Will this front awning look okay on my barn?

shopnut · May 9, 2012

(EDIT: Jump down to Reply #22 for the latest question - direction has changed a bit)

I'm doing some work to the front of my pole barn and I have an opportunity to easily create a little awning for a bit more protection from the elements. It could extend out about 12" and be about the same amount in height.

Do you think it will compliment or hurt the looks of my building? Also, should the awning roof color be green to match the rest or tan to blend in better?

Thanks in advance.

KULIWOBBY · May 9, 2012

I like the idea. Green would look good, give it that finished look on the top of the opening.

mothgrey · May 9, 2012

Green I think would be the color. But will it do any more then the overhang does now?
By the way great looking building.

jhelrey · May 9, 2012

Overhang is over 12 inches so it won't do much

shopnut · May 9, 2012

Thanks guys.

Green would be my first choice, but I have a surplus of tan metal and no extra green.

In a straight down rain, the awning would not help a bit. But with a driving rain that hits the front face of the building (which seems to be the common case), I think it will help some. It will be down about 6" and out about 12" from the current edge of the opening.

Zeke · May 9, 2012

Architecturally speaking, it's pointless. From a practical stand point...

...It's pointless.

olytdi · May 9, 2012

I think it will look great but not be very functional.

Cobra5150 · May 9, 2012

Looks OK, just OK.

Frank The Plumber · May 9, 2012

Zeke said:
Architecturally speaking, it's pointless. From a practical stand point...

...It's pointless.

I agree, why are you doing this, is the rain getting pushed under the door?
If so I doubt this would stop it.
Nice barn though.

kbs2244 · May 9, 2012

That type of little “roof” was kind a of common thing in the days of sliding barn doors to protect the door tracks.
So it has a historical look to it.

In your case I doubt it would be of any practical value.
If you do it, color would be a coin toss.

From what I have seen of your build I would call it done.
Get busy doing things in it, not on it.

NUTTSGT · May 9, 2012

I think I would leave it as it currently is and not add the little awning.

GOLF for LIFE · May 10, 2012

Think it would look good, maybe a bit more than 12" and green color. Will give your shop a more finished look. Just my .02.

Chris Stapley · May 10, 2012

Quite a bunch of work for what it will gain you, but if you do it , I say it must be in the green steel because it is only going to be an aesthetic awning, make it out of the tan and it will blend in and just end up looking like a bump.

TONE · May 10, 2012

Have you thought about making the new awning come down a bit further down and out and connecting onto the other two roofs?

Seems like it would look better and give some more protection.

Bob Heine · May 10, 2012

I'm with Tone. Connect the two sides and minimize the pitch so it's more like a shelf (you don't need much of a pitch on a Florida roof). Might require re-siding that triangle to cover the framing.... You could even use the shelf to mount one of those power-retractable fabric awnings for more protection.

NUTTSGT · May 10, 2012

TONE said:
Have you thought about making the new awning come down a bit further down and out and connecting onto the other two roofs?

Seems like it would look better and give some more protection.

Something more along that line is what I would think would be practical and usefull.

5lima30 · May 10, 2012

KULIWOBBY said:
I like the idea. Green would look good, give it that finished look on the top of the opening.

+1!

Be sure to post pics when it's completed!

Shoottx · May 10, 2012

I had high hopes for something more dramatic, ya know kinda like this;

or more like this

rburke65 · May 10, 2012

I sort of like the idea of connecting the two side roofs together to form the new overhang.

pmason0 · May 10, 2012

Might want to see what it would look like if you lowered it just a little and tie it into the lower roofs.

shopnut · May 11, 2012

Thanks for all the great feedback!

I'm still on the fence about building the little one as shown because I'll have some new 2x6's going in up there that will just need to be cut off 12" to be flush with that wall - just seems like a waste to whack them off and turn in them into scrap when they could extend out and become (somewhat) useful without much effort.

I'm with a lot of you in liking Tone's idea of joining the two side roofs somehow. And as mentioned, bringing this down a couple of feet will offer much better rain/sun protection. Redoing that triangular wall section will also let me center up the little fake door too, since that has been bothering me since the place was built. But the larger awning is probably outside the realm of my upcoming loft project. I might save it for when I'm repairing the damage from the fallen tree that side-swiped the roof edge trim (if you look closely, you can see the mangled metal in the pictures above).

And Shoottx - you have waaaaay overestimated me

. (Although, the protection offered by the bigger one would be great!)

Thanks again for helpful comments.

shopnut · May 14, 2012

ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU...

How would it look to pull down that front wall a bit? I could easily do it during an upcoming project. Of course, I would need to move the fake door down to compensate. I think it looks better because of the more even spacing above the doors, compared to the small side door in the lean-to.

The top view shows as is, and the bottom shows it lowered about 30".

Here's a view without the doodling shown in the first post.

rsanter · May 14, 2012

If you have enough tan material how about you make a piece that comes straight down two ot three feet and is hinge mounted so you can flip it up when you want and leave it hanging down when you don't

Bob

shopnut · May 15, 2012

rsanter - That's a REALLY cool idea! And it actually kind of fits with all the stuff I have going on inside the Asylum.

I liked Bob Heine's power retractable fabric awning idea, but was really struggling with how I could make it stand up to the winds (which usually accompany the frequent summer T-storms around here) and bridge that 26' opening.

A rigid swing out system could be just the answer. I think if doing it, I would still build a very rigid stationary wall extension down as shown (always need to keep those occassional hurricane winds in mind), and have the outer skin swing out away from it when sun/rain protection is desired. If its mine, it will need to be powered. I will also need to figure out how to make it so water will not leak into the wall when deployed or retracted - searching for a simple solution to that one has me a bit stumpped at the moment. Then of course, there's that 26' long hinge that needs to be designed. It wouldn't be fun if there wasn't some challenges along the way, right?

Anyway, thanks for the idea. I'll see what I can do with it.

bobadame · May 15, 2012

I think it looks out of place. Even though the shutter doors to the loft look to be decorative, This awning would block access to the loft. Just looks wrong.

santagary · May 15, 2012

while you're at it, build an 8 footer or so and really have a useful awning. :thumbup:

BWS · May 16, 2012

This is really "general" design info.......but its funny how much we use it,cleaning up otherwise,disproportionate architecture.

Think clothing......fat folks should not wear horizantal stripes.It makes them look.......uhhh,fatter.Same thing iffin you're tall and skinny....don't wear patterns that emphasize your....uhhh,skinny-ness.

So it is with architecture.If the building or whatever is already tall"n narrow,then adding long skinny columns would be rather....uhhh,dumb.A long,low ranch house with horizantal siding is a good example of NOT doin it right as well.

No,this isn't the whole story.....but its sort of the basics.Colour and light/shadows also play a role.Something about Black being a "slenderizer".And also about how certain colours,qualify others...yadayada.BW

SpeedinLemon · May 23, 2012

rsanter said:
If you have enough tan material how about you make a piece that comes straight down two ot three feet and is hinge mounted so you can flip it up when you want and leave it hanging down when you don't

Bob

This is a good idea....One of our manufacturing facilities has an upper door hinged parallel to the ground above two side opening doors. The upper door can be opened so they can use the track mounted cranes to move extra tall product in and out. It's all hydraulic operated....very ShopNut-ish...you'd like it! I'll see if I can come up with a pic.

How much extra protection from the elements are you hoping to gain?

shopnut · May 23, 2012

I would love to see some pictures of that SpeedinLemon. Thanks.

Someday, I would like to extend the roof out enough to cover a full car length - it just really helps keep the cars clean with all the debris that falls out of the trees. And the shade and rain protection would be nice to have as well. If going big like this, I would probably have a new center roof extend out, in the same planes as the side roofs. That would put a new ridge rafter about 2' below the existing main roof ridge. Someday...

For now, I'm just going to extend the front shirt down about 32" so I can stay focused on that storage loft. It actually provides a great place to work in a nice truss beam across there between the columns (see my build thread for details on that). Stage 2 might be making a small swing-out awning across the front. "Someday" mentioned above is probably about Stage 10

Bob Heine · May 24, 2012

If you don't want to fabricate it all yourself, there might be a ready-made solution in a bi-fold or cantilever door. In the open position it would be a pretty sturdy shade extending out the opening height dimension (cantilever) or half the opening height (bi-fold). In the closed position it would give you a wall that might create some additional storm protection. Seems like you could get it in colors to match your siding and trim:

Cantilever:

Bi-Fold:

Website:
http://www.bifold.com/

dandan111 · May 24, 2012

I like the original idea. Maybe you could just box it out and bring it down a bit lower. It would reduce the opening but may get the look you want without a bunch of work?

shopnut · Jun 22, 2012

Just a quick followup...

A decision was made on this topic and the front façade was dropped down 32". Since a storage loft is being added above this front porch, I figured the added support from a truss beam wouldn't hurt.

I've added some temporary clear siding to protect the new extension during our rainy season, but it leaves me with the option to upgrade to a swing out awning in this area for even more protection from the elements. I really like those bifold doors Bob Heine (thanks for the link), and it gives me an idea for how a future swing awning could operate.

Will this front awning look okay on my barn?

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