Barn/Pole Building Advice

[SOS]

I'm looking to build a pole building or like for my tractor, some attachements and other "stuff" this summer. I was thinking 30 by 40 with a gravel floor. I have some questions and would appriciate some advice



Is a tin/vinyl roof recommended?
Do any of you have any plans?
What do you think the cost should be?
What kits are available?

 

[texasjohn]

Suggest you use TBN search function... lots of threads re pole buildings, workshop, etc..... good information spread all thru them.

Lots of options, kits, construction methods, turn-key versus u-build. Lots of experience on TBN already discussed.

U gotta do hard thinking about how much labor/tools/$ you have for the task. Time to construct is also a factor.

I recommend you design your "dream" building ... as it would be fully constructed... then begin costing it out... this helps focus on individual component costs and alternatives.

Items to not forget:
site preparation
slab, flooring
size... recommend go as large as you believe you need then add 50%, that's what I did and am not sorry. Note number of places that have multiples of sheds and outbuildings... more seems to always be better.
plumbing
insulation
electrical, both inside lighting, plugs, outside lighting
heating/cooling/fans, etc.
electrical service, wire, boxes, etc. from source to building (underground or aerial)
man doors... small versus wider... remember you will be taking things in/out
vehicle doors... drive thru? Width of equipment
interior fixtures, shelving, tables, etc.

In my case, I went with a weld up 40'X 60' metal Mueller building, 2 4' man doors, 1 3' man door, 1 14'wide roll up 14 foot high door, 1 16' wide roll up 14' high door, concrete slab, buble foil radient barrier. Slab and building were build by contractors, I'm doing the plumbing and electrical myself. 6 skylights in roof offer exceptional daylight lighting. I'd do it all the same way again.

Here's my thread on shop lights.

 

[EddieWalker]

First thing you need is a budget. What can you spend? No point designing a building that's more then you can afford.

Longer and thinner is cheaper then wider. The big expense in thse buildings is the roof.

If you go wood, then how far your span is, to create the roof, will dictate how much you spend for the rafters. If you put posts in the middle, then your span will be less and it's easier (cheaper) to build, but you also have to deal with those posts in the ground. 24 feet wide is pretty basic to build your own trusses, but after then, you realy need to consider engineered trusses.

If you go metal, that will be figured into the kit, but again, the farther the span, the greater the expense.

It is also easier to extend the lenght of a building for additional square footage, then any other way. If you think you might someday want more room, consider where you place the building and how you can extend it if the need comes up. It will, because no matter how big you make it, ten years from now it will be too small.

We really need more information before offering any real advice. What will it be used for? What do you have to spend? Weather conditions and snow loads? Building code? Types of siding and doors that you want? Animals? Workshop? Welding? Woodworking? Auto shop? Storage? Bathroom? Apartment? Access to your home? Driveway and access? Power? Water? Sewage?

Start out dreaming big. Put everything you want to do with it, could ever imagine needing it to do, and go from there. It's easier to plan for it now and have it ready for those features in the future, then to not do it and have to add it later.

This is the right place to find your answers, and more then likely, it's already been done and posted by somebody. Just go to search and look for "barns" "sheds" and "pole barns." That should keep you reading for the next week!!!

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[SOS]

Thanks for the advice. To give you a little more information, I have pletty of flat land to build on but the pole building will be about 500 feet from the house so I can not run wter to it. I do plan on putting in electricity in the future and in general, I wanted to build it in phases: 1st get the building up so I can part my tractor, riding mower, and yard tools out of the rain; secondly add a concrete floor; and during the 3rd phase possibly put in a small workshop.

The weather here is mild as I'm in central Va and we got about 2 inches of snow this year but about 10 years ago we got about a foot each week for 4 weeks so I need to build for the worst.

I will probably put a wood burning stove in it and the tractor is about 8 feet wide and about 26 feet long with the FEL and the wood chipper attached.

here are a few rough drafts of what I'm thinking

 

[weldingisfun]

Your 48 x 36 is the more practical plan for what you said you had in mind for the long term. The other plan would have you moving the tractor in and out to get to the back of the building. The 36 foot width will require you to go with engineered trusses, like Eddie pointed out, or interior supports. Not good if you are moving around a tractor with attachments and FEL inside the building.
Site prep is critical. Be sure you have good drainage all around. You will have over 1700 sq feet of roof dropping sheets of water around your building every time it rains or the snow melts. Without good drainage, the water will end up in your building.
Make your door 12 feet wide, you won't regret it. If you have the space, you may want to consider a drive-thru, put a second 12 foot door on the other side.
Don't forget you door height. You have to clear your ROPs as a minimum. The higher the door the higher your exterior walls.
You have lots of good suggestions to get you started. Be sure you let us know what you decide upon before your hire out or start work. It never hurts to let someone see what you are planning and possibly point out something you may have overlooked.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[jmc]

SOS,

One thing nice about a free span wider barn is that you can store attachments along the inside edges and have room to back up to them. That is, maneuver the tractor parallel with the overhead door. With a narrow barn, its like a large garage that you can only go straight in and straight out. If its narrow, once you get enough stuff, you'll spend more time dancing with it. Mine is 36 ft wide and seems to be more than enough width to maneuver a 43 hp kubota sideways.

Eddie's point about minimizing width to keep roof/truss expense down probably makes sense to a point, but a square will maximize area for a given length of wall(except for a circle). I'd have someone like Morton price the shell in several different shapes. BTW, I was going to add some leanto storage on the outside of mine and Morton said it was cheaper to just make the barn bigger!

Also, the book section of the Lowes type stores have books on pole barns, and possibly, your library.

John

 

[deereguy]

I like the 36x48 plan myself. Like mentioned above you end up moving stuff out to get to the attachment in the back of the barn/workshop. We have a 30x60 and seems like you have to move everything around to get to the back (and we have doors on both ends of the 30's). I also like the bigger size because you can add lean-to's to the side or end if/when you outgrow the current building.

 

[EddieWalker]

There is a point when it's cheaper to go metal. That's when you get to larger spans and buildings. Before you do anything, you should take a look at a few metal buildings and see if they have a kit that you like. I'm a big fan of Mueller, Inc. - Home Page but I've also come across Steel buildings / metal buildings, steel garage doors from SteelBuilding.com. which I know nothing about except there pricing is online and easy to find. I've heard of companies that pretend to make there own metal buildings, but are in reality, just wholesalers. I'd shy away from them and stick with one that makes there own building.

Eddie

 

[coolhl7]

I think a slab is a good investment.
you can put your attachments on homemade dollys and put them out of the way. a slab and use of dollies makes putting your implements on a real snap.

 

[Zinno87]

My neighbor and I are in the process of putting up two Heritage Steel Buildings. His is a 30x40 and mine is a 30x60. The 30x40 is going to run him about $14k for the kit. This includes one man door, one 8x10 overhead door, a 3/12 pitch on the roof, and eve extensions all the way around. The increase pitch and the eves add about $3k. They're both in NY, so the snow load will be substantially more for us than for you, a factor which would probably decrease your price even further. We're putting them on piers instead of a slab. A slab may come in the future, but not now. I'm doing the foundation work myself, so I can't really give you an accurate idea of how much that would cost, maybe $4-5K is I had to guess. Installation for the 30x40 by a contractor will run a little less than $6/sq ft, but once again, the eves and increased pitch add to that. What I really like about the steeel buildings is the fact that there is no wood to rot in the ground.....ever, and there are not trusses. You've got usable space right up to the ridge. I spoke to a ton of manufacturers before I decided on Heritage. They had the best price and the best service....so far. I also looked at Morton for a pole building, but then decided against wood. As far as steel goes, if you decide to go with it, don't go with General Steel.