Barn with living quarters

[MarkV]

I see a couple of problems, some of which have been mentioned. With 11' ceilings on the ground floor and 9' ceilings on the second you are talking about a 20' high barn. That is taller than most and is going to really drive the price up. If you want the ground floor to be open without interior supports I don't know of anyway your are going to do a second floor with out using steel beams, expensive. If you are building in an area that has codes they are going to make you build it to residential code which is way different than non residential pole barn code. Even if you build another house your barn is always going to be taxed as a residence. Insurance and financing is going to be a real challenge. Neither care for unconventional builds. I have a feeling when you look into it it would end up cheaper to get the land, build the house and add a pole barn later. Good luck.

MarkV

 

[robbridgland]

Hi


I've been living in barn for 10Years plus

Animals below on concrete floor

We live on mezzanine floor above. Built most of it myself with some subcontractors

Great for keeping eye on animals foaling or calving

Very easy to build

Go for it

Rob

 

[WM75Guy]

If you do living quarters above you will have to span 40' for floor joists. This will mean columns on the bottom floor as spanning 40' without columns would be very expensive and involve large span members. How about a 40' X 60' with a 20' X 40' 2 story living quarters and 40' X 40' shop/barn? Same square footage living quarters, lower building height - 18' if you use 8' walls in the living quarters and 12" floor/ceiling joists (16' if your bedrooms upstairs have a sloped ceiling next to the outside wall) and your shop/barn area would not have columns. The shop/barn could have 12' or 14' tall doors and wall mounted exhaust fans up high.

 

[JamesHW]

We purchased a old mid-1800's barn over 10 years ago, had it dismantled and stacked on pallets on our property. The guy we are working with to turn this into a hom estimates 200k for foundation, additional beams (some of the original beams need to be replaced) HVAC, metal roof and SIP panels, windows, hardiboard, etc. Nothing fancy. This is not for dual use, but I thought it might be informative. I will still need a barn.

Personally, I would consider after finding your dream property just plunking down a double wide and building a pole barn if the the budget allows. Also some shipping containers could provide equipment storage while you get up and running. Eventually the manufactured house could be replaced by a nicer home to your liking. I knew a family up the road from our place who started building their home (late 50's) and after the basement was in, they lived there until they finished the second floor which they built themselves. Not sure that would be allowed these days though.

 

[RoyJackson]

Eddie, fair enough. I think all the points made on here are fair, which is why I brought it here. I will have to think it out some more and figure out exactly what I want, what I can afford, and what I can sell the wife on.

You know your wife...and I'm thinking it might be better to get her in the concept/planning stage. If she's part of the planning, she may be more accepting...

 

[ford farm boy]

I don't know how old you are or how long you will live there but you may not want the up stairs later on in life . This is a picture of my dads place in the summer just a little apartment he went south in the winters.

 

[brin]

Long term goal would be to live in the top of the barn for several years cheaper than we are now. With the benefit of living on land and being able to do things like have a big garden, chickens, pond, hunt in the backyard, etc. then if we decided down the road we could build the 2400 sq ft ranch I would really want and have the living space above as an apartment for the kids, guest space, or an in law suite.

Eventually then you would build a ranch house....but have you considered if you or a family member became incapacitated by health or accident and could not walk up stairs...what you would do ? In a two story house you could move your bedroom to the first floor but in a barn...not so easy...just a thought...

 

[boggen]

if you are thinking of just using metal sheeting instead of siding for the outside walls, ok, if you are thinking of using metal sheeting for a roof vs shingles ok. there is exception metal sheeting on a roof can make rain sound like very large hail hitting the roof. you can reduce this noise, by putting in some hard board insulation between metal sheeting and top of the rafters. and then insulating between the cavites of the rafters. to act like a sound barrier and insulate at same time.

as far as living quarters above and barn below. personally not a fan of this idea. i need "height" as in 12 to 20 feet of height for my garage. so i can bring in larger size equipment through larger side and wider garage door openings. it is also easier to "light" a given area when ceiling is higher above you.

personally would prefer a attached garaged type of situation. were 1/2 of floor space = single story shed, and then other 1/2 living space that is 2 stories or single story with basement.

some older folks near by me. i like there setup. they have large shed for parking vehicles and general shop work area you first go through. then the other half is living space. with a bathroom right there between shed and living space. plywood about 8 to 12 feet on bottom walls in the shed for internal panelling, then upper sides of shed walls = metal sheeting.

on other hand not a real big fan having live stock, real close to my living quarters. had a cow lot 50 feet from house for years. and it would bring mice, that you never really could keep under control, to FLYS! ughs flys by the millions it seemed. not to mention animal noises (mowing, oinking, clucking, etc....) not to mention the smelling of crap from the animals. and then smelling of crap, when you wanted to go some place nice.

i am willing to walk 100 to few hundred feet to a shed that is away from the house that will house live stock. it is not like we are in the olden days, that did not have indoor plumbing, and no electricty. and only way you got fed, was going out to get the eggs, and milk from the animals.

 

[Deerherd]

I saw one of these engineered barn kits that turned out pretty sweet. If not for anything it's a good place for ideas.

Barn With Living Quarters | Barn With Apartment | Barn Pros

 

[CompactTractorFan]

A friend of mine has a "party barn". I look at it, I'd guess 500K. Built by Morton.

My uncle built a 30'x50' garage. Upon the family hearing about this, it quickly turned into the family party hall. :laughing: