Tales from Bully Hill: The Stall that Bound (a nominal success story)

Snow was supposed to be stall bound for a a few more weeks, but as you can see, she is out and about, scratching herself by running up and down the forsythia.

The other day, I went up to the barn and found this:

Snow had simply busted through her stall door. It seems that normal barn locks are not really designed to contain a 1925 lbs. monster. She simply walked through the door and took the latch and screws with her. (She left some fur behind.) Whilst pulling the latch off of the barn, Snow split the trim wood around the barn door.

You could see that she pushed the trim away from the rest of the door jam before the latch gave way.

Thus, I had a new chore to add to the list.

I measured the broken trim piece and then ran to the local big box hardware store for a new piece of wood and paint. The wood was easy enough. It was 1" x 3" and about 7.5' long. I found lumber marked 1" x 3", purchased it, and then tried to match a paint chip to a picture I had on my phone. Upon getting home, I found that the paint was not a good match for the barn. Thankfully, my lovely wife went out and was able to find "Barn Paint" at the local Ace Hardware. Of note, Barn Paint does not have a stated color. It is simply the color of a barn. (In much the same way that an albatross is albatross flavored.) I suppose, that if you have a barn, it should be barn colored. I could not argue with this sort of logic, but I am rather certain that I have seen different colored barns. I'm not sure what these people do for paint.

Anyway, I primed and painted the wood and then went up to the barn to nail it into place. I found that the trim was nowhere close to the right size. A bit confused, I measured it again. The wood I purchased was 0.5" x 2.5"! So I went back to the local big box hardware store, and this is where things got vexing. I found a sales representative and asked if they had any lumber that was actually 1" x 3" because the lumber marked 1" x 3" wasn't even close. I was kindly informed that 1" x 3" lumber is 0.5" x 2.5", and that the lumber industry was going by "nominal measurements." Since inches and feet are real measurements with definite meanings, the convention seems rather misleading. Of course, I didn't have the time to change the lumber industry. Instead, I asked if they had a piece of wood that was actually 1" x 3". The sales representative said that he did not.

I left and went to Ace Hardware. They of course, sell Barn Paint, so maybe they still had wood that was referenced by its actual measurements. They did not. I noted that I needed a piece of lumber that was actually 1" x 3" and about 8'. I was told that the best I could do was to get a piece of wood that was 1" thick, and then "rip" it to the actual width I needed. I asked what they had that was close to 1" x 3", and I was informed that a 1" x 5" would be 3/4" x 4.5". To get something that was actually 1", I would have to buy a 1.25" piece of wood. I could purchase a 1.25" x 4" which was 1" x 3.5". Sure... I guess that makes sense. (Upon doing some internet research, I found that the wood is cut to the correct size, but it shrinks when dried.)

I purchased my piece of wood, took it home, "ripped" it with my circular saw, then primed and painted it with Barn Paint. The good news is that I did a good job of "ripping" the wood and my barn is actually barn colored. I nailed the wood up with more nails than should be necessary, and put the hardware back on. It all worked out well, though the old paint is a little faded, so the new piece sticks out a bit.