Building Our Dexter Milking Parlor

When Siobhan was born in November 2010, I wanted to milk Sara.  Sara's just not the kind of cow you can walk up to in the field (or tie to a post) and milk her, so I wanted a milking parlor and a stanchion.  Life got in the way, and it didn't happen.

Now that Siobhan has a calf, I want to milk her!  Life is still in the way, but Herb put it on hold and started on my milking parlor back in June.

Here's what we started with.  The future milking parlor is where the hay bale is, inside the corral panels.  The wall behind it is the tack room Herb built several years ago.  It will provide the back wall of the milking parlor, and the side of the barn will be the right wall.  For now the other two walls will remain corral panels, but Herb will build so that he can add walls if we decide we want to.

Here's another view showing the future milking parlor and the right side made of barn siding--natural air conditioning through those gaps!

Back when we brought electricity to the barn, our electrician put in fixtures that would be weather-proof just in case rain gets in.  It's great to have four outlets for a water heater and fan or space heater if we decide we need them.

I didn't get out soon enough to get pictures before Herb made lots of progress, but you can see the foundation he built.  He leveled the ground and placed solid half concrete blocks on their sides as supports for the 2x6's he used as floor joists.

The space is roughly 12 feet deep (front to back as we're looking here) and 10 feet wide.  There are 8 joists front to back on 16" centers.

There are three concrete blocks across.  You can see there are two joists extra-close together here which is what Herb did when the measurements didn't work out exactly right.  He always errs on the side of over-building!

Here Herb is notching a corner of the 5/8" plywood flooring to fit around the pre-existing corner posts.

He uses galvanized nails because he used pressure-treated wood.

He repeatedly checked to be sure the floor was level, especially when placing the blocks and joists, but also while nailing the floor.  As carpenters say, "Measure twice, cut once."

The excess soil that had to be removed to make the floor level was used to fill in a low place near the entrance to the milking parlor.

Charis and Kol were spending the afternoon, and Charis woke up from her nap in time to see Didi finish the milking parlor floor.  I trust she was suitably impressed.  She should be!  Like most kids, Charis is very observant and completely spontaneous.  When Herb bent down, she said, "Didi!  You have a hole in your hair!"

Didi may have a hole in his hair, but he sure can build!  That hole just means that much more experience and expertise brought to the job!