Pole Barn Guesstimate?

[tractorshopper]

Thinking about building a 16' X 24' pole barn. One man door, two tractor doors, 6 windows, internal stairs to loft inside gambrel roof. Treated 6X6 posts, yellow pine (and treated where necessary) framing, T111 siding, 4" concrete slab over 4" gravel, and shingled roof. Lean-to shed roof off one long side (probably another 8'). Any ideas on cost? I'm thinking about $3-5,000. Am I in the ball park? Haven't priced materials yet, just starting to draw it up. Would probably also pipe in some openings for electrical and water additions down the road. TIA!

 

[MikeInEburg]

If you're providing ALL of the labor, I'd guess closer to $10K for materials. If you're paying for labor, go to $20K.
Mike

 

[scoutcub]

DIY Pole Barns - Pole Barn Kits, Pole Buildings, Packages, Builders, Prices

got a neat material pricing calculator, even a labor guesstimate. Looks like you're 1 state away from their "build" area.

I priced what I'll be looking for, and got several local quotes, got 1 local quote 2-3K cheaper but had to do some bartering. Haven't proceeded yet, still saving up $$$.

Good luck!

 

[LD1]

The major cost will be in the small things and how you choose to finish it.

The actual posts and framing material are cheap, aside from the trusses. The gambrel roof/loft will add a lot of complexity to everything.

Insulation??
Electric??

You are probabally looking at about $1k for framing (posts/studs/perlins/trusses/etc)

6 windows @ ~$100ea =$600

~5yds concrete $500 if you finish yourself
Gravel ~$200

I will also mention that yu may want to consider metal roofing and siding. When I did fime it was cheaper in the long run. Shingles may look cheaper but sheeting will eat you up. And T-111 was more $$ than metal as well. Not to mention metal will probabally last longer.

So whatever you choose you are looking at roughly another $1k by the time the trim and soffit is figred.

The doors (I assume you mean overhead) will run you about $300ea if you install them. =$600

Man door $100

50 amp service with a few lights/outlets ~$200

So thats about $4200 right there, And I have no Idea what you plan for the loft of lean-to. I'd say 5k will get you a pretty good start assuming you can do all the work yourself and not need to rent equipment.

I have about 10-11k in my 30 x 50 to give you an idea.

It has 4 garage doors, 30x30 "loft" with the downstairs to that finished and insulated. Only concrete on that 30x30 as well. Full electricity with 100amp service.

But I built it on a budget and did all the work myself. I rented a break and made the trim, I used electric poles for posts, made my own scissor trusses etc.

Ive attached pics to give you some idea of what 10k got me. The first two garage doors go into the finished and concreted 30x30 section with the upstairs. The last two go into the unfinished/dirt floor/high ceiling section.

 

[tractorshopper]

Guys, thanks! Useful info and good link. LD1 - Great looking barn and I like the estimate. Didn't think about soffit yet at all. I may need to factor on the higher side. Home depot has a similar unit for sale for $6k+, so I figured I could knock that down some by building myself or at least come even to theirs but have a beefier construction and slab floor instead of the wood floor they have. Theirs is built on a skid and I don't know if the floor would handle any type of real load.

I plan to do all the work myself, except will call on some friends to help set the trusses. I plan to build a jig and use it to build all the trusses ahead of time.

Insulation, electric, water will be items to potentially mess with later as additional money is available.

The metal suggestion is a good one. I'm going to look into that. My HOA has different restrictions on "barns" than detached garages, so this will be a "barn", but really a tractor parking area and storage building. The additional shed roof off the back side will just be a place to park attachments under and my lawnmower if the tractor and the Ranger take up all the floor space.

I may plan a dedicated shop "barn" at a later time adjacent to this "barn" where I'd be more concerned about climate control and proper electrical supply. My immediate need is to get storage space assembled. My wife and I are hopefully going to be building a house out at our property starting in the next month or so.

 

[LD1]

I may plan a dedicated shop "barn" at a later time adjacent to this "barn" where I'd be more concerned about climate control and proper electrical supply. My immediate need is to get storage space assembled. My wife and I are hopefully going to be building a house out at our property starting in the next month or so.

If this is indeed your plan, I'd do some things differently.

1. Forget the gambrel trusses and loft. It will be much more cost effective per sq ft.

2. Forget the concrete and stone. Just go with a dirt floor.

3. Maybe just a light of two and an outlet or two.

4. With the the size you're building and no loft, I'd drop to 4x6 post and use the 6x6 in the corners. I'd probabally even consider 4x4's.

Take the money saved from this and put toward your real shop. Your tractor could care less wether it's parked on dirt or finished concrete

Another note, I am not sure what you plan, Nor did I look at where you live, But the only thing I dont like is that my doors are not on the gable ends. In the winter, I end up with a pretty good pile of snow that has slid off the roof right in front of the garage doors.

 

[MarkV]

If you can manage to build a bit bigger I think you will end up happier. A relatively small 2 car garage is 20'x20' which is tight with two full size cars. Your Ranger and a smaller tractor may fit into a 16' wide building but you will not have much room to move around. You also mention an interior staircase which will narrow things down to 13' in part of your parking area. I think that will be too tight. If you have the open space lay out the foot print on the ground, including the stair run, and see how things fit.

MarkV

 

[wedge40]

The Gambrel trusses will be about double what regular trusses cost. At least that's what I found when I was getting bids. I agree with others in that I'd go bigger, but it's always easy to spend other peoples money.
This fall I should be getting my 32x48 built with attic gambrel trusses. I'm figuring about $30-$35K just to get the barn up. No floor up in the attic or in the barn.

Wedge

 

[tractorshopper]

Our local permit process is not required for a building under 400ft2. I could do 20X20, but 16X24 would probably be easier. I want the gambrell for more storage since we'll be building a house and moving soon. Good suggestions and I appreciate them. Think I will just gravel the floor for now since "my tractor won't care".:thumbsup: If I put the staircase on a narrow end, and if I place the doors properly, I should have enough room for the tractor to be and the ranger to comfortably fit in and still have the attic for other storage. I'm thinking with no concrete and doing steel roof, I should end up about $4k in materials and some blisters, splinters and a sore back or two.

 

[LD1]

16 x 24 should be a little cheaper. Since both are divisable by 8 and dimensional lumber is cheapest per ft when you buy 8' boards (usually)

 

[sourwood]

Being a cheap redneck in WNC, I just finished a 40x72x13 pole shed for about $7500.00 including labor. Depending on where you are in SC, a little shopping can make a big difference.
Tin-#2 because of a color variation was$1.50 a linear ft for 3 ft wide.
40 foot scissor trusses were $90.00 ea delivered
Bought some huge telephone poles for a buck a foot, used at corners and in the middle with treated 6x6 for balance-12ft oc.
Quotes on labor were $7500 down to $2200.
Bought the lumber from a lumber yard not a box store.
Treated lumber was also done by a semi local co.supplying same lumber yard. Price about $5 each cheaper on 6x6 at lumberyard and $1 to $4 a board cheaper on other pieces than box store.
Bought a good truck load of "cull" lumber from the local building supply for $400. Some had splits on end, most was just like what he normally sells.
With the economy tanked If I bought culls from him now,they would be total junk.( I checked.)
Found some used chicken house tin-HEAVY gauge, not rusty- 21 foot long,3 foot wide for $10 a sheet. Used that for covering and siding a 10 foot wide lean to on each side. Used the balance of the telephone poles for post but had to buy one side of treated 6x6s. Cost on each lean to, about $750 each additional after using materials left over from the main bldg. including labor. Now I have a 60 by 72 pole barn enclosed on 2 long sides with each end open for about $9000 including labor. As you say,my tractors have not complained yet about a red clay floor.
There was no bldg permit required here as it was solely for agricultural use.
Plan on enclosing a 24x28 two floor shop on one end this winter. have all the material except joists.
I tip my hat to LD1 for being more frugal than I was.You did a heck of a job.
Again it makes a difference where you shop. Stay away from the box store if you can. If your permit allows, and you are picky and do not get hung up on semantics, you can save some money.
By the way the Sourwood honey crop is excellent this year!

 

[stuk4x4]

I have built buildings both ways, Wood and Metal. If I were building a out building of this size I would use metal trusses and skin it with tin, mount the trusses on some 2" Sched 40 pipe, I also would use Bi-Fold doors. As far as windows go if you plan to store stuff only then I would go with maybe 2 in the back and thats it. also have you thought about puting a circulation fan in? I believe that I would concrete the floor now, as you plan to build a work shop later you still may need to work on stuff before it gets built, and it is always nice to work on a clean surface rather than roll around on a dirt floor!!! This of course is just how I would go about it. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.
Walt

 

[rtimgray]

I am building a 16x24 gambrel roof barn with an attached 12x24 deck on the second floor. All of the framing materials, 2 man doors, 4 small windows, a garage door, nails, screws, electrical panel and some odds and ends were about $4,000 - about $1,000 of that was for the deck material. Metal for covering is will be about $2,000. I poured the concrete floor for the 16x24 portion and it ended up being 7.5 yards - about $700.

I really like the gambrel roof - however, I did not use trusses. I used 2x10s for the floor joists and built the 2nd floor, then ran a ridge board down the center of the barn and built the 1/2 gambrel rafters and attached them. The ridge board is temporary supported by 2x4s while framing, but I'll add collar ties later and remove the supports so it will be all open.

This is my first gambrel roof and I have been surprised how easy it actually is to frame. I had to add an intersection to the roof because the walkout for the deck is on the 24' side (parallel to the ridge), so there is a giant (relatively) gambrel dormer on the side of the barn.

I think you can do the job in your budget, but it will be tight.

Good luck and take care.

 

[tractorshopper]

I am building a 16x24 gambrel roof barn with an attached 12x24 deck on the second floor. All of the framing materials, 2 man doors, 4 small windows, a garage door, nails, screws, electrical panel and some odds and ends were about $4,000 - about $1,000 of that was for the deck material. Metal for covering is will be about $2,000. I poured the concrete floor for the 16x24 portion and it ended up being 7.5 yards - about $700.

I really like the gambrel roof - however, I did not use trusses. I used 2x10s for the floor joists and built the 2nd floor, then ran a ridge board down the center of the barn and built the 1/2 gambrel rafters and attached them. The ridge board is temporary supported by 2x4s while framing, but I'll add collar ties later and remove the supports so it will be all open.

This is my first gambrel roof and I have been surprised how easy it actually is to frame. I had to add an intersection to the roof because the walkout for the deck is on the 24' side (parallel to the ridge), so there is a giant (relatively) gambrel dormer on the side of the barn.

I think you can do the job in your budget, but it will be tight.

Good luck and take care.

rtimgray - Sounds great! I'd love to see some pictures. Might help me a lot. I'm having difficulty arranging the stairs to the loft. I'd like them to be at one end on the 16' wall, but they might pop up into the short side of the loft area. Also, I didn't think about building the loft floor first, then come back and build the rafters to a header. Great idea. I was thinking I'd build the whole rafter units on the ground then get friends to help me set them. I like your idea better. :thumbsup:

 

[roamerr]

$7500 materials if you do it yourself.

$16000 if purchased turn key.

My Guess...

 

[rtimgray]

rtimgray - Sounds great! I'd love to see some pictures. Might help me a lot. I'm having difficulty arranging the stairs to the loft. I'd like them to be at one end on the 16' wall, but they might pop up into the short side of the loft area. Also, I didn't think about building the loft floor first, then come back and build the rafters to a header. Great idea. I was thinking I'd build the whole rafter units on the ground then get friends to help me set them. I like your idea better. :thumbsup:

I put the stairs in an "L" shape in the corner. I made them pretty narrow (30") and pretty steep, but it's more a utility structure than a luxury structure anyway. I can use the area underneath for storage.

I'm going to take some pictures and I can post them in the next few days. Whenever I build two-story structures, I've always found it easier to put down the second floor and then build on top; then again, I've not used trusses for anything either.

 

[rtimgray]

Here's a couple of pictures I took the other day. It has been raining (which we needed anyway), so you can see the couple of low spots in my concrete pad. I had my nephew help me screed it off and that was his first time to work with it...it was a good lesson!

I've made a little for progress since then.

Good luck with your project.

 

[tractorshopper]

rtimgray - That's going to be one beautiful building. I was wondering how you were going to access the deck. That's a nice touch with the turn-out for it. Also, nice touch on the additional entry pad. I wouldn't have thought of that either.

If you don't mind, keep the pictures coming. Those are great and helped me already. Can you give me the angles you used on the rafters? They look good for the building with the extra height and look like you'll have plenty of headroom upstairs since you raised it a little extra. Also how tall is the front door opening? I may do something similar, but use the extra height on the base floor for clearance for the tractor if necessary and a little less in the loft.

 

[CharlieS]

Before getting any plans carved in stone, what do local codes call for? you can overbuild, but you cant underbuild.
Now on to my area of expertise: (retired master electrician) per NEC though local codes may vary, theres 3 basic choices for getting power to an outbuilding. A single feeder from an existing service, (house panel for example)20 amp 120 volt can be run to provide minimal lighting and an outlet or two. a 100 amp service can be supplied either from an adequately sized existing service or new metered service can be built.
Sub-services are required to be 60+ amps but must adhire to the six handle rule.
My thinking is plan for the future. Even at a greater initial cost, its cheaper to provide for future use now, than have to tear out and replace later on. Power tools? welder? heat? AC? all those need to be taken into consideration during the planning stage.

 

[tractorshopper]

Charlie,

Not sure exactly. We're getting ready to have our house built on the property and I'm going to build this barn myself. I used to work for a builder and understand building. However, I don't have much of a clue about electrical other than 110 runs everything I have or use and I can throw the breaker and change light fixtures or outlets myself and can pull wire to where I want it. I don't have a welder or the skills to use one. I'm going to have the electrician doing the house work set me up for the run to the barn. I won't touch anything at the panel. For all I know he may tell me the barn needs it's own panel.