Pole Barn Loft Help Needed

[MR_NC]

The post sits on the floor. My carpenter wanted to lag it down / attach it somehow. He was denied due to (radiant heat). Given it's mounted (lags) to the LVL and the steps (steps are fastened to the outside wall post) I accepted not having it in the crete.

Crete was poured around all the outside wall poles when the floor was poured.

I made the call on the stairs because I wanted to keep all the floor space possible for the office. Having the stair entry in the "main" area would have made a mess of the office layout. Remember in a low headroom deal like this, the stair opening will need to be above the very first step. You don't get away with 2 or 3 steps that are covered above by floor. My stairs are a bit steep. If you went with something "comfortable" you might end up needing an opening of 12+ft long + width of steps. That was a deal-buster for me.

Best regards,
Sean

 

[04Fatboy]

Sean
My slab is 4'' Did you have more than that? I did not think I could just place a post on a 4'' slab. Thank You for the pictures. I think I am going to do about the same as yours. the stairs have been killing me about the wasted space. I am now worried about the Post on the slab.
BOB

 

[MR_NC]

Bob,
I would check with someone "qualified". However, I see the math like this:
3000+PSI concrete
6x6 post = 36 SQin
36 x 3000 = A very big number...

My concrete is 5.0 thick, however it has 2 layers of mesh and a bunch of tubes in it. I took far greater issue with the possiblity of knocking the post down and the office falling. I feel pretty good about the floor being able to hold.

Best regards,
Sean

 

[04Fatboy]

Sean

One more question. What is your Rise / Run of your stairs? Are they too steep? I am going to span the 24' with a 5-16 glulam (only $10 per foot) but will need to make short steep stairs. I will post Picks after x-mas when I finish

BOB

 

[Danno1]

Sean
My slab is 4'' Did you have more than that? I did not think I could just place a post on a 4'' slab. Thank You for the pictures. I think I am going to do about the same as yours. the stairs have been killing me about the wasted space. I am now worried about the Post on the slab.
BOB

If you're worried about that, then you could put your post on a 12 inch square piece of 1/2 in steel to spread the load. I've seen this done industrially for second floors that were underrated for heavy machinery.

Or, cut a 12 in sq hole in the slab and pour a 24 in deep footing.

.

 

[04Fatboy]

I thought about the plate idea though I just do not want any cracks in my slab from the point weight. I know if I go to my 6x8 posts there will be no issues

BOB

 

[brianidaho]

Have you considered putting the stairs outside, on the back side of your shop? I struggled with where to put the stairwell on the inside, they just take up so much room and we didn't want to give up the space. Our loft is strictly storage, we went that route.

We have a 40 x 40 building, I put a wall down at the "front" face of the loft. This seperates my wood shop from the garage area and took care of load carrying isses. If you want a 24' free span, you'll need a big I-beam.

 

[04Fatboy]

I want to keep them inside. I ordered my beam. 5-1/8 x 16-1/2 glulam ($10 per foot Home Depot!!!) designed the loft for 10 dead load and 60 live load.

 

[04Fatboy]

I just wanted to say thank you all for your great ideas. I have received ideas, sugestions of things I never thought of!!! This place is great.

 

[04Fatboy]

well the rough framing is done. Great project so far. Here are some pictures. Need to get the walls going now.