Harvestore Converted Into Cozy Little Home

2000 - Volume #24, Issue #6, Page #02

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

"It's like living in a tall tin can," says Jerry Hinrichsen whose house is a 42-year-old Harvestore silo located on a farm his father, Chuck, bought eight or 10 years ago.
    The 19-year-old Goodfield, Ill., college student lives in the recently converted silo with his older brother Eric, 20. The Hinrichsens did all the work themselves, including electrical and plumbing work, and installed the electric furnace and water heater. The furnace and water heater are hidden beneath a circular stairway that goes to the top of the silo.
    "I just got a wild hair one day," says Chuck. "It was structurally very sound and I figured this would give Jerry and Eric a place of their own. They're only about 100 yds. from Mom and Dad."
    The silo is 40-ft. tall and 17-ft. in dia., with a 4-ft. thick concrete foundation.
    The hardest part of the conversion, which took five months beginning a year ago in February, proved to be finding a way around the foundation.
    "We had to build an entry point to protect the plumbing, instead of trying to go through 4 ft. of solid concrete," Chuck says.
    Another challenge was getting the 2 1/2-in. thick foam insulation to stick to the glass-lined "walls". A special water-based epoxy primer was applied about 1 ml. thick with an airless paint sprayer by a local insulating contractor.
    The insulated walls were then sprayed with a white acrylic latex to seal them. Holes were next cut in the walls for the double-paned, thermal efficient windows, one on each side of the top three floors. Braces were welded to the walls to support the stair steps as were brackets for the floor joists, which were covered with plywood.
    The four-story silo house has about 200 sq. ft. of living space per floor.
    The first floor is the bathroom and kitchen, complete with cabinets, countertops, sink and appliances.
    The second floor is the living room furnished with a couple of sectional couches, TV and stereo.
    The third and fourth floors are the brothers' bedrooms.
    Out-of-pocket expense was $5,000, with more than half of that going for foam insulation.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jerry or Eric Hinrichsen, R.R. 1 Box 5, Goodfield, Ill. 61742 (ph 309 965-2959).

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

Harvestore Converted Into Cozy Little Home BUILDINGS Houses It s like living in a tall tin can says Jerry Hinrichsen whose house is a 42-year-old Harvestore silo located on a farm his father Chuck bought eight or 10 years ago The 19-year-old Goodfield Ill college student lives in the recently converted silo with his older brother Eric 20 The Hinrichsens did all the work themselves including electrical and plumbing work and installed the electric furnace and water heater The furnace and water heater are hidden beneath a circular stairway that goes to the top of the silo I just got a wild hair one day says Chuck It was structurally very sound and I figured this would give Jerry and Eric a place of their own They re only about 100 yds from Mom and Dad The silo is 40-ft tall and 17-ft in dia with a 4-ft thick concrete foundation The hardest part of the conversion which took five months beginning a year ago in February proved to be finding a way around the foundation We had to build an entry point to protect the plumbing instead of trying to go through 4 ft of solid concrete Chuck says Another challenge was getting the 2 1/2-in thick foam insulation to stick to the glass-lined walls A special water-based epoxy primer was applied about 1 ml thick with an airless paint sprayer by a local insulating contractor The insulated walls were then sprayed with a white acrylic latex to seal them Holes were next cut in the walls for the double-paned thermal efficient windows one on each side of the top three floors Braces were welded to the walls to support the stair steps as were brackets for the floor joists which were covered with plywood The four-story silo house has about 200 sq ft of living space per floor The first floor is the bathroom and kitchen complete with cabinets countertops sink and appliances The second floor is the living room furnished with a couple of sectional couches TV and stereo The third and fourth floors are the brothers bedrooms Out-of-pocket expense was $5 000 with more than half of that going for foam insulation Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jerry or Eric Hinrichsen R R 1 Box 5 Goodfield Ill 61742 ph 309 965-2959

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW