Pole Carport with a Cabin Inside

harrymurry · Dec 19, 2011

I'm extremely impressed by the amount of information on this site, seems like I've scoured the internet for days only to find there is just as much right here so I'm hoping someone could help.

We're looking at some river property in Southern Missouri and wanted a.) a covered shelter for our camper and b.) a weekend getaway spot in the winter when it's too cold to camp (i.e. after the camper is winterized). This brought me to the conclusion that we need some type of an open pole barn (sides aren't enclosed so I guess I can't really call it a 'barn') and a cabin type area all under one roof. The thought was to build out a 36x50x18 building with roof and open sides. At the end would be a 16x36 slab where we could put an enclosed cabin type area - kitchen/restroom first floor; 3 bedrooms/living area second floor. This would allow us to keep our camper under a covered shelter and still allow enough room for picnic tables, horseshoe pits, etc. I would put in a couple of additional full hookup sites for when friends visited.

Anyone see any challenges in this? 18' seems to be a tall building so I'd probably look at using utility poles buried 6' deep for support. I could put additional poles inside the area so I would have a 36' span for trusses.

#1 thing is keeping the cost down and didn't want to go all out on a cabin since it's a weekend getaway.

sweettractors · Dec 19, 2011

harrymurry said:
I'm extremely impressed by the amount of information on this site, seems like I've scoured the internet for days only to find there is just as much right here so I'm hoping someone could help.

We're looking at some river property in Southern Missouri and wanted a.) a covered shelter for our camper and b.) a weekend getaway spot in the winter when it's too cold to camp (i.e. after the camper is winterized). This brought me to the conclusion that we need some type of an open pole barn (sides aren't enclosed so I guess I can't really call it a 'barn') and a cabin type area all under one roof. The thought was to build out a 36x50x18 building with roof and open sides. At the end would be a 16x36 slab where we could put an enclosed cabin type area - kitchen/restroom first floor; 3 bedrooms/living area second floor. This would allow us to keep our camper under a covered shelter and still allow enough room for picnic tables, horseshoe pits, etc. I would put in a couple of additional full hookup sites for when friends visited.

Anyone see any challenges in this? 18' seems to be a tall building so I'd probably look at using utility poles buried 6' deep for support. I could put additional poles inside the area so I would have a 36' span for trusses.

#1 thing is keeping the cost down and didn't want to go all out on a cabin since it's a weekend getaway.

6 ft deep holes could present a problem? Ken Sweet

teg · Dec 19, 2011

Welcome to TBN... I slapped together a cabin / pavilion after my wife wanted a pavilion and I wanted a semi-secure area to put things. Designing it was the fun part... I'll look for the Sketchup thread where it started. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/136003-anyone-use-sketchup-goggle.html#post1575744

Do you have hills or is your land all flat? I wanted to use the hillside which might be considered unusable, so flat areas could be used for camping. I've carved out the hillside a couple of times to make usable flat spots.

I also would think about building a couple different builds vs. building one big one. Our camper has it's own "protection"... Sky's the limit!!! Have fun with building... Your plan of building extra camper hookups is just like ours. We have one but building another one this year...

schoolsout · Dec 19, 2011

We are planning to build a pole shed with the middle part fully enclosed with living quarters, but have not begun the process yet. I would love to see other designs/plans (wooden is what I'm after) if anyone has some. I will be watching this thread. Good luck in your endeavour. Wish I could help some.