How long will my project take?

Time is money in our world today. If quick completion is a priority, plan to pay for it. If you have lots of time then you may need less money. Land clearing and grading is the most time consuming aspect of farm building. If your land is already cleared with a good stand of grass then adding buildings can be a relatively short process.

Begin by creating a schedule on paper. List in a column, in order of priority, what you plan to build and then assign durations. The duration of each item will vary greatly depending on your individual circumstances. Ask your contractors or other farm owners to begin getting ideas. A sample list may look something like this:

• Start Date - Today
• Planning - 2 months
• Selecting an architect or buying building plans - 1 month
• Selecting contractors or listing materials - 2 weeks
• Applying for a permit - 1 week
• Meanwhile, research grass seed, footing materials and manure disposal options 
• Permit issued (Ask your building department how long) - 3 months
• Clearing and grading - 3 months
• Installing utilities; power, water, phone - 2 weeks
• Installing roads - 2 weeks
• Seeding pastures - 2 weeks
  (Most pastures should be at least a year old before you put horses on them)
• Installing fences - 2 months
• Building the barn - 3 months
• Arena footing - 2 weeks
• Sacrifice area footing - 1 week
• Building a round pen - Future