Okay, folks, after my last questions regarding the barn, after much back and forth, I decided on a dirt floor. If I decide later I want concrete, we can always jack it up and add the concrete floor but going the other way would be expensive and a lot of extra work.
Finally, this next week, we will start building the barn. It will be the mini-barn I posted previously, the 12-foot width and shortened to 12 feet from the original 16 feet which the purchased plans allows. The main consideration there is how I want it to face into the yard, and the full length would put me in violation of code on the side (the barn's back) if I don't want it over my very interesting walkway built of ballast stone from the 19th Century shipyards.
My question is about the lumber, specifically the very bottom! I will be using fir for most of the barn but the foundation is different. I use no treated lumber in my yard and did not want to do it here either. However, my trip to the lumber store revealed two things. Cedar does not have the strength needed and would require pier blocks every four feet at least. Also, the treated wood now sold holds no toxic chemicals and is food safe (for gardens) and child safe (for play structures) since 2007. My concern was, of course, that some of it would be exposed and there was a chance of chewing by the goats. The pressure treated has two advantages, $10 cheaper per length (12 feet) and structurally stronger. Because I have gone to such great lengths to avoid treated lumber, I am still a little nervous about this with $40 not being my deciding factor.
If it were your barn, goats and yard, would you use the pressure treated hemlock or go the extra pier block route and use cedar?
Thank you all.
(While most of the barn will be new materials, at least the pier blocks are recycled, a donation to our local habitat store for reuse - a great find at $2 each for the 26 I bought but better that they will be recycled now. Maybe if I need more, they will have another donation.)
Replies
That is why cedar was a consideration Black locust or juniper is not available in our area. I thank you for the idea, however.
Unfortunately, I managed to get sick with the cold/flu that is going around so have not yet purchased the beginning of the lumber. By today, the pier blocks and foundation lumber was supposed to be in place. Best laid plans of mice and men . . .
Have you thought of using lumbar that takes longer to rot, like black locust or juniper?
I just had to reply to this because I used pressure-treated pine lumber to build my pole-barn style barn. I was not finished when my first 2 doelings arrived and so I kept working on different parts in the yard with them. One day I was horrified to see them eating the sawdust from the pressure-treated wood on the ground! It didn't seem to effect them negatively at all! Then I remembered that the PT wood these days is treated with copper! The goats were attracted to the pine with the copper in it! Anyway, I was still more careful after that because it made me nervous but I can tell you none of my goats have been negatively affected by the PT wood.