Building a Barn!

aigheadish · February 10, 2022, 02:27:31 PM

Welp, the time, as far as I can tell, has come. Starting Monday (supposedly, I'll believe it when they are pulling into the driveway) I've got a crew coming to the house to make this pile of stuff into a pole barn. It's 40'x48'x16', which, in my yard, will be pretty big. I plan to use it to park the backhoe and pretty much everything in my garage and shed. Eventually, I could see also adding more space for a bigger workshop than what I have, but that'll be a few years out. It'll have a gravel floor, I can't afford the barn and concrete. It'll be big enough that I think I can turn the backhoe around in it. Other than the enormous cost I'm pretty excited. I'll add some pictures as it gets built but I believe it'll only take them about a week or less.

Doesn't quite look like enough stuff for that big of a barn, we'll see! I'm about 150 feet from that pile taking the picture though, it gets bigger as you get closer.

This is more or less what it'll look like when it's done. I think the colors will be more grey toned than they look here. The side with the single door will be facing front and I plan to park the backhoe along the back side, straight in the big side door.

firefighter ontheside · February 10, 2022, 02:59:13 PM

I'm jealous. I need something like that. I've pretty much given up my spot in the garage as my woodshop has spilled out there with some tools. I'd like to have my truck under roof again.

WV Sawmiller · February 10, 2022, 03:48:32 PM

Its not gonna be big enough - they never are. :D

21incher · February 10, 2022, 04:31:42 PM

It's amazing how fast they go up. It seems to be the only way to ensure things don't walk away on their own anymore. Can't wait to see the finished pics

HemlockKing · February 10, 2022, 05:35:53 PM

I want one and need one. Keep us posted when they start construction, I bet it goes up QUICK!

brewdog · February 10, 2022, 06:04:20 PM

i am trying to add this site to a new computer , and of course i cannot remember my password. I have a new email , so my old email is no good. help, please !!

aigheadish · February 11, 2022, 08:24:20 AM

I've been considering building a barn since we bought this house about 6 years ago, then more so when I bought the backhoe. After several times of the backhoe not starting in the cold and really wanting it to be under cover I decided this would be the year. I wish I'd done it a couple years ago, I would have saved probably 10k or more. Once I got serious about buying it this year I quoted a price maybe last summer, waited a couple weeks as I got financing for it and by the time I had it quoted again it was about $12K more expensive, ouch.

When it's all said and done, with all the gravel for the floor, electricity (No, Mr. Inspector, it's not getting electricity right now!), lights, and ventilation I expect to be about $60k deep (uhg!, not including keeping it warm), about $16k of that will be the price to have someone build it for me. I'm fairly confident I could have built it myself but I also know myself well enough to know it would likely take me until next summer (2023) to get it done, so I'm paying a bucket of money to actually have it finished, other than power and lights and junk, which we'll do ourselves.

Initially, I thought of building around 30'x30' or so at a significantly more affordable price, and with a lower roof (I think that seems to be where huge extra costs come). As I started asking for advice from folks almost everyone suggested going as big as possible and echoing 21incher, in that it's never big enough. The 40x48 really topped out my budget (probably beyond) but it gives me some time and room to grow into. Then, if I ever want, I can add to the front or back of it pretty easily, supposedly. I've got a lot of space on either end to make it bigger. I hope I don't fill it up too quickly but the wife has also said I can hoard as much random junk in there as I want, so long as she doesn't need to see it. We both may regret her saying that.

I'm pretty excited about it.

Here's the pad for it. There'll be another couple loads of gravel on top of that once it's built. I just got confirmation that they'll be out Tuesday morning to start, maybe Monday afternoon.

moodnacreek · February 11, 2022, 08:46:37 AM

Well good for you. When they get done send them my way :D.

aigheadish · February 11, 2022, 09:45:08 AM

Assuming it's allowed, the company I bought the kit from is a local one but they sell and ship regionally, pretty much everywhere east of the Mississippi. Called https://www.diypolebarns.com/ Prices are comparable and they've been a treat to work with, like maybe the best company I've ever worked with. Their website also has the best quoting tool I've seen for this kind of project. For better or worse it's the same tool they used when I went to their office to buy the barn, there was no negotiating price though. There was no attempt at upselling, though my rep did undersell a couple times, suggesting that this upgrade wasn't really worth it or he had some real world examples of how that thing didn't really matter. It was very nice.

Resonator · February 11, 2022, 10:48:09 AM

I feel your pain on building material costs, I've got my garage - shop foundation ready to build on, but steel siding panels are still about $45 each. :-\
One suggestion, when I've done concrete slabs I divide them up and pour them in sections. That way it breaks the total price up, and I can do it as money allows. It's also easier if you only have a two man crew. Another idea to help with cost is to rent space for winter storage after it's built. Around here a lot of people want their boats and campers under roof until spring.

metalspinner · February 11, 2022, 12:28:26 PM

On my 40x60 pole barn , by lunch on day two, they already had half of the roof metal on. They were completely done by lunch on the third day.
I was shocked how quick it went up!

aigheadish · February 11, 2022, 03:12:50 PM

@Resonator I've heard a couple people suggest sections of concrete and it may very well be a good idea to do that way. I can use my gravel in other places (I've got an 80 ton pile already) if I go that route.

While I'm a huge fan of the idea of renting space, and my father-in-law is very successful with his buildings that way, I don't think we'll do much of that in this building (maybe a slot for a neighbors truck or something). My wife and I have discussed it and I'm not sure we want the responsibility or traffic that it creates, though man, do I love the idea of more or less free money.

There is a twin property to mine right next door that I plan to attempt to buy sometime soonish and I could see doing something like that there (the FIL has actually proposed building the buildings for us!), perhaps. I'd like the land for something like that and also to build a house on for my parents. We'll see!

I hope it goes that quick metalspinner! I saw a neighbor put a bigger one than mine up and I'd leave for work and it wasn't there, came back from work and the skeleton was there, left for work again, came back and metal was almost done, left for work, came back roof and garage doors were on. Nuts!

aigheadish · February 16, 2022, 10:09:08 AM

They dug 22 post holes in a bit less than 2 hours. They've put up about 7 upright posts in about 2 hours too, this building will be tall!

hedgerow · February 16, 2022, 03:20:45 PM

aigheadish It will be nice to have a shed to store your equipment. They are never big enough. I have six pole sheds. 40x144x14 42x90x14 40x72x12 40x56x12 60x150x16 42x90x12. Some of them my FIL and my self built and some I hired done. If they haven't back filled the holes yet I would use the rock you have there to back fill the holes. It helps drain the water. The 40x56x12 we built with telephone poles and used lumber and built the trusses. I just put new steel and new rollup doors in that one about five years ago. That building has been up over 35 years. I did replace a couple poles last summer that were getting bad.

SwampDonkey · February 16, 2022, 04:35:23 PM

A good sized barn like that is nice to have. 8)

aigheadish · February 16, 2022, 04:43:56 PM

Holy crap, that's a lot of space hedgerow! I didn't think of using some of the rocks, that'd been smart.

This is where they left off for today, it'll be a rain out tomorrow, they'll be back Friday.

hedgerow · February 17, 2022, 10:35:17 AM

aigheadish. We have a fair amount of equipment cars trucks and trailers and like to keep things inside. Oldest one is well over 35 years old and the last one was built in 2012. I think we are done putting up buildings. They are located on three different farms. Its funny some of the ones I remember the cost like it was yesterday. I put the 40x144x14 up in 1984 and all the lumber and steel was new and it has two 20x14 sliding doors with a walk out. FIL and myself put it up and it was nine thousand dollars for the materials. In 1984 with interest being high and I just had bought the farm that had put the building on didn't know it we would make it or not. Later I concreted 40x40 in one end boxed it in and made a shop in it.

aigheadish · February 18, 2022, 11:10:11 AM

Yesterday was a washout, so no work was done. Today they've already brought out a Lull (actually a JLG, not used until tomorrow) and made this progress:

aigheadish · February 20, 2022, 02:55:37 PM

Huge work done since Friday. Yesterday turned out too windy and today hasn't been much better but the trusses are up and perlins are about done! 2 guys, 4 days so far.

Nebraska · February 21, 2022, 07:56:20 AM

Hey that looks good!! 8). Have you thought about putting pex pipe coils in your floor in case you want to have heated space. I did it in my garage and part of a basement.. I haven't used them but they are there and it wasnt very hard as projects go, and well, you have to do it beforehand.

aigheadish · February 21, 2022, 08:28:21 AM

Mmm... No, I haven't gone that route Nebraska, though it sounds lovely. For now it'll just be a gravel floor, with minimal insulation, and my plans, if I expand to build a bigger workshop, would be concrete, where that would be a great idea. At this point in the project I'm pretty well out of money to spend, but I'm not opposed, should the time come, to pulling all the gravel back out and putting a pad in.

hedgerow · February 24, 2022, 11:24:44 AM

aigheadish Did they get your building finished up?

aigheadish · February 24, 2022, 02:05:05 PM

Nope, not yet, I've been slacking on my updates here. They plan to be done by the end of the week but that'll likely mean working this weekend, weather hasn't been terribly agreeable, between rain and wind. It looks great! This is still just 2 guys (seen below) and through day 7, today is day 8, I think, and I haven't seen their progress yet, I'm guessing another wall or two is up.

Here they are in the order of progression from where I last left off:

The roof is on! And a door! The person standing in the building is my lovely wife, who, for scale, is about 5'2" tall.

1 of 2 giant doors! 12'w x 14'h! These were prebuilt on a rainy day after the roof was up.

Here you can see the other door laying on the ground, and there's a wall up over there!

Metal is up too! The lighter gray is a bit darker than I expected but it still looks sweet (and it'll fade a bit as time goes on, I imagine). The top section, which is hard to see, is clear to let in some light on the south side of the building. There's a tree line there so it may or may not be shady, we'll see.