Steel framed barn complete

phantom309 · Jun 28, 2004

...well, the frame is done at least. Finished it up yesterday. The skin has yet to be put up but will soon.

FYI, I had sought this lists advice serveral months ago in this thread.

Based on the good advice offered here and from others, the trusses were built this Spring and the barn put up over the last few weeks.

I offer it here as food for thought for a cheap storage option. The barn is 1944 square feet and cost $7,400 for all materials, including steel, concrete, tin, fasteners, etc.

Mark

Charlie_in_TX · Jun 29, 2004

Nice look'n so far. It wont be too long now.

Keep us posted.

BotaGuy · Jun 30, 2004

Holy cow thats a lot of welding!!!! Nice job. Where did you source your steel tubing? I am looking for a source to buy some since the "Hardware Store" single piece items seem a little pricey.

gsganzer · Jun 30, 2004

I went to your link, great information. I'll second the CAD software recommendation for anyone planning to build anything. Fortunately I use AutoCad in my work, so I use it for all my projects. I've even used autocad to determine how much I needed to shim a rifle scope to adjust point of impact at 100 yards.

I'm currently drawing up plans for a raised center aisle, 4 stall barn. The construction is similar to yours. All the structural trusses are constructed using 2" x 2" square tubing and Z-purlins. A real simple design, but better yet, it's lightweight. Like you show on your link, the key to this type of project is to build a jig for constructing the trusses.

Great job.

michaelaz · Jun 30, 2004

Great job Mark, sure looks great. I'm glad you got it up before the prices of steel went through the roof!
Michael

phantom309 · Jun 30, 2004

Hi BotaGuy-

I have made a few friends at a local steel supply and they told me last Fall that steel prices were headed up. So in anticipation of this project I bought the first 4,000 ft of tubing at Thanksgiving. This first batch of tubing was $5.80 per stick. Didn't need to buy any more until mid May and didn't get the "volume discount" then either. The tubing I bought in May was $9.50 per stick. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

It was a fun project. Good thing as it took quite a bit of time! But since I've switched careers to teaching, I have lots of free time (but not so much money!).

added in edit: Forgot to mention - look up "Steel" in your yellow pages. You are right - buying angle iron, tubing, etc piece at a time at the hardware store would really be expensive! Even in sticksville (Amarillo), TX, we have several big steel suppliers.

RedRocker · Jul 9, 2004

I thought that looked like Amarillo, not a tree in sight, LOL. Great job, I'll be doing something like that before too long I hope. I want to let steel get a little higher though, heaven forbid I don't pay the max price for stuff!!

herdfan · Jul 10, 2004

Nice!
Is that boom on your tractor home-made?

phantom309 · Jul 13, 2004

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Is that boom on your tractor home-made? )</font>

Yes. There's not much to it. It's a piece of 2x4x1/8 square tubing. The rafters for this barn are the heaviest items I've lifted with it. I'd like to have something with greater capacity one of these days...