Pole barn build mid tn

[mcnair06goat]

Hey guys I've been lurking on here for long time and u guys have some great shops, ideas, and knowledge on here. I'm hoping in the coming months to build a 30x56x14 pole barn/shop with the intent of using it as a main shop/garage with a 4 post lift and other small garage tools too. May store few cars tractor and pontoon boat if room left. I am in the planing stage right now and have a shell kit quoted with laminated 6x6 posts 8' oc and 4/12 pitch trusses on 8' also right now it looks like with our budget we can get shell kit and few other thing to start the build.
The majority of the build I want to try to do myself with my father in law and few buddies if I have enough beer lol. With the spot that we have layed out for it the grade is on a slight slope and not sure if we should level it out first or just start laying the posts then level after. Any advice would be great I will try to post pics when I get a chance. Thanks

[jeremy70]

Can't wait to see some pics

[Modifieddriver]

Level the grade first.

[mcnair06goat]

Thats what i was thinking the concrete guy told to use gravel instead of soil. Because the gravel will pack down and hold better for the concrete later on. But one corner to the other corner is roughly a ft dif in height.

[mcnair06goat]

Im trying to get fill dirt prices but people dont like to answer u back anymore these days.

[mcnair06goat]

Getting quotes is the fun part. Lol my cheapest quote
30x60x12 with steel trusses on 10 ft centers
6x6x16 pt posts
2x4x10 pt bottom girders
2x4x10 girders 3' spacing
2x6x10 purlins 2' spacing
10'6" ridge caps
All metal roof,walls,end walls
36"man door
1" colored screws.
Large corner trim and rat guard are extra
What is there I'm missing that I need to dry this in besides doors I have a panel type insulated 14x10 roll up already. And looking for a 9x9 or so for tractor for the rear of shop.

[mcnair06goat]

Just upgraded to 2x8 bottom girders at no charge. Quote is just under 8k with no tax added yet

[Kevin54]

You don't want to backfill with fill dirt. If you try to dump fill dirt in to bring the grade up higher, you'll be asking for trouble later on down the road when the dirt finally settles and your concrete cracks. Backfill with stone and rent a plate tamper and tamp the stone down.

When you backfill with stone, have some dumped in and spread out, wet it down, then run a plate tamper back and forth until it won't tamp anymore. Dump some more gravel in and repeat. You'll be glad you did.

I didn't do it on my garage and even the stone settled. I have control joints and it cracked in the joints like it was supposed to, but even at that, the slab has settled some, maybe a 1/2" overall, but if I walk through the garage and tap the floor with a spud bar, you can hear hollow spots.

One thing no one wants in a garage is cracked floors. Back fill with stone and tamp. You also want to use rebar. It cost a little more, but it will keep and slab from dropping lower than an adjacent portion if the slab cracks where it shouldn't. You'll hear a lot of people telling you that you don't need rebar but to use the concrete wire instead. The wire can stretch. It will let one portion of a slab drop down to an adjacent section. Also don't buy into the fiber reinforced concrete that it keeps a floor from cracking. It doesn't. A floor will crack just the same with it than without it.

Shop around if you have different lumber companies. Use the cost estimates to negotiate for a better price. Remember that Lowes always has the price match plus 10%, or at least they used to.

And make sure you keep us updated with pics. We like pics. The more pics the better. And taking a lot of pics can benefit you on down the line if you ever have to move some wiring, add partition walls, anything that modifies the building, because you can always reference back to the pics.

Good luck and looking forward to hearing your progress and seeing it.!!!

[mcnair06goat]

So u think i need to do the holes and set posts in first along with 2x8 bottom band to hold the rock in after framing. Then do the rock, the worst grade difference is like a foot from front right corner to left rear corner. I will try to get so pics up but it is wet and I need to mark off location a lil better for a more detailed layout.

[mcnair06goat]

At them heights ~8 inches to 13 inches what type of rock should I use?

[Kevin54]

Originally Posted by mcnair06goat

So u think i need to do the holes and set posts in first along with 2x8 bottom band to hold the rock in after framing. Then do the rock, the worst grade difference is like a foot from front right corner to left rear corner. I will try to get so pics up but it is wet and I need to mark off location a lil better for a more detailed layout.

Originally Posted by mcnair06goat

At them heights ~8 inches to 13 inches what type of rock should I use?

No.57 crushed stone, compacted after every few inches deep.

Although I have never done it, and I know that people on here have, and I have saw it done on a couple of new houses that were built across from my dads place, they used dampened sand. Not wet, but normally when you dig in a pile it has that amount of moisture, then lightly run a compactor all over it. The reason being is that sand has no voids when dampened and compressed. Just think of the sand sculptures they make on the beaches.

Someone on here that has used sand may want to chime in on that. Like I said, I've only saw it done but have no experience with it. But it does make sense.

[NHBandit]

I know you want to buy a kit and build it yourself but have you looked into National Barn Company ? They are in Portland TN and I got what I feel is a smokin deal from them on a 30x40 delivered AND assembled.

[mcnair06goat]

What's a smokin deal. We are at 9k for kit with 1ft overhangs all 4 walls, insulated roof, all lumber, trim, etc. we are building it ourselves but if national has a better quote ill look into them also. We are bouncing between a 30x48 or 30x50 steel truss. Wife keeps talking me down to a smaller shop.

[NHBandit]

Mine is smaller. 30x40x12. But their price including scissor trusses so I have the height for a lift, 2 10x10 frameouts for overhead doors (I supply the doors), gable vents, walk through door, 1 window, fully insulated, is $11,600. Mine is going to have the 2 overhead doors on the long side rather than on the end of the building. That's with delivery and assembly & TN tax included. I have to provide the slab. Mine is being built on top of the slab because my land has alot of Limestone ledge and digging to put posts in the ground could get expensive. The site work & concrete is going to run me an additional 4k and work is supposed to begin tomorrow if the damn rain would ever stop. I'm sure you can save a bunch of money by doing your own build. I'm going this route because I don't have the equipment or the ability to do it myself. I am doing my own electrical and installing my own lift. I've done a couple of lift installs in the past at a salvage yard I managed and that's a fairly simple job. If you want to know who to talk to or other details feel free to send me a PM on here.

[mcnair06goat]

That's not bad u will definitely have yours started and done by time I get going. Post up pics if u can.

[mcnair06goat]

Pics of site

[mcnair06goat]

More pic

[mcnair06goat]

Wont let me use other 2 pics

[mcnair06goat]

I found some triplex 2/2/4 service wire is this ok for around 125' on a 100 amp sub for the shop. It's 85-90 feet from the house but I need at 30-40 feet for the vertical runs and under the house. How deep am I suppose to bury this also. Thinking 1 1/2 conduit underground too

[mcnair06goat]

Well I think we're going with a 30x50x12 with steel truss. Found a co in Alabama that cheaper and they deliver too. Hoping to get a auger this weekend and start drilling some holes and getting it all squared up. Then wait on materials