Priming, Painting, and Bookshelf Assembly

Since it was still easily accessible, I primed the entire barn and painted the interior of the barn. I used Ford Red Enamel tractor paint, which should be very durable (at least I hope so!). While it was drying I began construction on the bookshelves. They are put together with strips of plywood, hurricane brackets, and finish nails.

Take your 5" strip of plywood and 3". Measure your space in the barn. I cut all my plywood pieces to 72" and then trimmed them one at a time as needed. My walls leaned in just a tiny bit towards the top so I had to shave them down a bit. DON'T build the entire bookshelf without measuring the fit! You never know, and you sure don't want to have to tear it all apart when it won't slide in the opening!!

Match up your edges as shown in the picture and mark the holes for your bracket in the center. One of the holes is too close to the edge for a bolt to fit, so I used four bolts on one side and three on the other. Drill holes and secure bracket. Use finish nails to secure the lengths of wood together. On the back of the 5" piece of wood, measure and mark a horizontal line 1" from the top. This will help you line up your next level of shelving later on. You can either build all sections for that side at once, or connect them as you go. I wanted to keep track of how I was doing so I connected them one at a time before moving on. The second side I just made them assembly line fashion. To connect them together you need to lay the pieces upside down. Match the top shelf base up with the line you drew. Mark spots for two hurricane brackets and secure them with your bolts. Turn the shelves over and hammer in a couple finish nails in the front seam to alleviate any small cracks that may have stuck around. Continue in this manner until you get to the top level. At that point I went ahead and measured my top level and put in the two brackets to hold the top shelf. Since the top shelf is more than 3" like the others, I waited to install it until the shelves were secured on the barn.

In order to secure the bookshelves to the barn, I took some scrap plywood and cut squares appx. 3x3" and nailed them to the backs of the angles. I did the next step by myself, but an extra pair of hands would have made life a lot easier! Slowly slide the shelf into the barn and make sure it's level. Secure each side temporarily with one wood screw into the squares. Just one per side will hold it for now. Get the other side finished and secure it as well.

Once you have both sides inserted, you can measure and cut the top shelf. Secure it with bolts and finish nails. Drill holes in the sides to anchor each block with bolts. I used #8, 32X 1 1/4" bolts with locking nuts for this.

Once again you will need to use your Plasti-Dip and cover all the bolts, nuts, and metal pieces. Also check for exposed nails and coat them too. (I had a couple nails that went through a little too low and didn't sink in the wood, which left a small amount of sharpness exposed and could potentially scratch someone if not covered.

Go ahead and paint the rest of the barn with primer, then red paint inside and out. At this time also paint your trim pieces with primer and paint. I used about 4- 8' sections of shoe molding, 3- 8' sections 1/4" lattice trim, 2 - 8' pieces of 1" corner trim, and 8' - 3" molding. I suggest you buy a little more than you need in case you need to re-cut any pieces or have to redo any of it. I used the same brand of enamel tractor paint in white gloss.

Plasti Dip

Along the bottom edge I used 1 1/4" wood screws and screwed the walls to the base every 3 or 4 inches. This may seem like overkill, but I don't want to build one of these again, and I have 22 more years of teaching left! :)


I discovered a fantastic product that I used to cover all the sharp edges and metal pieces of the barn. I didn't want any of my students to get scratched by the bolts but didn't think that using just a couple coats of paint over them would be enough. Plasti Dip is a liquid plastic for dipping tools, but I used it with a paintbrush and brushed a layer of it over every bolt, screw, nail, etc. In a few places I used a second coat. Later on, once I built the top, I used this again for the remainder of the metal brackets, so don't forget and leave the lid off! It will dry up pretty quickly.

Hurricane Brackets and Corner Braces

Each corner is supported by 3" corner brace. Anchor it to the base with the provided screws. Anchor 5 hurricane brackets flush with the edges of the base, leaving the front without one to allow for the opening. Very carefully, take your front piece and stand it up flush with the base. Using a regular pencil (carpenter pencils won't fit) draw through the corner bracket holes into the front. Drill holes with a 11/32" drill bit. Insert #8 32 X 3/4" screws from front into the bracket and secure. Finger tighten all bolts and then once you have the piece stabilized, then tighten with ratchet or hand ratchet.

Attach one side piece in the same manner, by marking holes, drilling, and bolting them together. Secure the side to the front with an additional hurricane bracket. Measure carefully; if you are a little off they will not fit snugly together and the gap will throw everything else askew!

Continue to the back piece and then the remaining side. Make sure to secure each piece to the base first and then the adjoining sides.

Sanding, Measuring, and Cutting

Step 1: Sand Sand Sand! Make sure you are starting with a nice, smooth piece of plywood. You sure don't want any of your kiddos to get a splinter while they're trying to enjoy their story!

Step 2: With a good solid carpenter's pencil, a square, and a tape measure, start tracing out your pieces. I used 3/4" plywood for the base, which measured 3'6" X 2'7" in order to place the sides alongside the base for stability. The four sides are cut from 1/2" and 3/8" plywood (according to your preference and availability). To make the window openings, I found that it was easiest to draw my box and drill large holes inside each corner. This will help your jigsaw turn the corner more easily. Just make sure your bit is a couple sizes larger than the jigsaw blade. I used a circular saw to make all my straight cuts and the jigsaw for my interior cuts.

Step 3: For any cut edge that wasn't exactly perfect, I took my wood plane and planed the edges until they were square. By leaving the edges uneven or jagged, the pieces will not fit properly at time of assembly. You can also use your sander to sand down the edges if they are rough or jagged.

Step 4: For the bookshelf pieces, make sure you only plan one shelf at a time. It is easy to forget that the blade itself takes away a small amount of wood away with it which will affect your measurement if you plotted out the entire sheet of plywood ahead of time. I was able to get most of my shelf pieces out of one piece of plywood, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, one of my pieces of plywood was a little bowed, so I ended up cutting the shelves, stacking them out of the way, and weighing them down flat with landscaping blocks for a few days. That seemed to allow the bow to fall out of most of them.

Blueprints

I know these aren't the best pictures to go by, but it's the best I could do. To summarize, the dimensions are as follows: 3'8" tall, 2'8" wide, and 3'6" long. Each shelf is 3" deep, 5" tall (top 1" creates the book rest for the next shelf) and the top shelf is 10" deep which is perfect for standing up books or stuffed animals. The opening is 20"X 20". Each side has two windows, which are each 8" X 8".

Shopping List

First thing's first...Shopping!! Hopefully you have a truck, or can borrow one, because you will need 3 sheets of plywood. I used 3/4 inch plywood for the base and 2 sheets of 3/8 inch for the sides and bookshelves. 1/2 inch would work just fine for the sides as well. Make sure you check it over to see if it is very bowed/warped. It never hurts to ask, so if I were you, I'd take the second or third sheet in the pile. The first one is usually a little bowed because it doesn't have any weight pressing down on it.

I bought pretty much all my supplies at Menards, but Lowe's or Home Depot should have what you need as well. I'm sure I will forget some things, but I will try to edit as needed. Considering I haven't completely finished my barn, I'm sure there will be other stuff I pick up. Here's a list to start you out:

• 1 sheet 3/4" plywood
• 2 sheets 3/8" plywood
• 220 grit sandpaper and 110 for rougher plywood( I buy them in the bulk 20 sheet packs)
• 1" finish nails - a bunch... (also called 1" brads sometimes)
  
• 1 box 1 1/4" wood screws - #8 size
  
• 3 boxes nuts and bolts - 3/4" long -#8 size (I believe there were 36 sets in my boxes)
• drill bits - 11/64" for drilling holes for bolts and one smaller for pilot holes for wood screws
  
• hurricane brackets (used in framing houses) At this point I have used probably 30 of them, but I'll have to count when I am finished to let you know. To see what they are, here's a link. They have been a lifesaver! Very sturdy and just what I needed to put it all together properly.
  

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/fasteners/connectors-reinforcements/truss-rafter-tie-downs/hurricane-seismic-anchors/hurricane-seismic-anchor-double-plate-reversible-1/p-1343106-c-8894.htm

• 11/32" socket to tighten bolts
• 4 corner brackets 3" big - comes in a pack of two (shown in picture)
  
• 4 adjustable 3-way brackets (same isle as hurricane brackets)
• primer (I primed it so I didn't have to use as much enamel paint. The brand was from Wal-Mart and had 1, 2, 3 in the title. It's supposed to go under/over any surface, and did a great job)
• paint (I used enamel tractor paint. It's tough and durable. 1 gallon Ford Red and 1 quart White. I got it at a farm supply store)
• PlastiDip (great stuff! I painted it over every single bolt, bracket, screw-head, etc. It creates a soft edge vs a sharp one so no one gets cut. I used the red kind, but since I painted over it I guess it doesn't matter what color you get. I got it at Menards. By using this liquid plastic, if I ever need to tighten anything I will be able to scrape it off and tighten the bolts, even with a coat of primer and 2 coats of enamel on top of it. If I had only painted, I do believe it would be nearly impossible to get the nuts on and off.
  

http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

• trim for edges - I have no idea how many feet you will need. I haven't gotten that far and haven't actually bought any because I have hundreds of pieces from my Granddad. To guesstimate, you will need:
• 12' of corner trim for outside straight edges
  
• trim for openings and edges ( I am routering a groove in the back of some 1" trim so it will sit flush with the outside, similar to shoe molding.
• 8' of 3" trim for bottom level of book display
• I did buy two 8' sections of tiny lattice trim to make window X's and a pretend hayloft on the front.

There might be some things I forgot to mention, so I will try to edit as quickly as possible and let you know what changes I made. :) If you haven't already figured it out, this is not a cheap project. BUT, it's for a good cause, it's tax-deductible, and it's been a lot of fun to build! I'm a little afraid to add up all my receipts, though. :S

Basic Construction

A few tips for amateur builders out there:

• Check your lumber over carefully. You don't want to unknowingly buy warped or cracked boards or plywood. Many stores won't take it back after purchasing, so make sure you know what you're getting. Don't be afraid to pick through the lumber yourself! You have a right to choose the best of the bunch.
• Have some good tools. I am fortunate to have about everything I could ever need to build with, but there are a few specialty tools I have used in this project. You can make do without, or find someone who has one to borrow if you don't want to sink any extra money into tools right now. I will update the list when I think of additional tools I used...there's so many!
  

List of tools needed:

• Circular Saw and safety goggles
  
• Jigsaw
• Hammer
• Level
• Square
• Pencil
• Cordless Drill w/ phillips bit, drill bits
• Sander and sandpaper (220 grit is what I used the most of, I believe)
• Sawhorses
• Socket set or socket attachment for drill to tighten nuts (I used a socket screwdriver set)
• Paintbrushes, dropcloth, paint thinnner
• Wood Plane

I'll post a list of materials needed in a bit. It will take a bit of time to calculate all that I have bought for this project!