Building loft spaces?

[piaffepony]

I’m starting the planning process of building more stalls in my barn. I’m hoping to hire a contractor to do the majority of the work but I also want to price out the materials on my own so that I can a avoid the typical mark up on materials by purchasing them on my own and/or I might end up doing it myself.

I’m just building the stalls for now, but I would like to plan ahead for building loft space above the stalls for hay storage and living quarters for farm help to live in.

It’s a clearspan shell so there are no interior roof supports to work around.

My stalls will be 10’x16’. So let’s say I want to build a 16’x30’ hay loft above 3 of those stalls. Stall walls are 8’ and the minimum ceiling height would be 10’.

I’m assuming a minimum of 6”x6” wood posts at the corner of each stall? What about in between the 16’ span? Do I need another 6x6 in the middle of that too? Or 8”x 8” posts? Would it be cheaper to do metal posts and joists for the loft floor?

Also, If Im going to have a 12x30 concrete aisle way (6” thick), would I need to set the posts in concrete piers first and then pour the aisle way or would the aisle way be a sufficient footer with base plates for the posts?

I need to figure this out ASAP so I can order my stall walls.

 

[EddieWalker]

I would google for images on how to build a deck. Which is basically what you are doing. A post at each corner, then you need to run double beams from each post, and then joists on top of the joists. Sizing and spacing should be at least standard for human use. I'm hesitant to give out dimensions based on the spans because I don't know what hay weighs, or how much you will have up there. Or am I confused and you are just calling it a hay loft, when it will really be a second story apartment?

Anyway, as for the construction, be sure to notch the posts. In most places it's illegal to attach a beam to the side of a post with a bolt or lag bolt, and especially with nails or screws. For that much height, diagonal bracing is mandatory. You will also gain a lot of strength in your posts by locking your horse stall walls into the sides of the posts. If it was me, I'd just stick frame those walls and put plywood on them. The plywood will lock everything together and eliminate racking.

 

[Egon]

Best be getting a little design input from professional sources. Your local lumber supplier might be able to help.

Detailed design help on a forum like this is difficult as usually all the factors involved never come out and folks like myself aren't really qualified to give certifiable advice.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife.

She was a very good-looking woman and determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she decided to place an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand.

Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk

He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching. For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well.

Then one day, the rancher's widow said to the hired hand, "You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels." The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night.

One o'clock came, however, and he didn't return.

Two o'clock and no hired hand.

Finally he returned around two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him.

She quietly called him over to her.

"Unbutton my blouse and take it off," she said.

Trembling, he did as she directed. "Now take off my boots"

He did as she asked, ever so slowly. "Now take off my socks."

He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots.

"Now take off my skirt."

He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light.

"Now take off my bra.." Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.

Then she looked at him and said, "If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired."

 

[EddieWalker]

Good one!!!

 

[dadster4]

Got me :laughing:

 

[RedNeckRacin]

How much are you planning on storing on the lofts? The dead load and live load are everything!!! Are you going to tie into the existing building? Are you able to put in footers/sono tube for the posts? How are you going to incorporate the supports into the stall walls? You really need to put the stalls on the back burner and think about where you want to end up. The horses don't need anything fancy just something durable. I think 10' is too low for the horses btw.

 

[boomer1025]

Pour the concrete floor then anchor square metal posts for the stalls to the floor - horses can't chew up metal.

 

[jfh28]

you're trying to order the kitchen cabinets before deciding what the house is going to be.....thats usually a recipe for a whole lot of extra costs down the line......you need to slow down and think out what you want the final building to be.......for instance the live/dead loads of living quarters will be different from the live/dead load of storage.....you can get those numbers from the local code official.....that will tell you the amount of weight that needs to be supported which will give you the size of the posts, beams, joists, spans and so on......consulting with a structural engineer is advisable.......the concrete piers under the posts will be structural so will need to be sized for the loads and extend down to undisturbed soil below the frost line for your area since barns are usually not heated.......again code official can give you that depth....this also assumes you have good soil bearing capacity there......the aisleway is nothing more then a sidewalk so 6" is probably overkill......the compacted base and soil bearing capacity you pour it on is important as well as reinforcement in the slab.......concrete is great in compression but lousy in tension thats why steel reinforcement is added in certain designs.......materials generally makeup a third of the final cost of a project......labor costs will be close to half the total cost or more......so saving on labor will make a bigger dent in the final bill over saving on materials......also around here most legitimate contractors won't be interested in your project if they know you are supplying the materials......why.......because they won't know the quality of the materials.....won't be sure that you have ordered the correct quantity and won't be sure that you have ordered everything needed......which means they are stuck with running back and forth to the lumber yard to get what you haven't.......and that delays them and adds time and creates a hassle they don't need.......nothing worse for them then sending an entire framing crew over in the morning only to find out the joists you ordered are 10 footers but you need 12 footers because clear span length is not the same as supported span length.......so I'd suggest that you step back and think out what you really want and need and can afford....then either let a recommended contractor do it all or take it on yourself and get individual helpers when you need them......Jack

 

[TheMan419]

Don稚 know what size posts.... but on that 16 side of the stall you ought to consider two extra posts so that the stall wall is supported every 4 feet. Ours are 12x12 and we have a middle post so the wall is supported every 6 feet. We used 4x4 but no hay loft or living quarters above.