Advice on new barn construction needed

[SPIKER]

I'm with a couple who said biggest regrets when building are

1. I too built around existing trees, (15 years later) the barn is not quite right to my needs on placement and I've had to remove some trees anyhow & more trees need removed still. I put in $20K for wood frame wood sided and roof/asphalt shingles, 50x38 w 50x12 lean too (build foot print came out 50x50) with everything on 16" centers on joists & fabricated trusses. Amish builder put up with good materials & went pretty well, could have afforded a larger place with higher 1st floor without the trees being where they WERE and barn ending up farther from house & septic.

2. I didn't build 1st floor high enough (mine is 2 story) with gambrel roof style. it only has 11 feet downstairs headers & 2nd floor joists cuts the useable space down to 9' or so. Can't put in a lift to get under anything to work on it...

3. waiting for concrete is not a bad plan I did but what was going to be a year or two to dry in turned into 10 years before it was put in.

4. build 2x what you think you need and make it able to put a lean too on BOTH sides or extend it as the space disappears after you move a few things in.

Better yet with the stakes in the ground park all the equipment inside that footprint you want in there. Then wrap stakes with caution tape and move everything in/out a few times use a bunch of old cardboard boxes for misc things like tool boxes trash cans or work benches & welders compressors laid out on the grass/staked off area etc. that will tell you how much space is needed faster than just trying to figure it out in your head. plan for posts in center if you need wider and that you loose 3 times the space you think you will around those said posts if they are required.

plan in some water yes it is pain for more septic but a sink outside to wash up in and or garden hose to power wash equipment comes in handy as heck. I put in underground tank and pumping system to pump it back to house septic. still working on finishing & heating but not out there all that much in old age anyhow.

Mark

 

[daugen]

great ideas Spiker, thank you. I have water twenty feet away outside the barn but of course you are right. The problem is it will cost close to $15k to install water and septic here, pipe it uphill to the septic field and then replace the entire septic system because it does not meet code, which it won't. Any water that comes in must go out, and I really don't want to dump untreated waste water into the blue line ditch behind the building. Sooner or later that goes into the Pamlico River...

what my carpenter told me to do is build the building, and then add what I need with a small non code field/tank behind the bldg. Sounds like a slippery slope to me. I suppose I could put in a septic holding tank(assuming that was allowed) and have it pumped but in wet weather the trucks can't get back there, so that's not such a good idea.

very crude drawing given to builder. He will make a nice 3d model for me; has good software to do this. No thought yet given to aesthetics, other than a cupola. And no, not drawn to scale.

 

[farmer2009]

Drew find out if grey water systems are allowed in your area. They still are in mine. You might be able to add just a floor drain and sink and get away with a grey water pit. It's just a pit lined with filter fabric then filled with sand and gravel.

One note on your sketches. I really don't believe that your allowing enough room for your implements. Looks like you need to stake it out and place everything in it you want. As previously suggested.

 

[daugen]

Drew find out if grey water systems are allowed in your area. They still are in mine. You might be able to add just a floor drain and sink and get away with a grey water pit. It's just a pit lined with filter fabric then filled with sand and gravel.

One note on your sketches. I really don't believe that your allowing enough room for your implements. Looks like you need to stake it out and place everything in it you want. As previously suggested.

not all of them are coming in here. Some will stay under the shed roofs as currently, based on how well they weather outside. Like my water roller which can park on a sheet of plywood under a roof just fine. I drain it and soak it down with oil before putting it away anyway.

And...more importantly, I fully intend to mount my heavy implements, like the rear blade and rake, on rolling jigs. So I am hopeful I can go two deep in some places. If they move easily, fine.
All my motorized stuff has to go in here, and they will definitely go two deep on close side. Three garden tractors including a 1968 CC 125 almost fully renovated, a swisher rough cut mower, two Gravely wing mowers(in process of renovation)
pull behind tiller, and maybe six more motorized somethings. Yeah, a lot, but realistically my primary mower will stay in the barn because I'm not tracking all that grass into the garage constantly. Plus I keep fuel in the barn in the compressor room with a concrete floor. Open roof above, lots of air flow... I really want to keep fuel out of the new garage. Though there will be oil and grease there for sure. That's where I want to do maintenance.

Now to find a relatively inexpensive lift for my garden tractors and small equipment. I don't service my own vehicles any more other than crawling under with some rust preventative and spraying where the factory parts are already rusting. Frankly not much to service, oil changes are annual for me. Nothing to tune up, except on the small machinery. Finally I will have a place to put all my spare spark plugs for the dozen plus little engines I own. And air filters, and fuel filters, and.... I love being organized and I sure am not now. Still have all my stuff in moving company boxes since moving here ten months ago, been a long time waiting to get "settled". And I intend to settle in this new garage building for sure.

Funny, for some of the stuff not used often, how about putting them on pallets and going vertical in one area, with some kind of steel or wood supports to hold it all.
Lots of fun stuff to think about.

What this will mean is equipment I now have sitting outside will either come into this building or under the sheds where that equipment will now move here, all like little checkers. And when I'm done, yeah, no room for a new little bulldozer...or something. But the property won't look right if I build a bigger building, would dominate my back yard. Will just make the best of what I have and be very grateful for a concrete floor finally.

I will ask about grey water. Good idea.

 

[newbury]

Drew -
A few suggestions -
Try and use the wind to cool your building when it's only slightly warm out. I've one shop that I can open 2 doors and the slightest wind blows through cooling it significantly.
Definitely plan on a lean-to shed on one or both sides for storage of attachments. This allows you to easily drop off the bush hog and pick up the tiller without having to turn around in the barn.
MORE POWER!
I was blessed with 400 amps of service. I would view someone like you needing at least 200 amps to be happy.
Take the advice of adding water later. It's REAL easy in your area to collect a few ISO containers for wash water.

Good luck.

 

[daugen]

getting final quotes now, have a question on concrete. The spec I'm given is for five inches of concrete. Is that enough?
I know what is underneath it is critical but what about the concrete itself?

so far about 75K, full steel pre-engineered blg, without a/c but with full insulation, electric, electric garage doors, concrete pad and entry ramps, exhaust fans, couple of doors and windows. I was hoping the whole thing including a/c would come in at that, but hvac is another $9K or so. At least that can be added without much penalty later. Am considering a swamp cooler. Anyone had experience with them?

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Swamp cooler will be worth next to nothing in NC.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Swamp cooler will be worth next to nothing in NC.

Ditto. No work in humidity.

 

[farmer2009]

Swamp cooler will be worth next to nothing in NC.

The only way swamp coolers work in humid areas is with high wind speeds. A no go in a shop and the installation of the fans and then the power bills would make a/c look very reasonable. We cool chickens with swamp coolers and 700+ linear feet/min. Air speeds. Does ok but not great. Low humidity and they work great.

 

[daugen]

thanks, understand that evaporative coolers won't evaporate very well in humid conditions.

I read in a local ad for real estate how the seller was touting his concrete floor was six inches thick.
When i asked for some kind of engineering spec on the concrete floors and ramps I was told 5 inches of concrete, and nothing about the quality of the underlayment. I think I'd rather have five inches of reinforced concrete over a good foundation than eight inches over a sinkhole.