plans for a barn/garage are coming together!

[Mosey]

You folks have been a great help on my pole barn/garage planning. I still need to go buy a book or two and maybe even buy some plans that will be close to what I need and modify them slightly to get exactly what I want. I called a local place that sells car lifts and found out I don't want an in ground one after all, they're way too expensive, expensive to install, and expensive to repair. They have to go over 10 feet deep! So, I'm figuring on an above ground one that would be about $2500 including tax and installation. It doesn't require a 14' ceiling, the poles on each side are 12' 5" high, so the poles can just go between two roof trusses if I build a 12' tall building. The reason the poles on the lift go that high is so they can put a cross brace between them to make it stronger, and the cross brace needs to be up high enough to be out of the way of the top of the vehicle being lifted. So, the bottom of the cross brace is 12' high, which is enough to lift a full size pickup over 6' off the ground without the top hitting. I'm not planning on getting the lift right away, I just want to plan for it so I can put one in someday.

So, I'll be building a 12' tall building instead of a 14' one, which will be easier and cheaper. I had already gone to 84 Lumber on Saturday and got a price on a 14’ high one with a shingled roof and vinyl siding, and it's under $2500 delivered (without doors). That was with 6x6 poles spaced 6’ apart. The guy at 84 Lumber was very helpful and drew up a design for me right on the spot. I’ll have to check to see if a 12’ high one can use 4x4 poles.

I’m going to build it where I had fill dirt hauled in early last year (if interested, see <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=rural&Number=42617&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>fill dirt and surface preparation</A>). I have it built up to the same level as a concrete pad next to the house, which required about 20 dump truck loads of fill dirt. I’m going to see what it will take to get enough fill dirt on the edges of the site to build it 24’ wide instead of 22’, since 24’ roof trusses are a standard size and much cheaper than custom built 22’ ones, plus the extra 2’ of room will be handy. I need to grade it down to allow for a couple of inches of gravel and the concrete anyway, so I might be able to grade it down and push the extra dirt to the edges to make it enough wider for a 24’ wide building. It’s packed down pretty good now, so I’ll probably need to go over it with the tiller first. My neighbor has a 6’ box blade that I can borrow, which will probably come handy.

That’s the plan anyway!

 

[yooperdave]

Mosey,

You will still need 6x6 wood posts for your 12' height.

Make sure you did not lose some of your initial requirements by lowering the eave height a couple of feet. It would be hard to add any eave height after the fact.

To save some money, try to obtain a 8' bay spacing package instead of the 6' bay spacing.

Some 8' and 9' eave height buildings can get by with 4x6 wood posts. Do not go cheap on the posts!

Good luck

Yooper Dave

 

[Mosey]

Yooper Dave -

I'm heading to the place that sells the lifts later this week and take a look at one. I plan to have them put my suburban up on it so I can see it in operation. I'll take a tape measure and verify for myself that 12' is high enough. The lift is the only reason I'm going any higher than 10', so all I have to do is make sure the lift will work on my biggest vehicle with a 12' ceiling.

I called the county codes office and they said to use 6x6 posts.

I'm also planning to get a book and start reading this weekend. Then, I should at least know the terminology and basics of pole buildings.

What do you mean by "bay spacing"?

 

[yooperdave]

Mosey,

Bays are the typical center to center distance between the columns. The rafters and wall girts would all have to span 8' if you had a 8' bay spacing.

Yooper Dave

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Have you thought of placing a shed dormer where you want to place the lift?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Another illustration

 

[Mosey]

mr350 - No, I've never seen that. I'll think about it some. I have a feeling it would have to be so large that it would be easier to just go ahead with the higher walls. For example, my suburban is 18' long and over 6' wide at the top, so the shed dormer would have to be that big. Plus, it looks a little complex for a first timer!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

What size building are you wanting and where do you want the doors?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Another option is a gabel dormer

 

[Mosey]

I have a feeling the books won't cover building techniques, so I have a few more questions for yooperdave or anyone else with experience at this.

Since I want the walls to be 12' high, I'm planning to buy 16' 6x6 poles and dig a 4' deep hole (I hope my Leinbach post hole digger will go that deep, I've never tried to go that deep yet). Then, I'll be pouring some concrete in the bottom of the holes to make the footers. I'm not sure how thick yet, hopefully the books will tell me that, but I'm guessing it will be about 4". But, that will make the poles over 12' high. So, will I need to measure the depth of each hole and then cut each pole to the exact length needed before putting it in the ground and back filling? What about just leaving them 12' 4" and leaving the walls a little over 12' high? It seems like I could just make the rat board go a little higher to make the sides an even 12'. Does that make sense?

The dirt is all clay. What's the best way to tamp the dirt after back filling the holes and getting it packed firm enough? Does it help to wet it down or does that make it worse? Will I need to buy a new tool for this? If so, that’s OK, I love to buy tools!

Since I don't have a crane, how do I get the roof trusses up on there? I've seen pictures of where people lay them up there up side down, then flip them over and nail them on. That’s probably not to bad of a job for an 8’ high building. But, will that work for a 12’ one? I'm wondering if I'll be able to stand in the back of my pickup to lift one end on top of a wall, then the other end.

How many people does it take to build something like this? Is there any way I can do it alone? (probably not) My wife is no good for stuff like this, she's barely over 100lbs.

Thanks