Starting a Barn

   / Starting a Barn #1  

Sinecure

Bronze Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Messages
67
Location
Piedmont / NC
Tractor
Kioti DK45SE HST
I am not a horse person, but have always liked the look of a nice horse barn in a field. When we bought the property, we knew one of the projects on the list would be a barn for this particular pasture.

After finishing up some other higher priority projects around the place, this summer seemed like a good time to start the barn. I will try and keep this thread updated with my progress and post some pictures as I go.

Some background information before I get started:

The property is in the piedmont area of North Carolina. My current employment situation has me in Texas for the near (several year) future.

I am able to get to the property fairly regularly and stay from anywhere from a week or two in order to tackle some project related tasks. I debated about saving my update posts until I had several, but decided that it would be easier to just post them as I complete various steps within the construction. The downside to this will be that this thread will not be updated as frequently as it would if I where knocking the project out on a continuous basis. So feel free to hijack the thread and take it in any barn related direction it wants to go and I will update my progress as it comes about.

Since the property is not currently a full-time residence, I tend to do most of the projects myself and limit the number of people I bring on to the property. I have some good neighbors that keep their eye out for me while I am not there, but I don't want to have the word spread around town that the property is vacant for long periods of time.

So here goes. The first step was to determine a style and get a general idea about size. After searching via Google for various plans and images, I came across this basic plan:



This will be the largest structure I have attempted to build solo and I may come to regret my decision, but we will see how it goes. The positive is that there is really no rush and given the geographical distance to my home, I will have plenty of time between visits to form some sort of a game plan. The thinking is that this should allow me to focus on specific tasks while I am at the property.
 
   / Starting a Barn #2  
Nice plans. Don't you think that this is a very big job for "solo."
What is your project timeline and budget?
 
   / Starting a Barn
  • Thread Starter
#3  
After the boss approved the style and basic look of the barn, I did a bit more research to get general sizing ideas.

My initial desire several years ago (when I started thinking about potentially building a barn) was 100% Post and Beam construction. I have liked the look and wanted to try building something in that fashion.

However, after some research of the tools I would need and setup/guides required - I quickly concluded that I could not build a post and beam structure in the manner I wanted as a solo build. Or if I could, it would take me forever and the learning curve was something that could get crazy expensive.

So I decided to go with more of a Hybrid style of build and use a combination of Pole Barn and Stick Build ideas and methods. Other than the stall layout picture (first post), I don't have any real plans for the building. My BIL is a structural engineer, so I can always run some stuff by him if I need to (and I probably will need to at some point).

I decided to go with treated 6x6 posts for the posts. These will be bolted to post bases that our set in concrete. I initially had a desire to go with 8x8's for the posts, but the price jump was significant.

I came up with a post layout that looks like the following.



The barn will be roughly 72 by 62. 12 by 12 stalls with a 16 foot center aisle. In addition, I have plans for a loft/catwalk area, but have not finalized those yet. It will be 24 feet to the peak of the roof.

I will need 40 posts. The center aisle posts will need to be 20 footers.
 
   / Starting a Barn
  • Thread Starter
#4  
RetiredCarGuy,

Thanks. Yes, I do worry that I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I am however excited about the idea of a challenge.

My biggest concern (at this point) is the roof framing. I need to figure out a realistic way to accomplish that in an effective and safe manner. If I got hurt or fell, I could lay out there for awhile before anyone came looking. I guess the coyotes would come, but that might not be a good thing. :)

I would like to try and keep the budget under 70K. There really is no timeline. I have an image in my head of what I want the inside and outside to look and "feel" like, so as long as the budget doesn't take a major hit, I hope to be able to pull off some really cool things and features.
 
   / Starting a Barn
  • Thread Starter
#6  
BitChin1, Thanks for the link. There are several really good barn threads on this site. It is amazing to see the various talents people have and what they have created on their property.

I will be the first to admit that I do not have everything figured out yet and will hopefully learn a lot as this project goes forward.

I have some very specific ideas on what I want out of this project. The challenge will be seeing if I can pull it off and/or get close to the ideas in my head.

I will have to make some decisions based on necessity which may or may not be the best use of time or money. There are always some trade-offs that need to be made when trying to do something by yourself. How do I take a two person task and try and make it a one person task - maybe I can't. I don't know yet.

My current thinking is that I will use a form to raise the concrete footer level above grade. I will keep this in place until I am ready to install the flooring material (also so I don't chip the edge of the concrete with a tire tractor/etc).

The barn floor within the center aisle portions will be compacted gravel, a layer of sand and then pavers.

I got started on the forms last week. 20 shown and 20 more needed.

 
   / Starting a Barn
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Digging the holes and grading.

I am trying to be as precise as possible during this task. My hope is that if I spend some time on the layout and get everything level and aligned, I will not have to be 20 feet up in the air trying to cut half and inch off some of the posts down the road.

Originally I had ideas of setting the posts in the holes and cementing them in; however, I would have needed about 26-28 foot posts for the center aisle portions.

I also looked at Perma-Columns (the posts that have the concrete already attached to the bottom of the post), but could not get them here in a length greater than 16 feet. I am not sure if that is a local thing or just their manufacturing sizing.

40 holes total. Needed a lot of string line and a laser level.

 
   / Starting a Barn #8  
very good I built my house by myself and not only enjoyed it but saved a lot of money. As long as time is not a major concern projects like this are fun. Keep one thing in mind all the time, keep it accurate a slight bit of out of square or a little off level will only get worse as you go along. The earlier in a project that things are not correct the worse the final outcome will be.
 
   / Starting a Barn
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I made an audible when I was digging the posts. After giving it some thought, I decided to initially only drill 32 post holes.

I did not dig the 7 posts in the rear of the structure which will make up the rear stall area / rear lean-to. The reason I decided not to dig these at this time is that I know I am going to have to bring a manlift in at some point and I want the room to be able to drive/move the tractor or a lift at the back of the structure. Once I start bracing all of the posts, I am going to run out of space to move the equipment around and still reach the top of the center aisle section.

I am also thinking that I may like to set the last section of posts into the ground and cement them in. Maybe the perma-columns since these columns will be less than their manufacturing size limit.

With all the other barn posts being bolted to concrete piers, I would like to have a section of posts that run down into the ground and help really tie everything together. I am not sure if this is needed, but it seems like a decent idea.

I plan on using post caps to secure my beams to the posts. This was a cost that could have been avoided if I went the route of notching the posts and then bolting the beams to them. I decided not to do this.

I am going to go with built-up LVLs as my beams and think it will be easier to set them in post caps as compared to trying to notch, lift and then secure them to the posts without a second set of hands. Might be a mistake.

I am going with a combination of CC66 and ECCL/R66 caps. ECCL/CCC/CCT Column Caps



I will post some additional updates tomorrow and bring the thread up to the current / real-time level of activity.
 
   / Starting a Barn
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Lockhaven, Thanks for the advice. I do enjoy doing projects like this. The key for me will being trying to balance my expectations with reality and just to take it slow and make sure I do it right.

Keeping it aligned and square/plumb is one of my major concerns.

The 6x6 posts are not as bad as the 4x4s, but I do worry about them twisting before I can get everything tied together. I know I am going to need a ton of bracing, but at 20 feet in length some of these posts are going to want to twist in the sun.

Once I get all of the holes laid out/dug and the posts set, I am going to need to tie everything together fairly quick. We shall see how it goes.
 
 
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