Cleaning hay loft

[Minelson]

The age of the farm we bought is listed as 1900. I don't know if this barn I'm cleaning out is that old or not but it sure does seem like it! I cleared out all the old hay/straw (YUCK!) this weekend. It had been up there for at least 10 years if not longer. It was one heck of a job...and dirty! It has small piles of hard packed dirt on the floor boards that I think might be from years of barn swallow crap. The floor is questionable and dangerous and needs some boards replaced. I would like to get up there with a hose and spray it down...dh thinks that would be too hard on the wood floor to get it soaking wet. I'm thinking if it's that fragile it should be replaced then. Any thoughts or tips on this? Am I being too much of a clean freak wanting to hose it out? I did use a blower up there HOLY COW! Luckily I knew it would be bad so I put on a raincoat with tied tight hood, goggles and face mask. What a mess.
Here is a picture of the barn
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9...D550/ry%3D400/

[Katey]

Whatever is/was up there would probably make good compost.

eta: I'd scrape and sweep (do you have a shop-vac?) before considering using water.

[Windy in Kansas]

If it were mine I wouldn't use any water. If you feel you must sanitize it use a garden spray and a light misting of bleach water.

The hay you removed should make excellent mulch for next years garden.

[plowjockey]

Sweep it out and hose down with water. You won't do any damage that has not already been done. Watch your step.

Look up from where the rotten floor spots are. That where the roof is, or has been leaking, probably for many years. Repair any roof leaks, before making any permanant repairs to the floor.

P.S. Awesome barn! Ours is 135 yrs old, there is always something that needs fixed, but it's worth it.

[puddlejumper007]

cleaning an old barn....wear a mask there is a respitory disease you can get from old bird poop

[Minelson]

Originally Posted by plowjockey

Sweep it out and hose down with water. You won't do any damage that has not already been done. Watch your step.

Look up from where the rotten floor spots are. That where the roof is, or has been leaking, probably for many years. Repair any roof leaks, before making any permanant repairs to the floor.

P.S. Awesome barn! Ours is 135 yrs old, there is always something that needs fixed, but it's worth it.

Good point about the roof! We are replacing it with a metal roof There are many holes. There was also a very dead cat that I uncovered. Just the bones and skull but boy did it stink! eeewwwww! Oh and add a few hornet nests to the job too. But I love the barn and know it will be nice once we get it done. It has perfect protection from the north and west winds that are killers here in the winter. We are doing the roof, had electric put in, are having water put in (if the guy ever calls me back) and a new main door. Then we will add a couple stalls and we will be golden

[clovis]

I don't think I would use a hose either.

Cool barn, BTW!!!!!

[Bret4207]

Fix the roof, repair the floor. The last thing I would do is add any water to the inside of the building. That barn looks like a design from the 20's or 30's. It doesn't need any added moisture issues.

BTW- up here the hay storage area above the main barn is called a mow, rhymes with cow. Wonder why that is?

[Minelson]

Originally Posted by Bret4207

Fix the roof, repair the floor. The last thing I would do is add any water to the inside of the building. That barn looks like a design from the 20's or 30's. It doesn't need any added moisture issues.

BTW- up here the hay storage area above the main barn is called a mow, rhymes with cow. Wonder why that is?

Where is "up here"? I have never heard of mow...wow

[Bret4207]

Northern NY along the Canadian border/St Lawrence river.

Our barn on the property we bought this year had old hay that a bunch of racoons used as a liter box. We found out that you should NOT compost this stuff as there's backteria in the urine (?). So we pitched it out of the mow and now we're burning it. I have dogs who like to sniff this stuff otherwise I'd put it around flowerbeds. I can't think of any other use for it.

[TurnerHill]

Mow (rhymes with cow) is an Old English word, meaning a stack of hay or straw.

Not the same word as mow, rhymes with go. Different root.

[weedlady]

we call it a hay mow also. NE Ohio, but I got that term from my Dad from Southern Ohio.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Assuming that the lower level has been emptied out and you wont be flooding feed bins, equipment or other goodies stored downstairs......... pressure wash the loft, walls floors and ceiling. You arent going to damage any wood that doesnt need to be replaced anyway and a pressure wash will remove all the sludge and muck that causes the wood to rot. Once you have it clean, then you will be able to determine what wood needs to be replaced, and which is ok to leave. Nice barn btw. I could use one like that for my place!

edited to add: But then if my place had had that barn when I bought it...... I wouldnt have the log cabin I built, I would have moved into the barn and still needed a barn!

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by Tonya

Our barn on the property we bought this year had old hay that a bunch of racoons used as a liter box. We found out that you should NOT compost this stuff as there's backteria in the urine (?). So we pitched it out of the mow and now we're burning it. I have dogs who like to sniff this stuff otherwise I'd put it around flowerbeds. I can't think of any other use for it.

Ummmm, without bacteria, organic matter will not compost at all. I certainly wouldnt be worried about a lil raccoon urine! I use all the manure, left over hay and anything else that will compost within a year for my gardens.

[Cash]

We call them hay mows in Maine as well, referring to the storage area for hay in the barn loft. A house we almost bought last year had three (!!) separate hay mows in the attached barn -- mostly used for dead storage by the time we were looking at it. Never saw so many broken down chairs in my life!

ETA: Mows were also used to store the sleigh in the non-snow months on many farms.

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

Ummmm, without bacteria, organic matter will not compost at all. I certainly wouldnt be worried about a lil raccoon urine! I use all the manure, left over hay and anything else that will compost within a year for my gardens.

You don't have a City Breed-but-spent-a-month-a-year-on-a-farm-so-I'm-a-farmer husband.

[Bret4207]

Originally Posted by Tonya

Our barn on the property we bought this year had old hay that a bunch of racoons used as a liter box. We found out that you should NOT compost this stuff as there's backteria in the urine (?). So we pitched it out of the mow and now we're burning it. I have dogs who like to sniff this stuff otherwise I'd put it around flowerbeds. I can't think of any other use for it.

Compost it. Coons don't have anything in their urine that other animals don't.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by Tonya

You don't have a City Breed-but-spent-a-month-a-year-on-a-farm-so-I'm-a-farmer husband.

Thats true, I was born into a farming family, grew up on farms, and other than about 5 wasted years fiddling around in the city I have been farming at one level or another all my life.

[HilltopDaisy]

I could be wrong, but isn't it possum urine that causes horse issues?

Nice barn! If it were me, and I actually had the time to mess with it, I'd spray down the stuff you are wanting to soften up and scrape off, and wait a day, and try to scrape it with a flat shovel. Shovel it down the hole to the first floor, into a waiting wagon, just like it were a bale of hay. Yep, we call it a mow, too.