huge pain in the ass so I moved them to the chicken shack, and it's just been unused since then. I ripped off the chicken wire front, tossed all the lumber into a burn pile and a dump pile, cleaned out all the odds and ends, and now I'm stuck.
You can see I've got the goat igloo in one part, and there's a cast-iron tub I cannot move in the middle part, and now the pigeon part is open too. I could rip out the interior walls - they're just 1/2" plywood nailed on some 2x4 strips - but maybe I should leave them? If you were buying a moderately priced small horse acreage, would you rather have three stall-lets to feed the horses - it'd be easy to gate them off - or have one big open 24x12 run-in?
People cram a hell of a lot of horses in these little half-acre and acre paddocks, but they pipe them off into individual horse areas. I'd be comfortable having two to three horses in my half acre undivided paddock.
Also there's the little decorative fence thing out front. It was blue but all the paint's peeled off. Should I paint it a) white b) green c) dark green or d) rip it out?
I am also creeping along painting the kitchen. It's much easier doing one cabinet at a time - not so overwhelming. Got two coats on the inside of the big cabinet. Tomorrow I can sand the fronts of the doors again and get them painted, then move on to the little cabinets above the fridge.
Leave the stalls little. Let the new folk rip them out.
ReplyDeleteWhite looks good to realtors, but I like dark green.
Bill
I agree with Bill...Leave the shed as is (but tidy as you can) and let the new owners choose (and do the work, if they so choose). As for the front fence, why not match the trim on your house? Is that the dark green you're thinking?
ReplyDeleteI hate letting anything go to waste-- those 4X12s would have been made into some sort of a [safe] trail obstacle forthwith!
I think white's the "correct" color but it would be the ONLY white visible from the street. I'm afraid it would look out of place. Yall like the trim color, huh? You don't think it'll be invisible against that dark green juniper shrub thing?
ReplyDeleteI reused a couple of the other 4x12s as erosion control steps. (Wind erosion, obviously!) But now I am trying to be ruthless. I'm not hauling nasty bug-egg-covered lumber to a rental house in California, so away it goes!
Anything that's untreated and not TOO full of nails is getting miter saw'd into fireplace lengths and burned. There's still an awful lot of plywood and questionable wood that has to go to the dump though. At $23 a pickup load, OUCH.
I'd leave the stalls little - it gives more options to buyers. When I was on acreage, the old barn had all the stalls ripped out except one. First thing I had to do was build new ones to accomodate two different species of barn residents.
ReplyDeleteAs for the fence, I would tend to paint/stain it a natural wood colour - like cedar. Just sayin'.
A buyer won't notice that the stalls are on the small side until AFTER they have bought and moved in. Leave them. They're a selling feature.
ReplyDeleteDon't bother painting white. White is so hard to maintain. But, you probably already know that. My vote is to rip it out. It doesn't seem to make any sense where it is.
I think dark green would look nice, although I usually prefer unpainted natural color wood fence.
ReplyDeleteI'd leave the shed as is also, who knows what they'll end up putting in it!
The cabinets are looking good, that is a lot of work but I'm sure it will pay off when you go to list the house.
I agree with the others - the stalls could be handy if someone wanted them (nice to separate for feeding) and easy enough to rip out if they just want a run-in.
ReplyDeleteThe little rail fence in front? I think I'd take that out. It's not that pretty and doesn't do anything useful.
Good luck, moving is such a pain!
I agree with the stallettes - leave them. White is the go-to fence color in these parts.
ReplyDeleteGlad yall agree about the small stalls!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep thinking about the little fence. Might prime it and if it looks good, leave it white, and if not paint it the house blue. No rush on that mini project at least.
Leave the stalls. If you have gates lying around, install them. That way it'll look like three stalls, ready for move-in.
ReplyDeleteAs for the front fence, I actually like it the natural color but I can't tell how much blue paint is visible. If it MUST be painted, I'd go with a green. Is there any green on the house? If so I'd match that, or go with a subtle green. Anything too bright is going to stand out awkwardly against the browns of the ground.
I like the small stalls too! Leave them for the next people!
ReplyDeleteWhite is a good fence colour.
I agree with everyone else about leaving the stalls as is. You never know what kind of critters--or needs--the next owner will have. I kind of like the funky little fence as is (OK, I'm weird--I like things rustic). I would hate it white. But then, I don't like white fences under any circumstances (for a multitude of reasons). Again, my opinion should be disregarded, though--I seem to be drawn to small and humble houses with a "charming shack" quality--and I bet most buyers don't think like that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Laura, one of the hard parts for me is not doing what I'd like to live with forever, but what I think Jane Buyer wants to see. Fortunately I like saleable color schemes for the interior!
ReplyDeleteMy dad thinks I should leave the fence like it is too. But like my husband said, "We have a fence out front?" It's pretty invisible against the mostly-brown Nevada landscape.
My thoughts are no different than anyone elses - but I just wanted to wish you the best of luck with this new adventure.
ReplyDeleteOh.. and get rid of that little fence and use the wood for some minor landscaping?
Agree with keeping the stalls as is, but dark green fencing will dissapear into that evergreen. Natural, white, or yank it out entirely. Maybe Addams couple decorative rocks at either end of it for emphasis.
ReplyDeleteI"d also leave the stalls...let 'em rip 'em out if they want too...far easier to remove than to add, in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't paint the fence at all, but I'm more of a natural-look kind of gal...I'd just stain it with a sealant and call it good.