Starting a Barn

[s219]

Good point about loft loads; my friend's barn will hold 40 tons of hay in the loft. That requires very good engineering of the structure and goes beyond stick building techniques I would recommend.

 

[ace10]

Easy way to improve the load transference of the LVL beams to the footers is by using jack studs. Just sister on a PT 2X6 to the 6X6 under the Simpson hanger. Still not as good or as pretty as notching, but it'll get the job done.

$0.02

 

[sld]

Easy way to improve the load transference of the LVL beams to the footers is by using jack studs. Just sister on a PT 2X6 to the 6X6 under the Simpson hanger. Still not as good or as pretty as notching, but it'll get the job done.

$0.02

Takes the load off the fasteners for sure.

 

[Sinecure]

S219 - Thank you for the explanation and the picture. I had always planned on bracing the corner and your comments have given me some different options to think about. Thanks.

Bitchin1 - Great links. I need to play around with those a bit. Actually, I need to have my BIL give me his thoughts. I knew I was going to have to get his advice on some things I am thinking about on the roof, but might as well run some stuff by him with regards to the loft.

I don't plan on storing hay in the loft, but do want it to be sturdy. In all honesty, I had never even considered running the joists across the 16 foot section. I just assumed (maybe incorrectly) that since I would need a beam for the door track I would mount all of the beams going across the center aisle. My current thinking was to then support the joists with the beam and have the joists span the 12 feet between the beams.

Ace10 - I really like the idea of running a 2x6 from the base of the hanger down to the footer. I have seen this done in previous builds and think it makes a lot of sense for this one. It will take some of the load off of the hangers and also allow me to route a notch for my diagonal brace/blocking while they are unmounted (on the ground). Much easier. Thanks.

I did manage to get the rest of the beams up. I now need to start working on the stall top plates.

 

[ace10]

You are cruising right along despite solo'ing some large sticks of wood. Congrats.

Regarding the angle bracketry and load path.

Here are a couple of pics of my lean-to I built this past winter. With no walls, I had an issue with sway. The posts are 6X6's. The fronts are 16 footers, sunk about 4.5' with rebar drilled through and set in dry concrete.

I had an issue with the front post developing a curve right in the days after I set it. You can see from the pic that one of the 2X12's was not resting on it, so what I did was sister on a 2X6 to carry that load. I glued, screwed and pegged it to the 6X6. I don't have a footer, but you could so something like that under your joist hangers. Maybe stack a couple of 2X6's, arrange them in a decorative way (cut the ends on a 45 or something), then peg them to the post.

And to counteract the side to side sway I used 4X6's. Lagged into beam, and through-bolted on the post to the other bracket. Bolts were crazy expensive. As is all of this hardware, it seems.

 

[BitChin1]

Be sure to play with the Beam/Joist sizers

Just a quick check shows that the direction you are using now will lead to a loft loading of ~ 60#/sq' (beam limited) and running them the 12' direction you could get 90#/sq' limited by 2x12 joist on 12" spacing - might get more if using engineered joists.

Now in either case 60#/sq' is quite a load, but hay, lumber etc could exceed it. (I did not check all options and made assumptions on what your exact spans are and on what the lvl specs are - so you should do your own calcs with these details).

Can't believe how fast you are moving by yourself!

Have you thought about how you will enclose the building (wood, metal, siding etc)?

 

[EddieWalker]

Seeing the hangers and that you are putting your beams up on them to create a second story in the middle of the barn has me confused. Why did you go with such tall posts instead of putting the beams on the tops of shorter posts?

I understand you went to a lot of effort and expense to accomplish this, but if it was mine, I would cut those posts and install the beams on top of the posts, then place my joists on top of the beams. Then after getting my second floor decking down, I would stick frame the walls up from there.

Eddie

 

[Sinecure]

Eddie - Great question and one that I really struggled with during some of my initial thinking / planning.

It really came down to two things. I am not sure that what I was thinking in the planning stages is correct, but here is what I was visualizing.

If the barn was simply a single aisle monitor barn, I would have more than likely gone the route you are suggesting. However, the feature that drew me to this plan in the first place is the front entrance center aisle. It intersects the main center aisle and in my mind I have always visualized the front entrance center aisle being an open two story space. It is hard to see in the last picture I posted, but there is a just under a 22 foot span between the center set of beams. My plans are to have a catwalk that joins the two sections of loft / 2nd floor, but for the most part the front center aisle portion of the barn will be open. I have some crazy idea about fabricating a massive two story barn chandelier that is the focal point once you enter the barn from the front (lol).

Since, I knew I would need the large posts for this section of the barn I just went with them throughout.

The second reason is that I originally wanted to do a true post and beam barn. That idea did not pan out, but I would like to get the most of the post and beam "look" as I can.

Like a said, I am not sure this way of thinking is correct - I may end up with a big wooden stonehenge on my property, but these ideas have so far driven the build.

 

[Sinecure]

Front left stall top plate / beam up.

Complete waste of money using the LVLs as a top plate since the only load they will support is the lean-to / stall roof, but more about a uniform look than anything else.

Jack stud and diagonal bracing will be added here as well.

 

[EddieWalker]

I understand what you are going for. It's always a hard decision when planning a project on what materials to use. I assumed that you where going with a two story open area down the entire length of the barn when I saw the long posts and was curious how you where going to do this. The good thing is you are not cutting any corners and when it's all said and done, you know that it's going to be there long after your gone.


Eddie