Harvestore Converted Into Cozy Little Home

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

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