new barn design help

[herm0016]

we want to build a workshop. I am thinking about 60 x 40. want a steel building for good bay height in the center, but keeping it lower overall to lower its visual impact on the property. It will be placed a few hundred feet in front of our home on a narrow, long 5 acre plot. we will store a 18to20 foot boat, tractor, a toy car or 2 or 3 in the hopefully distant future when I get the collection from my father. I also am a bit of a wood worker/fabricator/etc. and would like dedicated shop space for building things or pulling in a car to work on, etc. so a mechanics bay and wood shop space. thinking about this, 3 20 ft. wide 40 ft. long spaces. far side is boat and tractor storage. middle is maybe the slide in truck camper in the back sharing space in the far side with the boat and lift/mechanic space in the front. next bay is wood shop in the back and car storage in the front. also thinking of cutting the size down on the width to 50. 3 16.5 ft. bays should still get me plenty of space for 2 cars in the back of a bay and one in the front, as cars are generally around 6.5 ish feet wide, at least anything i want to keep long term. i have a bit of reference as my dad has a barn with the collection in it, but I'm trying to think long term. we are young and I only want to do this once. I am really only dead set on it being a steel building, keeping the peak height lower and having 2 ft. over hangs with gutters for longevity of the cladding and water management around the foundation. it will be insulated and heated. I am also keeping it a bit lower to lower the interior volume for heating costs. the back of one bay will probably have a room dedicated to a battery storage system for a future ground mount solar system. also considering some kind or bridge or cantilever hoist inside, and solar on the roof instead of ground mount. likely will have the main panel in the barn and the house running off a subpanel with a big breaker next to that. meter is on a pole in front of the house, so that should not be a huge issue with co-op.

what am I missing? besides about another 50k! haha. plan on raising the building myself. my father has built a few pole barns and the steel building guy says its easy if you have any skill at all. ill get the concrete done by someone else. bro in law is an electrician and does commercial stuff, so should be good there, he will also be using the space. what is on your "should have" list. everyone says go bigger bigger bigger, but i really am quite good at keeping the number of things to store at a constant level, save for inheriting some old iron and a wood boat, but planning for that now.

another idea is to cut the width 10 feet and add 10 feet lean to on the side outside covered storage. this would be fine for the truck camper, implements, etc. not sure on cost difference though and if its not much, i would just have enclosed space.

a 16 x 40 space should store 4 cars a bit tight. with some length left over. 20x40 would be a lot of space in-between.

 

[oosik]

Neighbor built a large steel building a couple years ago. The galvy steel roof stuck out like a sore thumb. Last year he painted the roof a light tan. Really helped.

 

[ning]

I think a barn with a raised center like

(ignore the windows below the upper roof) is much less imposing than one with a single roof surface, even with a taller center portion.
I think the style you have drawn is aesthetically monolithic and so it says "big".
My neighbor has a similar barn as this and is says "barn" instead of "big generic building" to me.

 

[herm0016]

Neighbor built a large steel building a couple years ago. The galvy steel roof stuck out like a sore thumb. Last year he painted the roof a light tan. Really helped.

yep, sure what I meant, a cheap-o galvanized wave panel building.

steel structure with R-panel, nice over hangs, not sure on color... thinking blue or green and off white.

been talking to these guys a bit: https://greatwesternbuildings.com They have a production facility not that far from here. seems like a quality outfit.

 

[ponytug]

Given where you live, if it were me, I would enclose rather than do a lean to. Given all the cars and equipment, the current plan sounds tight to me, especially if you are routinely moving equipment in and out. I wouldn't want to have to repark five attachments just to get one. Sometimes in planning, I will make scale drawings with all of the objects on the drawing to get a sense of it. The marginal cost of going to 50'x60' or 60'x60' isn't much.

As someone who does woodwork and metalwork, I would highly encourage you to wall off and seal the wood shop from everything else, even to the point of a separate entrance.

As @oosik points out, I would think a bit on how to paint/choose the colors of the building, roof, walls, etc. to blend in. The prior owner here had the house and buildings in bright teal with lavender trim. Battleship gray now blends into both green grass and dry grass, so none of the buildings stand out at a distance. We are considering going to dark green on the next repainting to further blend in with trees.

Good luck!

All the best,

Peter

 

[EddieWalker]

In my opinion, 40x60 is an ideal side for a shop. It's big enough to do anything you want and provide plenty of storage. I also believe that there is no such thing as building it big enough. You will fill it up and need more space. This is one of those "truths" in life that is always proven to happen.

Design it so you can add on to it. Easiest way is to add lean to's on each side. If you have short walls, this becomes very difficult. I would encourage you to consider going with 12 foot walls. Locate the building in a place that you room on both sides for additional storage.

Next easiest way to add space to the building is to add on the the back of the building. Having room behind there will make this a very simple addition.

There are two basic ways to insulate the building. Spray foam, or fiberglass. The bubble wrap stuff is junk and a waste of money. It will fall apart in a few years, and it offers almost no R value. If you go with foam, open cell is cheaper, but it holds moisture and it will cause the metal to rust out. Closed cell is a lot more expensive, but it's water proof and very effective. For metal buildings, it's by far the best option. Fiberglass batts are cheaper, but they need studs of some kind to to install them. This creates more work and materials, but it also gives you the ability to put up plywood for walls. Closed cell sprays right to the metal, so it's super easy with metal buildings. I personally prefer Attic Cat blown in insulation. It's easy to do yourself and significantly cheaper for the same R value as open cell spray foam. The only issue is that you need to create an attic space to do blown in insulation, and that's not so simple with a 40 foot span on a metal building. For this reason alone, I'll only have wood truss buildings for my own place.

Make your drive through doors 12 feet wide or wider. Ten feet sounds wide enough, but it's not.

Add a sink somewhere. I like it by the entry door. You always need water inside a shop.

 

[herm0016]

my wife wants a canning kitchen with a commercial style stove and such. we will see how much the budget is!

I have to figure out what I can get away with septic system wise adding fixtures. I want to have a solid design down before I go to the county.

I would like to do closed cell foam, that's what the building manufacture recommends also.

I did price this with the raised center, and it was like 30% more for free span and 20% more if it has columns along the middle parts. I do like that look, but I am also budget conscious. the building guy said the max between the "frames" is 20, so it was only a few thousand to go from 30 to 40 feet deep. 40 to 50 or 60 would add another frame, and I only have 5 acres. haha.

I hear you on the blown in, and wood truss, but I think I'm going to enjoy the roof height without the building being 25 feet tall at the peak. the 10 ft. eave height and a 3/12 gives about 18 at the peak which is not too bad.

my price was around 35k for the building, delivered. with step by step instructions and full engineer drawings includes absolutely everything but the tools and garage doors. concrete figure about 12 psf. then foam, garage doors, finish. I am thinking a budget of 60k or so with lots of labor by me, my father, bro in law. Morten quoted me 120k for aprox. what I drew, installed with a dirt floor in a traditional wood frame pole building.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Install a toilet and sink. You don't want to hike to the house every time you need to go to the can.

I made my shop 100% white. It really helps on hot summer days.

I upgraded my electrical service to 400 amps, 200 to the house and 200 to the shop.

If it's really a barn, make it drive-through. Front and rear doors will help a lot with hauling hay.

It's going to be bigger than the house. All barns are bigger than the house. My shop is 50% bigger than the house and 8' taller at the peak.

 

[herm0016]

Install a toilet and sink. You don't want to hike to the house every time you need to go to the can.

I made my shop 100% white. It really helps on hot summer days.

I upgraded my electrical service to 400 amps, 200 to the house and 200 to the shop.

If it's really a barn, make it drive-through. Front and rear doors will help a lot with hauling hay.

It's going to be bigger than the house. All barns are bigger than the house. My shop is 50% bigger than the house and 8' taller at the peak.

yea, i think drive through on at least the center bay. its for sure larger than our house! house is 1900 sq ft ranch. ill shoot for a light color roof, good advice. not really planning on hay in this building. if we end with with animals they will get their own space.

 

[Clintock]

Make your drive through doors 12 feet wide or wider. Ten feet sounds wide enough, but it's not.

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