DIY amateurs?!?! There are no amateurs among my boys, son.You all amaze me with your talents and things you can accomplish. It looks great. The perfectionist in your Dad and his boys is a little tough to live with, but sure has great results. Makes it so easy to annoy your Dad.
Ha! Well thanks Mom! It's just nice we're all on the same wavelength! I think you and my wife have been talking cause she apparently thinks it's easy to annoy me too :) [Don't tell her I said that :)]
I am back today watching again on this great channel! I love the behind the scenes commentary and explanations of things and your hands on approach. Great Job!
Ha! I was waiting for someone to point out that fact! I was so worried about not having to clean them out that maybe I forgot to consider whether there were any trees to fill them :)
Coming from a lawn installer, a section of chain link fence, with some stiffener bars makes a great seed drag to run behind a tractor. It does great establishing sees to soil contact. I wouldn't worry about germination that late, I have done MA y dormant seedings and had great success, the only draw back is you would need to use straw or erosion control netting to help prevent soil erosion.
Pole barn looks great, Neil. I’m a big fan of these segmented videos showing the different stages of the project. Sweet pond your brother has. I’m sure many of your subscribers would love to learn more about that project.
Thanks Chris I appreciate the feedback. I like doing these videos too. Yes, some others have asked about the pond. I have been trying to round up as much media as I can find from when we dug it back in 2010. My brother has some video of me running the pan around there but we are still trying to find it. I'm hoping it can be a "winter project" to put that video together :) Thanks for watching!
Yeah it was certainly pretty cool to see three generations out there working on it together. Making memories while you're getting something done too. Thanks Jeffrey!
Another great video. Watched with my wife on the big screen in the living room. She said it’s like watching little house on the prairie! That means you tell great stories!
Well as much as our family liked LHOTP, that is a huge compliment! I can't hold a candle to the likes of Walnut Grove, but I sure appreciate you and Becky watching regardless. Thanks for the support guys!
Another beautiful job! It’s great to see that your dad is keeping busy, I’m sure he’s missing not hauling grain. I too look forward to Sunday mornings with DDDiy! Take care my friend!
Thanks Mike! He has been missing it but not to fear - he was over helping Aaron the last two days running his grain cart for him and I think he's gonna drive semi for him tomorrow. So, he's still getting a little hit of the action! Thanks for watching my friend! I look forward to your Sunday comments as well.
Steuben county a little north of you required gutters on my building. My floor was poured with rat walls to help prevent burrowing under the floor. Your brother should be happy with this building it looks good.
I agree with the beauty of the railroad iron. It looks great. The stone behind it looks great and I feel there is plenty of fall from the concrete to the RR iron. I’ll be interested to see the grass in the spring.
Nice job, Neil! In regards to the question asked, I like the look of stone around the foundation, but I also like to have gutters as well. A little overkill? Maybe, but having a dry foundation and a good looking stone feature around the building is priceless.
This building looks fabulous, your exterior lighting is very well thought out the color scheme looks great, I can't say enough. GREAT JOB! all the way around. What a good feeling that is when you know its all done right...
Thanks so much. Yes I really love their color choices and my brother has been working out that outdoor lighting for a while. I can see it all lit up from my house like it's a Walmart or something! Thanks for watching!
The rock looks great, plus it stops dirt and mud from splashing up on the siding. These shops are just to tall to safely get up there to clean gutters. I hate heights so it’s a job that simply wouldn’t get done
When we built in 1991 we didn't put gutters on the back of the house. After the foundation was poured before back filling we waterproofed and put 2" foam all around. instead of corrugated pipe we used lateral pipe and put about 4' of clean stone before back filling. We let the ground settle for about 5 years before I put gutters on. The foundation drains are all tied together and run out about 200' in front of the house. No issues and drains like crazy.
Yeah I think it turned out great and they are really gonna like having it. I don't know how my brother went so long without one really. Thanks for checking it out Michael!
as always nice job.love the stone around the building.never thought about using railroad rails for edging, and since im a ex railroad worker i could have had all the rails i wanted.love the colors of the barn i did mine same way
Oh man! Those rails are hard to find now. I wish there was something commercially available but they would be too expensive! Your barn must look great too then! Thanks as always sir!
Neil, if I’d only known then what I know now… I had a screened-in porch and laundry room addition built on to the south side of our home. That happens to be where the top of the hill break and slopes toward Sassafras Valley. Before the addition, a swale ran along the house at about 8’ from the house. It carried run off down the slope and off into the valley. But, when you build a 20’ addition across the swale you end up creating a pond! The addition was finished in the autumn and our summer drought had not broken yet…. I was traveling a lot for work and barely had time to clean up the leaves on the weekends. So, I did nothing about the drainage system. About the time of the first freeze, the drought was broken by torrential rains. Water pooled about 6” deep against the foundation. My wife sent me a picture of it on Wednesday. It would be late Friday night before I could do anything about it. With my flashlight I went out to see what I needed to do to fix the problem. To my surprise the water was gone… the ground was solid and I thought ‘no harm, no foul’. Until I popped open the crawl space under the house… and smelled the damp musty truth that there was indeed ‘a foul’. The water had seeped through the opening where the septic pipe came through the foundation and had spread itself into the warm earth and gravel of the crawl space. I immediately put fans under there to get the air moving and vent it to the outside…. However, winter was approaching so I couldn’t blow constantly lest I freeze the water pipes. We watched the thermometer to know when we could vent and when we couldn’t. Due to high humidity outside, the drying process would go on for almost 6 months. But, what to do about the next rain? Well I took a good look at the contour. It was apparent that I couldn’t force the water to flow back uphill a foot. The swale would have to be moved. However there were two big oak trees in the way. I had to come up with another solution. Fortunately, the swale led to where that septic line had been trenched between the two trees. So, I put in a home made catch basin and trenched a drain line down the hill toward Sassafras Valley. It worked like a charm. The water was collected within the basin and channeled away from the house leaving the foundation totally dry. When I decided to double the space of my shop, the outlet of the drain lead to the location where the shop was going. So I made a catch basin there and extended the drain beneath the new shop. It now drains the water collected at the house and the water collected at the shop down into the valley. So yes sir… I agree that dealing with the drainage up front is the smart way to go.., because I now know what I didn’t know then! The railroad rails are a perfect retainer and barrier for your surface French drain around the barn. It’s cool and practical…. If you have a buddy who has several sticks of it lying around! My neighbor did the same thing… his bed was 6’ wide and bounded with railroad ties. It is 20 years in and even with decaying ties is still working. Nice job… I’m sure your brother is happy to be ready for those ‘inside jobs’!!
I've learned some of these wisdoms the "hard way" too. Namely on our house, although the grading errors around it were done by the pioneers that built the place - I just came along 100 years later trying to fix it! My house should be at a minimum 1' higher than what it is. Every time we get a 3+" rain the water flood in the field and creep towards the crawl space. I couldn't raise the house so I've spent the last 10 years fixing it the best way I could by redirecting water with swales and dams. The biggest benefit was putting in a giant outdoor sump pump. It's like the levy pump system in New Orleans. Water that builds up close to the house is rerouted to a 10' deep well at the corner of the basement wall that has a giant sump pump in the bottom. Sump pump well collects all the runoff water and pumps it out through solid PVC to a field drain. It has helped our water situation immensely. Drainage is a funny thing. So simple, yet often times so problematic. We lack the elevation around here to truly make it simple. Every time we go on a trip to the hills or smokeys I'm envious of those mountain folk who don't have to worry about ponding or flooding waters. But yet, they get to worry about driveway erosion and I don't. Tradeoffs I guess. Here's to dry crawlspaces and basements with sump pumps that never lose power during heavy rainfall! Cheers! 🍻
That turned out great my friend. Y'all worked hard and did a great job. Throw ya a little annual rye grass seed out to hold that dirt through the winter. This time of year I always seed with tall fescue and annual rye on new construction yards just so there will be something green and something to hold the dirt until it warms up enough for the fescue to get going. I wish I was that far along on my workshop. I envy your brother having a nice building to work in. Great video.
That is a FANTASTIC idea with the ryegrass Blackdog. I should have thought of adding some in but we were so slamma jamma that we just spread what we had. I could get some ryegrass yet this week for him. Good luck getting your building finished up. He does have a nice setup over there!
Both you guys got nice new shops for 2021. I'm feeling left out as there's nothing more fun than a nice construction project! I need to do a little feature on your barn! Thanks Tony!
I did basically the same thing around my building. Used brick instead of rails. I also used landscape fabric and decorative rock. I also have no gutters and I am glad I don't. Nice job you guys did on this project.
Looks great!! I like the look of the stone around the foundation vs gutters hanging. You don’t have to worry about the gutters at all if they are not on. I also like the green shirt! Combination of your logo and Deere style! 👍🏽👍🏽
Thanks Brian! Thanks for the comment on the shirt. I was waiting on the die hard Deere fans to notice what it was and I'm thankful that a couple folks have noticed it. Appreciate you watching!
Hello South Bend! I get up that way pretty often for work. I think I've got a video on that prep work but I'm sure there will be more to follow this next spring. Thanks Andres!
Neil, I love your videos and look forward to them each week. Great content, explanation and editing. I really do like the idea of the stone and Rail Road track. Very ingenious. My only concern is the RR track holding water in under the rock. I may have installed some drain tile, but perhaps I’m overthinking this. Great looking building - you guys did a fantastic job!!
Really appreciate the comment Richard. I had that same concern. Matter of fact I spent some time lying awake thinking about it. The stone is sloped enough that if the railroad track "fills up", it will spill over the top and go down the hill before it gets high enough to run under the barn. The same would be true of a tile I think although I have found that drain tile placed under a roof overhang can not take on water fast enough to evacuate it away during a rain event, so essentially it doesn't get a chance to do it's job during the heaviest of rains and will work much like what is going to happen here. To solve my problem of laying awake, I decided to dig little "relief trenches" underneath the railroad track at two points perpendicular to each track. This will give the water a place to escape out and underneath I think. Also, I think the water will have the opportunity to run out from each end as well as it isn't perfectly level. Hope that makes sense. Great observation though too. I don't know if I'm right or not but from the several rains we've had so far there hasn't been any ponding of water at the rail so it must be getting away. Thanks!
I love the looks of the apron, but I'd still put in gutters with leaf guard to keep the leaves out and have collection cisterns buried next to the building for the rain water. You can use the collected water for the yard and what ever else during a dry summer. My 4H leader did this with all of her barns/buildings because her well water was heavy with iron. The horses liked the rain water better than the well water anyway.
you did a great job . that Volvo Excavator you used i really wouldn't call it a Mini Excavator lol you probably could used a smaller Excavator what you used but you did a great job with Volvo EC55B Mini Excavator and not hitting anything . just saying
Good morning. Your channel just came across my feed. I like what you have created. I also like the way you present and show things. I subbed! My family lives about 25 miles west of chicago. Just throw that out there. I know I am always interested to know where people are from. I hope you are having a good day. Blessings, Ed
Hello Ed! Thanks so much for deciding to click and give us a view. Appreciate the sub more than you know. I had a great day today; thanks. My wife's brother lives NW of Chicago so we get that way a couple times a year. Thanks for taking the time to watch and say Hi. Have a great week. Neil
Neil, I have built many structures (garages and roll off roof observatories) and never use gutters on any of them. Just like you said, make sure you grade around the structure with a good slope and use large enough stone (3+ inches) to prevent erosion. You have nothing to worry about even with the rail bars as edging. The water will just run over the rail bars during heavy down pours. They are actually helping by slowing the water down preventing erosion outside their boudary. They are far enough from the structure so any collecting water against them is no harm to the slab. Good job and thank you for the great videos! 👍🙂
I'm so very glad to hear you say that Daniel. The theory works in my head but always the risk that I didn't consider something that could be an issue down the road. Thanks for sharing your experienced insight and it will help me to feel better knowing that we didn't do anything that could be detrimental. Appreciate you watching and commenting!
Seeing your stones (at the 2 minute mark) reminded me that my parents used to go out into farmers' fields (we lived in Naples) and find old Roman coins standing out like toadstools after the spring rains.
Great video my good buddy built a pole here in upstate New York no gutters what a mess here where we get giant ice sickles that will knock you silly if you get hit gutters are a must
Oh boy! Yeah, that would certainly play a factor for us if we had the weather for it. Fortunately that is a one or two time occurrence for us. Thanks for watching!
Looks great guys! I love the kids out there watching lol! I agree, no real need for gutters and what you did is a perfect solution to keep the water away from the barn, looks good! The same is on my list for next year around my barn and the house. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thanks Stephen! Really appreciate the feedback and I hope when you get home you'll be able to tackle those aprons at your place. Thanks so much for watching and commenting my friend!
@@digdrivediy You are welcome! Can’t wait to see more! I will definitely let you know how things Go at my place. (Actually reminded me of some other questions I have for you when we are able to connect, PS let me know if you got the last email I sent you, the network here blocked some of my outgoing emails). Have a good week!
I just found your channel and I really enjoy seeing other Hoosiers! The French drain should work just fine and should last for years. I'm partial to gutters and overhangs and the downspouts could have been buried to the pond or otherwise not dumped on the surface.
I am new to the channel today and I must say you all did a fine job and It all looks so good. Can not wait to see it with some established grass in the up coming warmer months.
Awesome! I like the lime stone beds. I hate the gutters on my house there are a lot of maintenance! I also noticed you were using a direct read rod. You don’t see a lot of them around where I am at being that it’s not flat country. Great video
Thanks Steve! I'm glad you noticed the lenker style grade rod and know what it is. Most people I try to talk to about it don't know what I'm talking about. I was brought up using a stick like this and it's the only way for me to go. And I'm with ya! I wish there weren't any gutters on my house either although I'm not setup for there not to be unfortunately. Thanks so much for watching sir!
like the looks of the rocks around the building....taking leaves etc from the eavestrough is a pain and sometimes dangerous....really like the building...wish i had room for one, i could really use the storage....all the best...great video as usual :)
Really appreciate it John. Might be a while till he has to worry about leaves but at least he'll never worry about cleaning the gutters! Thank you sir!
I like the look of your stone work in addition to the help for drainage it provides. My situation: I have gutters for one building (stand-alone garage) and not on the other (large shed). The 2nd building (shed) does have some stone around it but was not done on all sides and it now has both drainage and weed issues. There wasn't a border either. My other building (garage) has gutters but the grass/ weeds grow right up to the foundation with then presents the issue of mowing and trimming. I would prefer that my garage have stone like yours. Never would have thought about the rail steel. It would be nice to get some for my site.
I like the looks of the stone around the perimeter. That’s rail stake is used to keep the rock in, but it would not also stop the water from escaping hitting the steel and potentially coming back up to the concrete? Eavestrough would have been perfect at building, I don’t see too many trees? I can totally see how the rock system works at your house. You did something with the chimney on the house once and I saw your eavestrough was full of leaves. Not fun. Keep the videos coming!
Neil, there is something about your videos and editing that in my opinion.... make you one of the best Tubers out there. I'm disheartened that your subscriber numbers haven't jumped as much as I thought they would. Your content and demeanor are top notch!! With Covid easing a bit... perhaps there just aren't as many eyeballs in front of the computers as there was a year ago. Maybe the winter season will bring more folks to the world that is your channel!! Keep up the good work!
Really appreciate the sentiment. I am always hopeful that I can reach a bigger audience but I am very thankful for the folks that I do have watching. I'll keep grinding away and see where it takes me. Hopefully the videos can still improve and the main thing is that people find them entertaining or educational. Thanks for being a supporter and really appreciate you watching!
Subscriber numbers aren't the be all- end all of youtube. I think unique viewers per month is sometimes a better indicator of reach than subscriber numbers. Subscriber numbers are very often inflated via collaborations on some channels. A great number of those people subscribe then never watch again.
Man the barn looks great! My buddy is dealing with a waterlogged yard from all that rain, and he wants to redo the entire property! 🤣 When I get ready to finally do my barn, I hope it turns out half as nice as your brothers did. You guys have a solid crew down there. 💪🏽
How was that coffee this morning! I had two cups today as last night was a bit of a late one with this edit! Thanks Rob, I think his barn did turn out great. Appreciate you coming back and tuning in, as always.
@@digdrivediy Our Sunday coffee run is the best one of the week for me. It’s the one day a week that Brenna and I both have off together, and We take the spoiled rotten mutts with us so they can get their tim bits (I know you have Tim Hortons down that way but I know their scarce) but it’s my one addiction the rest of the week. I do iced caps in the morning to motivate me to get out of bed to go to work 🤣 and that’s about it. Luckily Tim’s is starting to spread out a little more, and they’re becoming easier to plan trips around. 🤣 Saturday I used the f250 to haul a 2001 crew cab super duty a few miles. It’s not the same horse power as the powerstroke, but the torque feels pretty comparable. I was pretty impressed with how easily it got up to 65 on flat ground, but 65 was about it out of it with out beating it. It whimpers at the sight of a overpass a little too, usually drops a few miles per hour, and I wouldn’t of wanted to do a long hill. This was all in over drive of course tho, so anything less than a 8,000 lb load it’s ok. I have to keep In mind the loads I bought the truck to haul tho, and stick with it. I think when I finally get towards buying a dump truck, it’s gonna be a 7.3 non commercial truck so I can still play with a tuner. I’m still planning it all out tho. 🤣
Most definitely! We had these lines mapped out already so knew we'd be getting close. Just wished they were a bit deeper. It is a great idea so thanks for sharing Michael and thanks so much for watching!
Hi Neil ,, going with no gutters and use ping a perimeter of stone obviously works and works well but if as they say the climate is going to change a means of gathering water from that huge roof would be to tempting for me not to put gutters up ,,
Very true Derek. We will be keeping a close eye on it to see how it holds up and I suppose we can always add the gutters if the need arises. Thanks so much for watching and commenting sir!
Awesome video. For me personally, I like the look of the stone border, but I would have gone with gutters based on cost and the fact that I would have had to use hand tools to spread the rock. I'm far too cheap to pay someone to do it and far too lazy to do it with a shovel and rake!
That's a good point. It does take a little elbow grease to get this accomplished so I can appreciate someone that doesn't want to mess with it for sure. Cost wise it might be about a wash.
Ha, I was excited to see this final episode, but it had little to do with the actual building. However, it dealt with important aspects of the job, namely water management. In real estate, I tell people water is the enemy of the house, more so than fire or really anything else. How a property is graded to how it handles the displacement area of the building (roof) itself matters a lot. Certainly nothing DigDriveDIY didn't already know. So while the video wasn't what I expected, I was glued to learn any maybe new technics. I do like the stone apron, really cool idea. Skipping gutters at your house for the trees, I get it, looking at your brother's house and shop, it's hard to say the trees were a deciding factor there. I was also stuck by how deep your trenches had to be. Was that because of the basement level or code for frost line? In Florida, we don't have basements and also don't have a frost line, so plumbing is usually only a foot or so deep, electric is maybe 2-3 feet deep depending on type of wire and code. Very interesting project Neil, for scope or frame of reference, when was the start date and finish dates? I gather finish was very recent, but didn't know you were working on it in the summer. It's possible I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been in some other videos. Looking forward to a follow up in the spring.
Thanks Don. Great conversation about drainage. You're right, no real trees at Nate's yet. Mainly for his situation he didn't want to trench gutter drains through his yard. We've found gutters and the associated tile and trenches to be just another item of potential failure or need of maintenance. The stone apron requires basically zero maintenance and also helps with keeping a nice edge between lawn and building. He can still add gutters if he decides to though too. The depth for tile was to get the proper fall from building to house. The house has a higher elevation and had to go that deep to get grade. The building was started first of August and the last of the video was first of November. Glad to have your insight on the importance of water drainage. That should be the first topic of discussion when building new!
@@digdrivediy Agreed on drainage for sure and I do like the apron for water handling and landscape maintenance and I have no problem being an idea thief, so you may see a similar take on some of my projects in the future.....where can I find those railroad thingys, hmm..
What a saga you all had putting this building together. Is the idea to use the spray foam insulation or the normal one from the hardware store? A company around here that does the spray style advertises a ton.
Yeah, the rain was relentless this summer! He is planning to have it sprayfoamed and then put traditional batts in over the spray foam. The ceiling will get blown in cellulose. My barn is spray foamed and it is great. Thanks Robert!
Ha! Someone finally recognized what that is supposed to be! I thought I was being clever with making that shirt but you're the first to mention it. It's a tribute to my little JDs! Thanks Kyle!
Hi Neil. It looks amazing! While watching this series, I can help thinking how do you know how to do all this, to have such a nice result? The stone looks great and the railroad track is something I would never have thought of. As you mentioned, you shouldn't need gutters as long as the drainage is good. Thanks for the build series! -mike
Thanks Mike. I've spent the last 25 years doing this type of stuff in different fashions. I've had a lot of great teachers and influence. Thankful to be in a DIY minded community too. Thanks for watching!
Great touch with the limestone apron. That DDD hat is definitely broken in😁. Do you have any for sale. I think I’ll treat myself for my 52 Birthday on the 9th. Is it possible to buy one? Thanks
Thanks so much John! You know, I've had enough people ask about the hats that I do think I'm gonna make some up for sale. What the heck? It would be an honor for me to know that you'd be willing to buy one for your birthday! I've put your name on a list but look for something from me in the next week or so on how to buy one. I'll probably just have folks email me and I'll mail them out. Thanks for the inquiry!
If it fills up with water they are deep enough that it just runs over the top. So far we have had several major rain events (one was 3"+) and there hasn't been any pooling of water immediately after the rain is over so we feel it is able to get away sufficiently. I worried about that very thing as well and it doesn't look to be an issue. Thanks for the comment and for watching the video!
DIY amateurs?!?! There are no amateurs among my boys, son.You all amaze me with your talents and things you can accomplish. It looks great. The perfectionist in your Dad and his boys is a little tough to live with, but sure has great results. Makes it so easy to annoy your Dad.
Ha! Well thanks Mom! It's just nice we're all on the same wavelength! I think you and my wife have been talking cause she apparently thinks it's easy to annoy me too :) [Don't tell her I said that :)]
When I see the ground spray painted, you are not playing with the details! I love it when you are doing dirt work.
I am back today watching again on this great channel! I love the behind the scenes commentary and explanations of things and your hands on approach. Great Job!
Looks great! Might be a few decades before you need to worry about leaves in the gutters...
Ha! I was waiting for someone to point out that fact! I was so worried about not having to clean them out that maybe I forgot to consider whether there were any trees to fill them :)
You guys all of you are the true meaning of the word family.
Coming from a lawn installer, a section of chain link fence, with some stiffener bars makes a great seed drag to run behind a tractor. It does great establishing sees to soil contact. I wouldn't worry about germination that late, I have done MA y dormant seedings and had great success, the only draw back is you would need to use straw or erosion control netting to help prevent soil erosion.
Pole barn looks great, Neil. I’m a big fan of these segmented videos showing the different stages of the project. Sweet pond your brother has. I’m sure many of your subscribers would love to learn more about that project.
Thanks Chris I appreciate the feedback. I like doing these videos too. Yes, some others have asked about the pond. I have been trying to round up as much media as I can find from when we dug it back in 2010. My brother has some video of me running the pan around there but we are still trying to find it. I'm hoping it can be a "winter project" to put that video together :) Thanks for watching!
This is the best Video for a pole Barn Ever
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Why, thank you David!
I think it is great to see how your family all pulled together to get this done. That seems to me to be the essence of America! Well done!
Yeah it was certainly pretty cool to see three generations out there working on it together. Making memories while you're getting something done too. Thanks Jeffrey!
Essence of America perhaps, but certainly not unique.
Another great video. Watched with my wife on the big screen in the living room. She said it’s like watching little house on the prairie! That means you tell great stories!
Well as much as our family liked LHOTP, that is a huge compliment! I can't hold a candle to the likes of Walnut Grove, but I sure appreciate you and Becky watching regardless. Thanks for the support guys!
Another beautiful job! It’s great to see that your dad is keeping busy, I’m sure he’s missing not hauling grain. I too look forward to Sunday mornings with DDDiy! Take care my friend!
Thanks Mike! He has been missing it but not to fear - he was over helping Aaron the last two days running his grain cart for him and I think he's gonna drive semi for him tomorrow. So, he's still getting a little hit of the action! Thanks for watching my friend! I look forward to your Sunday comments as well.
Steuben county a little north of you required gutters on my building. My floor was poured with rat walls to help prevent burrowing under the floor.
Your brother should be happy with this building it looks good.
Thanks BG! I didn't realize about the gutter requirement. Allen Co didn't say anything. I'm surprised. I'm not gonna ask them though either :)
No matter how many times I see that little grader box run, it's still satisfying.
I never get tired of running it either. It just always makes every jobsite look better that must be what it is.
I agree with the beauty of the railroad iron. It looks great. The stone behind it looks great and I feel there is plenty of fall from the concrete to the RR iron. I’ll be interested to see the grass in the spring.
The grass is up and growing. Had trouble getting it started but it's looking better now.
Great work! No therapy like watching big equipment move dirt and rock.
Appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
Nice job, Neil! In regards to the question asked, I like the look of stone around the foundation, but I also like to have gutters as well. A little overkill? Maybe, but having a dry foundation and a good looking stone feature around the building is priceless.
That would be a great combo Andrew. I think you're smart to have both. Thanks for the comment!
Everything looks great! I always look forward to your videos Sunday Mornings!
Really appreciate hearing that Dustin. Thanks for joining me on Sundays!
Beautiful 755. Love to have one
I hate cleaning gutters and love the idea and looks of your brother's rocks under the eaves.
This building looks fabulous, your exterior lighting is very well thought out the color scheme looks great, I can't say enough. GREAT JOB! all the way around. What a good feeling that is when you know its all done right...
Thanks so much. Yes I really love their color choices and my brother has been working out that outdoor lighting for a while. I can see it all lit up from my house like it's a Walmart or something! Thanks for watching!
The rock looks great, plus it stops dirt and mud from splashing up on the siding. These shops are just to tall to safely get up there to clean gutters. I hate heights so it’s a job that simply wouldn’t get done
That Baileys driver is the best!
You got that right! Glad to hear from you Gliderider!
Awesome! That is a great looking building! What a shop! 👍🏻
Thanks so much Brandon! I think he's gonna wonder why he waited so long!
Looks great. Really liked the look of the railroad ties. Asked Nate about it this morning and he says they work awesome.
Thanks Jason! Yeah, I think it turned out pretty great. Looking forward to some cold ones out by the pond in the shade of the barn!
No gutters is the way to go. Looking good!
Appreciate it Bob!
When we built in 1991 we didn't put gutters on the back of the house. After the foundation was poured before back filling we waterproofed and put 2" foam all around. instead of corrugated pipe we used lateral pipe and put about 4' of clean stone before back filling. We let the ground settle for about 5 years before I put gutters on. The foundation drains are all tied together and run out about 200' in front of the house. No issues and drains like crazy.
Sounds perfect John. A well thought out setup like that will pay dividends in the long run. Thanks for sharing and for watching.
I think your brother was right on with having you do all the work! Looks great!!
Haha! Thanks a lot Tim.
Very nice pole barn Neil and property, thanks for sharing this project 👍🏻🙂🙋🏼♂️
You betcha OISNG! I think he's got a nice building.
Very good project ! Well done Guys ! Thanks for sharing with us 😉👍
Thanks for watching!
I like the rail road rails and gravel around the building. Looks vary nice!! This means no string trimmer running on the building metal.
Exactly! I love the look and it's very functional!
That turned out fabulous for Nate! Hope we see another fine pole barn job very soon! 😉
I hope we do too! Gonna be a little more dirt to move!!!
Great video, awesome job by the Dump Truck Driver, I did however get a little dizzy watching the John Deere doing circles with the box scrapper lol
No kidding! I"ve got a lot of miles on that tractor going in circles! Thanks Doug :)
The pole barn looks awesome. I'm jealous. What a great team effort.
Thanks so much! Appreciate you watching!
Wow. Beautiful!!! Well done!!
I think they're very happy with it!
Building came out great, I love his pond
Yeah I think they're going to love it.
Looking great 👍 👌
Beautiful pole barn. I’m so jealous. Great work guys!
Thanks Jay!
Love the new building! Nice job! I would love to have a pole building like that someday.
Yeah I think it turned out great and they are really gonna like having it. I don't know how my brother went so long without one really. Thanks for checking it out Michael!
as always nice job.love the stone around the building.never thought about using railroad rails for edging, and since im a ex railroad worker i could have had all the rails i wanted.love the colors of the barn i did mine same way
Oh man! Those rails are hard to find now. I wish there was something commercially available but they would be too expensive! Your barn must look great too then! Thanks as always sir!
Neil, if I’d only known then what I know now…
I had a screened-in porch and laundry room addition built on to the south side of our home. That happens to be where the top of the hill break and slopes toward Sassafras Valley.
Before the addition, a swale ran along the house at about 8’ from the house. It carried run off down the slope and off into the valley. But, when you build a 20’ addition across the swale you end up creating a pond!
The addition was finished in the autumn and our summer drought had not broken yet…. I was traveling a lot for work and barely had time to clean up the leaves on the weekends. So, I did nothing about the drainage system.
About the time of the first freeze, the drought was broken by torrential rains. Water pooled about 6” deep against the foundation. My wife sent me a picture of it on Wednesday. It would be late Friday night before I could do anything about it.
With my flashlight I went out to see what I needed to do to fix the problem. To my surprise the water was gone… the ground was solid and I thought ‘no harm, no foul’. Until I popped open the crawl space under the house… and smelled the damp musty truth that there was indeed ‘a foul’.
The water had seeped through the opening where the septic pipe came through the foundation and had spread itself into the warm earth and gravel of the crawl space.
I immediately put fans under there to get the air moving and vent it to the outside…. However, winter was approaching so I couldn’t blow constantly lest I freeze the water pipes. We watched the thermometer to know when we could vent and when we couldn’t.
Due to high humidity outside, the drying process would go on for almost 6 months.
But, what to do about the next rain? Well I took a good look at the contour. It was apparent that I couldn’t force the water to flow back uphill a foot. The swale would have to be moved. However there were two big oak trees in the way. I had to come up with another solution.
Fortunately, the swale led to where that septic line had been trenched between the two trees. So, I put in a home made catch basin and trenched a drain line down the hill toward Sassafras Valley.
It worked like a charm. The water was collected within the basin and channeled away from the house leaving the foundation totally dry.
When I decided to double the space of my shop, the outlet of the drain lead to the location where the shop was going. So I made a catch basin there and extended the drain beneath the new shop. It now drains the water collected at the house and the water collected at the shop down into the valley.
So yes sir… I agree that dealing with the drainage up front is the smart way to go.., because I now know what I didn’t know then!
The railroad rails are a perfect retainer and barrier for your surface French drain around the barn. It’s cool and practical…. If you have a buddy who has several sticks of it lying around!
My neighbor did the same thing… his bed was 6’ wide and bounded with railroad ties. It is 20 years in and even with decaying ties is still working.
Nice job… I’m sure your brother is happy to be ready for those ‘inside jobs’!!
I've learned some of these wisdoms the "hard way" too. Namely on our house, although the grading errors around it were done by the pioneers that built the place - I just came along 100 years later trying to fix it! My house should be at a minimum 1' higher than what it is. Every time we get a 3+" rain the water flood in the field and creep towards the crawl space.
I couldn't raise the house so I've spent the last 10 years fixing it the best way I could by redirecting water with swales and dams. The biggest benefit was putting in a giant outdoor sump pump. It's like the levy pump system in New Orleans. Water that builds up close to the house is rerouted to a 10' deep well at the corner of the basement wall that has a giant sump pump in the bottom. Sump pump well collects all the runoff water and pumps it out through solid PVC to a field drain. It has helped our water situation immensely.
Drainage is a funny thing. So simple, yet often times so problematic. We lack the elevation around here to truly make it simple. Every time we go on a trip to the hills or smokeys I'm envious of those mountain folk who don't have to worry about ponding or flooding waters. But yet, they get to worry about driveway erosion and I don't. Tradeoffs I guess.
Here's to dry crawlspaces and basements with sump pumps that never lose power during heavy rainfall! Cheers! 🍻
Looks Great!! Nice job!!
Thanks so much!
Great Job Neil , love the track rails.
Thanks so much Ron!
That turned out great my friend. Y'all worked hard and did a great job. Throw ya a little annual rye grass seed out to hold that dirt through the winter. This time of year I always seed with tall fescue and annual rye on new construction yards just so there will be something green and something to hold the dirt until it warms up enough for the fescue to get going. I wish I was that far along on my workshop. I envy your brother having a nice building to work in. Great video.
That is a FANTASTIC idea with the ryegrass Blackdog. I should have thought of adding some in but we were so slamma jamma that we just spread what we had. I could get some ryegrass yet this week for him.
Good luck getting your building finished up. He does have a nice setup over there!
@@digdrivediy lol, I'm just getting started on mine. It's gonna take a while.
That looks great guys you did a good job
Thanks so much David!
I think the stone is a great idea
Nate got a nice building, I did the same thing with stone around my new shop too.
Both you guys got nice new shops for 2021. I'm feeling left out as there's nothing more fun than a nice construction project! I need to do a little feature on your barn! Thanks Tony!
I did basically the same thing around my building. Used brick instead of rails. I also used landscape fabric and decorative rock. I also have no gutters and I am glad I don't.
Nice job you guys did on this project.
Really appreciate it. I'm glad to hear that others have the same philosophy on this idea. Appreciate you tuning in!
Looks great!! I like the look of the stone around the foundation vs gutters hanging. You don’t have to worry about the gutters at all if they are not on.
I also like the green shirt! Combination of your logo and Deere style! 👍🏽👍🏽
Thanks Brian! Thanks for the comment on the shirt. I was waiting on the die hard Deere fans to notice what it was and I'm thankful that a couple folks have noticed it. Appreciate you watching!
ShoutOut from South Bend, Indiana. Would love to see how you prep your yard in the spring.
Hello South Bend! I get up that way pretty often for work. I think I've got a video on that prep work but I'm sure there will be more to follow this next spring. Thanks Andres!
Neil, I love your videos and look forward to them each week. Great content, explanation and editing. I really do like the idea of the stone and Rail Road track. Very ingenious. My only concern is the RR track holding water in under the rock. I may have installed some drain tile, but perhaps I’m overthinking this. Great looking building - you guys did a fantastic job!!
Really appreciate the comment Richard. I had that same concern. Matter of fact I spent some time lying awake thinking about it. The stone is sloped enough that if the railroad track "fills up", it will spill over the top and go down the hill before it gets high enough to run under the barn. The same would be true of a tile I think although I have found that drain tile placed under a roof overhang can not take on water fast enough to evacuate it away during a rain event, so essentially it doesn't get a chance to do it's job during the heaviest of rains and will work much like what is going to happen here. To solve my problem of laying awake, I decided to dig little "relief trenches" underneath the railroad track at two points perpendicular to each track. This will give the water a place to escape out and underneath I think. Also, I think the water will have the opportunity to run out from each end as well as it isn't perfectly level. Hope that makes sense. Great observation though too. I don't know if I'm right or not but from the several rains we've had so far there hasn't been any ponding of water at the rail so it must be getting away. Thanks!
I love the looks of the apron, but I'd still put in gutters with leaf guard to keep the leaves out and have collection cisterns buried next to the building for the rain water. You can use the collected water for the yard and what ever else during a dry summer. My 4H leader did this with all of her barns/buildings because her well water was heavy with iron. The horses liked the rain water better than the well water anyway.
Not a bad idea.
you did a great job . that Volvo Excavator you used i really wouldn't call it a Mini Excavator lol you probably could used a smaller Excavator what you used but you did a great job with Volvo EC55B Mini Excavator and not hitting anything . just saying
Good morning.
Your channel just came across my feed. I like what you have created. I also like the way you present and show things. I subbed!
My family lives about 25 miles west of chicago. Just throw that out there. I know I am always interested to know where people are from.
I hope you are having a good day.
Blessings, Ed
Hello Ed! Thanks so much for deciding to click and give us a view. Appreciate the sub more than you know.
I had a great day today; thanks. My wife's brother lives NW of Chicago so we get that way a couple times a year. Thanks for taking the time to watch and say Hi. Have a great week. Neil
Neil, I have built many structures (garages and roll off roof observatories) and never use gutters on any of them. Just like you said, make sure you grade around the structure with a good slope and use large enough stone (3+ inches) to prevent erosion.
You have nothing to worry about even with the rail bars as edging. The water will just run over the rail bars during heavy down pours. They are actually helping by slowing the water down preventing erosion outside their boudary. They are far enough from the structure so any collecting water against them is no harm to the slab.
Good job and thank you for the great videos! 👍🙂
I'm so very glad to hear you say that Daniel. The theory works in my head but always the risk that I didn't consider something that could be an issue down the road. Thanks for sharing your experienced insight and it will help me to feel better knowing that we didn't do anything that could be detrimental. Appreciate you watching and commenting!
the soil around there looks like tough digging.....needs a little sand mixed in 😊
Yes it is! It is all fill from the pond out back. Good hard clay!
Evan with gutters the apron is a good idea.
Seeing your stones (at the 2 minute mark) reminded me that my parents used to go out into farmers' fields (we lived in Naples) and find old Roman coins standing out like toadstools after the spring rains.
Whoa! That's cool!
Looks great Neil I would love one 12,000 dollars no thanks.
Thanks so much Ryan! Maybe one of these days you'll get that building!
Great video my good buddy built a pole here in upstate New York no gutters what a mess here where we get giant ice sickles that will knock you silly if you get hit gutters are a must
Oh boy! Yeah, that would certainly play a factor for us if we had the weather for it. Fortunately that is a one or two time occurrence for us. Thanks for watching!
Looks great guys! I love the kids out there watching lol! I agree, no real need for gutters and what you did is a perfect solution to keep the water away from the barn, looks good! The same is on my list for next year around my barn and the house. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thanks Stephen! Really appreciate the feedback and I hope when you get home you'll be able to tackle those aprons at your place. Thanks so much for watching and commenting my friend!
@@digdrivediy You are welcome! Can’t wait to see more! I will definitely let you know how things Go at my place. (Actually reminded me of some other questions I have for you when we are able to connect, PS let me know if you got the last email I sent you, the network here blocked some of my outgoing emails). Have a good week!
@@ArmoredXJ Yes I did see your email this morning just haven't went through everything yet. Will take a look tonight.
@@digdrivediy Awesome. Glad you got it. No rush! Reply when you have time Sir!
Nice video. Thanks Neil!
You betcha. Thanks for watching sir!
I just found your channel and I really enjoy seeing other Hoosiers! The French drain should work just fine and should last for years. I'm partial to gutters and overhangs and the downspouts could have been buried to the pond or otherwise not dumped on the surface.
Thanks Nathan! Glad to have you watching. yeah, we thought about going to the pond to but thought we'd at least give it a try without for now.
Good work y’all
Thank you Mr. Texan!
I use gutters to capture rain water for lawn & garden watering so I dont have to run a water well.
That's a great idea Ron! We had a cistern at home that was for the same thing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I am new to the channel today and I must say you all did a fine job and It all looks so good. Can not wait to see it with some established grass in the up coming warmer months.
Thanks a lot Bill! Great to have you 👍🏻
Awesome! I like the lime stone beds. I hate the gutters on my house there are a lot of maintenance! I also noticed you were using a direct read rod. You don’t see a lot of them around where I am at being that it’s not flat country. Great video
Thanks Steve! I'm glad you noticed the lenker style grade rod and know what it is. Most people I try to talk to about it don't know what I'm talking about. I was brought up using a stick like this and it's the only way for me to go.
And I'm with ya! I wish there weren't any gutters on my house either although I'm not setup for there not to be unfortunately.
Thanks so much for watching sir!
like the looks of the rocks around the building....taking leaves etc from the eavestrough is a pain and sometimes dangerous....really like the building...wish i had room for one, i could really use the storage....all the best...great video as usual :)
Really appreciate it John. Might be a while till he has to worry about leaves but at least he'll never worry about cleaning the gutters! Thank you sir!
Awesome buliding!
Yes, my brother's family is gonna love it! Thanks for watching.
I like the stone with no gutters
I like the stone just so you don’t have to run a trimmer around the buildings when cutting grass 👍
That's good reason too!
I like the look of your stone work in addition to the help for drainage it provides. My situation: I have gutters for one building (stand-alone garage) and not on the other (large shed). The 2nd building (shed) does have some stone around it but was not done on all sides and it now has both drainage and weed issues. There wasn't a border either. My other building (garage) has gutters but the grass/ weeds grow right up to the foundation with then presents the issue of mowing and trimming. I would prefer that my garage have stone like yours. Never would have thought about the rail steel. It would be nice to get some for my site.
That's exactly why I like these stone borders too. Helps for both drainage and creating a nice mowing border. Thanks for watching!
I like the looks of the stone around the perimeter. That’s rail stake is used to keep the rock in, but it would not also stop the water from escaping hitting the steel and potentially coming back up to the concrete? Eavestrough would have been perfect at building, I don’t see too many trees? I can totally see how the rock system works at your house. You did something with the chimney on the house once and I saw your eavestrough was full of leaves. Not fun. Keep the videos coming!
excellent idea, and way less nightmare
Neil, there is something about your videos and editing that in my opinion.... make you one of the best Tubers out there. I'm disheartened that your subscriber numbers haven't jumped as much as I thought they would. Your content and demeanor are top notch!! With Covid easing a bit... perhaps there just aren't as many eyeballs in front of the computers as there was a year ago. Maybe the winter season will bring more folks to the world that is your channel!! Keep up the good work!
Really appreciate the sentiment. I am always hopeful that I can reach a bigger audience but I am very thankful for the folks that I do have watching. I'll keep grinding away and see where it takes me. Hopefully the videos can still improve and the main thing is that people find them entertaining or educational. Thanks for being a supporter and really appreciate you watching!
Subscriber numbers aren't the be all- end all of youtube. I think unique viewers per month is sometimes a better indicator of reach than subscriber numbers. Subscriber numbers are very often inflated via collaborations on some channels. A great number of those people subscribe then never watch again.
I think he talks too much.
well done look great
Looks beautiful
That looks great!
Thanks Alan!
I have not watched yet, we’re on our way for coffee, but I’ll be watching before noon. 💪🏽
I knew I could count on you Rob! :)
think i would for sure poured some at least 10' aprons in front of the doors.
Yeah. Maybe someday when the piggy bank is filled up again. Wants to finish the inside first.
That looks great, I just subscribed so I can follow along.
Thanks Joe. The other videos in this barn are already posted so I hope you check them out!
Man the barn looks great! My buddy is dealing with a waterlogged yard from all that rain, and he wants to redo the entire property! 🤣 When I get ready to finally do my barn, I hope it turns out half as nice as your brothers did. You guys have a solid crew down there. 💪🏽
How was that coffee this morning! I had two cups today as last night was a bit of a late one with this edit! Thanks Rob, I think his barn did turn out great. Appreciate you coming back and tuning in, as always.
@@digdrivediy Our Sunday coffee run is the best one of the week for me. It’s the one day a week that Brenna and I both have off together, and We take the spoiled rotten mutts with us so they can get their tim bits (I know you have Tim Hortons down that way but I know their scarce) but it’s my one addiction the rest of the week. I do iced caps in the morning to motivate me to get out of bed to go to work 🤣 and that’s about it. Luckily Tim’s is starting to spread out a little more, and they’re becoming easier to plan trips around. 🤣
Saturday I used the f250 to haul a 2001 crew cab super duty a few miles. It’s not the same horse power as the powerstroke, but the torque feels pretty comparable. I was pretty impressed with how easily it got up to 65 on flat ground, but 65 was about it out of it with out beating it. It whimpers at the sight of a overpass a little too, usually drops a few miles per hour, and I wouldn’t of wanted to do a long hill. This was all in over drive of course tho, so anything less than a 8,000 lb load it’s ok. I have to keep In mind the loads I bought the truck to haul tho, and stick with it. I think when I finally get towards buying a dump truck, it’s gonna be a 7.3 non commercial truck so I can still play with a tuner. I’m still planning it all out tho. 🤣
good gutters and gutter guard works grest!
We call that “three quarter open” vs “three quarter minus” over here in the northwest.
The stone size you mean? That's interesting to hear how different regions refer to their limestone.
Looks good. Nice job!
Thanks Kevin!
Looks Great!
Was thinking, when you find lines, pipes take pictures and a map if not a trace wire maybe a good idea.?
God bless.
Most definitely! We had these lines mapped out already so knew we'd be getting close. Just wished they were a bit deeper. It is a great idea so thanks for sharing Michael and thanks so much for watching!
Hi Neil ,, going with no gutters and use ping a perimeter of stone obviously works and works well but if as they say the climate is going to change a means of gathering water from that huge roof would be to tempting for me not to put gutters up ,,
Very true Derek. We will be keeping a close eye on it to see how it holds up and I suppose we can always add the gutters if the need arises. Thanks so much for watching and commenting sir!
Love the rr rail idea
Awesome video. For me personally, I like the look of the stone border, but I would have gone with gutters based on cost and the fact that I would have had to use hand tools to spread the rock. I'm far too cheap to pay someone to do it and far too lazy to do it with a shovel and rake!
That's a good point. It does take a little elbow grease to get this accomplished so I can appreciate someone that doesn't want to mess with it for sure. Cost wise it might be about a wash.
Ha, I was excited to see this final episode, but it had little to do with the actual building. However, it dealt with important aspects of the job, namely water management. In real estate, I tell people water is the enemy of the house, more so than fire or really anything else. How a property is graded to how it handles the displacement area of the building (roof) itself matters a lot. Certainly nothing DigDriveDIY didn't already know. So while the video wasn't what I expected, I was glued to learn any maybe new technics. I do like the stone apron, really cool idea. Skipping gutters at your house for the trees, I get it, looking at your brother's house and shop, it's hard to say the trees were a deciding factor there. I was also stuck by how deep your trenches had to be. Was that because of the basement level or code for frost line? In Florida, we don't have basements and also don't have a frost line, so plumbing is usually only a foot or so deep, electric is maybe 2-3 feet deep depending on type of wire and code. Very interesting project Neil, for scope or frame of reference, when was the start date and finish dates? I gather finish was very recent, but didn't know you were working on it in the summer. It's possible I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been in some other videos. Looking forward to a follow up in the spring.
Thanks Don. Great conversation about drainage. You're right, no real trees at Nate's yet. Mainly for his situation he didn't want to trench gutter drains through his yard. We've found gutters and the associated tile and trenches to be just another item of potential failure or need of maintenance. The stone apron requires basically zero maintenance and also helps with keeping a nice edge between lawn and building. He can still add gutters if he decides to though too.
The depth for tile was to get the proper fall from building to house. The house has a higher elevation and had to go that deep to get grade.
The building was started first of August and the last of the video was first of November. Glad to have your insight on the importance of water drainage. That should be the first topic of discussion when building new!
@@digdrivediy Agreed on drainage for sure and I do like the apron for water handling and landscape maintenance and I have no problem being an idea thief, so you may see a similar take on some of my projects in the future.....where can I find those railroad thingys, hmm..
I like and think I'll be stealing the idea, I have had critter problems behing my barn.
Works pretty good for diggin critters. They don't seem to like to mess in it.
Looks fantastic!
I really like the rail road track idea. Do you have any other ideas for products that may accomplish the same thing?
I haven't come up with anything that works quite as well yet. Would love to hear suggestions as well.
What a saga you all had putting this building together. Is the idea to use the spray foam insulation or the normal one from the hardware store? A company around here that does the spray style advertises a ton.
Yeah, the rain was relentless this summer! He is planning to have it sprayfoamed and then put traditional batts in over the spray foam. The ceiling will get blown in cellulose. My barn is spray foamed and it is great. Thanks Robert!
I'm guessing that do in the pond is a lab, and they look as happy as a tornado in a trailer park!!!
It is indeed a silver lab, and he is in that pond 90 percent of the day!
Great video.
Thanks Jim!
that DDD tiger stripe T-Shirt is awesome!
Ha! Someone finally recognized what that is supposed to be! I thought I was being clever with making that shirt but you're the first to mention it. It's a tribute to my little JDs!
Thanks Kyle!
Hi Neil. It looks amazing! While watching this series, I can help thinking how do you know how to do all this, to have such a nice result? The stone looks great and the railroad track is something I would never have thought of. As you mentioned, you shouldn't need gutters as long as the drainage is good. Thanks for the build series!
-mike
Thanks Mike. I've spent the last 25 years doing this type of stuff in different fashions. I've had a lot of great teachers and influence. Thankful to be in a DIY minded community too. Thanks for watching!
Great touch with the limestone apron. That DDD hat is definitely broken in😁. Do you have any for sale. I think I’ll treat myself for my 52 Birthday on the 9th. Is it possible to buy one? Thanks
Thanks so much John! You know, I've had enough people ask about the hats that I do think I'm gonna make some up for sale. What the heck? It would be an honor for me to know that you'd be willing to buy one for your birthday! I've put your name on a list but look for something from me in the next week or so on how to buy one. I'll probably just have folks email me and I'll mail them out. Thanks for the inquiry!
Looks great but will the rails hold water? A mote around the barn?
If it fills up with water they are deep enough that it just runs over the top. So far we have had several major rain events (one was 3"+) and there hasn't been any pooling of water immediately after the rain is over so we feel it is able to get away sufficiently. I worried about that very thing as well and it doesn't look to be an issue. Thanks for the comment and for watching the video!