Walter Jefferies is looking for more funds to complete construction on his butcher shop; he's put a bunch of his own cash into it, borrowed a bunch, and is looking for more funding via kickstarter.
I'd like to see him succeed. When you expand a business is a perilous time -- you have expenses, disruption of your existing business, and unforseen costs to contend with, as well as the normal business issues.
If you'd like to support Walter in his project, you'll find it here.
Disclosure: I'm going to contribute $100 to this project.
2 weeks ago
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5 comments:
I'm not convinced it's economically sustainable to have a large pig operation and a butcher shop. It seems like you need multiple input streams of animals to make a butcher shop work--more than a single farm can provide. Just look at Thundering Hooves for a local example.
I still applaud Walter's effort, but I'm wary.
I'm not convinced it's economically sustainable to have a large pig operation and a butcher shop. It seems like you need multiple input streams of animals to make a butcher shop work--more than a single farm can provide. Just look at Thundering Hooves for a local example.
I still applaud Walter's effort, but I'm wary.
I don't know if he'll make a go of it, but I'm hoping he will.
I'll be surprised if the building is ever completed. And, if it is completed, I'll be surprised if it doesn't have major structural problems.
Taking years to pour a concrete structure that should have taken a couple of months to finish, spacing rebar 3-4 feet when it should be about 12" apart, thinking concrete mesh can be used as "reinforcement" in walls and ceilings, welding rebar instead of tying it, etc. all causes me to question the builder's ability.
If you think you are an expert at concrete construction and you clearly aren't and/or you make the decision to build something that you don't have the skills to build, why should I give you any money to run a business that you also claim to be an expert at?
Some of the techniques he used seemed odd to me, too. He does multiple pours over time and doesn't seem to have the rebar tie-ins that you'd normally see between slabs, for instance.
I've done walls and slabs and driveways and stuff, but my forming and techniques are different than his.
My biggest concern would be the plumbing. Fixing a drain in a concrete floor is a big deal.
What I wonder about is expansion joints in the stuff he's done. I don't see any provision for it, and my concern would be that the concrete will crack and fail with the heat stress. A crack in the concrete across a buried pipe will crack the pipe, too, and then you're back to fixing plumbing problems in concrete. Quality time with a concrete saw and a jackhammer and a wheelbarrow, because you can't get a tractor in there.
You could run a saw across the slabs and cut joints, but it sure is a lot easier to put the joints in when the concrete is wet.
I use concrete on my farm because of local flood-plain building codes; I'm required to do it. If I were him I probably would have gone with an insulated slab with a pole barn on top of it. That would have been easily completed in 6 months, had ample clearspan area, and he could have build a much larger building for the same construction cost.
Surround the whole thing with 3 feet of insulation if you wanted to to keep the energy uses down.
But he's committed to the concrete building, and none of us farmers have chosen the easiest thing we could do with our time or money, and I recognize that impulse, as I have it myself.
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