The Willows Barn Build (32x72x14 with loft)

Kubota Tee · Dec 9, 2019

INTRO & BACK STORY

Like many that have posted here in the past, I have spent the past several years pouring countless hours into planning my build. Many thanks to all the contributors who have provided so many great threads documenting their builds - I am forever grateful.

Our build was first attempted back in 2016 and was intended to be a 40x80x14 stick built building with an unfinished loft area. When we went in for our permit, the local zoning board denied our build citing that it was too big and did not meet the special code requirements associated with having an accessory building in "front" of our house. After a long and expensive appeal process (that I care not to re-live or bore you with the details), our plans were again denied and my stubbornness at the time refused to alter the plans.

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Fast forward to today . . . we have completed and are thoroughly enjoying The Willows - a 32x72x14 stick built accessory building with a fully finished loft. Hang on for the ride as I attempt to document our build and share our experiences along the way.

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FULL DISCLOSURE - I am documenting this build roughly 12 months later than it actually happened. I will attempt to keep things relatively along those timelines in order to accurately cover the build timeline. The main reason documenting the build after the fact is that I was not prepared to spend the time necessary to organize pictures, create posts, respond to posts, etc.

Now that the build is complete, I hope to do it justice.

Jayman17 · Dec 9, 2019

Hi Kubota Tee, I like the way you delayed your build thread, that will make it more enjoyable to follow along I'm guessing. No waiting for updates! Sounds like a large shop, can't wait to see it go up. Hopefully you took lots of photos. :thumbup:

Subscribed!

Jay

Kubota Tee · Dec 9, 2019

SITE PLAN & NAME

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While living abroad, we miraculously were able to acquire a 3.5 acre parcel with over 1000' of lake front. This is almost unheard of in our area as most man made lakes have postage sized lots and homes almost on top of each other. Our lake is approx 35 acres and has only 10 houses in total.

Our first build on the property is a 3 bedroom, 2 story home with a full walk out basement. It was built as "Phase 1" of our master plan for the 3.5 acres and has been a very comfortable place to raise our 3 children and enjoy the magnificent surrounding of water and woods.

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When we first acquired the land, it was bare naked - not a tree on the whole lot as the whole area was formerly a cow pasture. After the lake was dug, the 6 existing homes along the west side of the lake suddenly became lake front property and 4 new home sites were established on the North end - all with South facing lake views. We were fortunate enough to acquire what I feel is the "premier" lot out of the 4 new ones. It was nothing of our doing - simply good timing, God's Grace, and a helpful brother-in-law who happened to be at the right place at the right time.

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Why The Willows?
After living abroad in England earlier in our marriage, my lovely wife became quite fond of naming buildings as they often do in England. Our first build on the property became Sheldon House and when it was time to name the barn (I've been told that "barn" is a bit understated for this build), she looked no further than the 2 most flourishing trees we planted in our initial tree nursery - a pair of majestic Willow trees that provide us with a relaxing sitting area. You can see them in the aerial site photo just to the north of the boat ramp. The picture above is of the sitting area we constructed between the 2 Willows to enjoy the lake and all the surrounding nature.

Kubota Tee · Dec 9, 2019

Jayman17 said:
Hi Kubota Tee, I like the way you delayed your build thread, that will make it more enjoyable to follow along I'm guessing. No waiting for updates! Sounds like a large shop, can't wait to see it go up. Hopefully you took lots of photos. Subscribed!

Jay

Thanks Jay! Between our builder and us, we have over 1700 photos to remember this experience. Don't worry, I won't make you wade through them all, but will try to pull out the most telling of them to document the build. Of course, if there are lots of questions along the way . . . . you never know! :beer:

Kubota Tee · Dec 9, 2019

THE PLANS

Much of what went into the design of this barn was influenced by a combination of research (mainly here on GJ) and a very close friend who is an architect. Although our friend did not participate in the actual design of The Willows, his influence can be found throughout. One of his primary influences has been a consistent reminder to "build for 100 years from now". In other words, build something that will not only be standing in 100 years, but will withstand the test of time in its design, function and materials. I hope we have come at least close to that mantra.

The exterior has many craftsman influences with a hint of Japanese Craftsman style in how we eventually altered the front entry as well as the 4 front facing overhead doors and man doors.

Here are the original designs . . .

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Kubota Tee · Dec 10, 2019

LET'S MOVE SOME DIRT!

We were fortunate enough to connect with another local high school parent who has a small excavating / bobcat service and had an opening to prepare our site for the foundation work. Once you get below 6-10" of top soil, most of our property is nice clean sand which made the dig very easy and minimized the amount of material we had to have brought into the site.

The main setback we had to deal with was a zoning ordinance that required a 25' distance from a "natural feature" - in our case, the Lake.

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Silt fence up, let's do some digging!

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Top Soil removed, time to cut in the footings

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Kubota Tee · Dec 10, 2019

FOOTINGS

Besides the frost wall footings, we also have post footings for the 8x8 posts that will be holding up the loft area of the barn.

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Notice the extra footing poured on a 90 degree angle to the back wall. This will support a "deadman" that will be used to help stabilize the long 72' foundation wall on the east side of the building.

Kubota Tee · Dec 10, 2019

FORMING THE FOUNDATION

The frost walls are formed and ready to be poured!

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wasfast · Dec 10, 2019

no photos show. If you're using imgur, you need to change https to http. Instructions on the main forum page.

Kubota Tee · Dec 10, 2019

wasfast said:
no photos show. If you're using imgur, you need to change https to http. Instructions on the main forum page.

I am using the GJ photo gallery, however I had it set on private. I have changed it to public - please let me know if you can see the photos now.

Thanks for letting me know.

Kubota Tee · Dec 11, 2019

THE WILLOWS DESIGN PROCESS

Taking a step back, I thought it might be helpful to describe our design process.

1. General footprint and site layout. Shortly after acquiring our lot, we started the process of envisioning a long term design for the site. We knew it would be a multi-step process over a long period of time (10-20 years) to fully build out the site and wanted to make sure we maintained not only a consistent design theme, but also a harmonious site. This eventually led to getting our ideas down on paper and then going to work in accomplishing the design. Here is a picture of the master site design

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2. General usage themes. I am not a skilled wood worker or auto mechanic or fabricator or the list goes on. However, I do enjoy dabbling in a lot of different things and am not afraid to pick up new skills along the way. So . . . when thinking through the usage of The Willows, it became clear that it would be a general use building. Heated storage, a bit of auto mechanics, a little fabrication, some wood working, a gathering spot, and a family hangout area in the loft. In a sense, this "general usage" theme made the design a bit more difficult. How to prepare for the unknown? What if I really got into welding and needed extra 220v plugs in various locations? Should I prepare for a future car lift? So many possibilities!!

3. Getting it in writing. After researching a ton here on GJ and other sites, I was encouraged to get all my thoughts down on paper. This was a great exercise and eventually led to a specifications document that ended up being extremely helpful in getting accurate bids and avoiding confusion / rework during the construction process.

4. Creating plans. After getting all the specifications down in writing and collecting pictures of other accessory buildings we liked, it was time to turn it over to a designer/architect. We ended up selecting a local individual who was a licensed builder as well as a trained draftsman. Although not a formal architect, his portfolio of designs and completed projects seemed to match our desires. It ended up being a great experience and resulted in the overall design we ended up building.

5. Digitizing the plans. Although the new floor plans and elevations were completely adequate for a builder to work from, I am a very visual thinker. I really wanted a 3D model that I could manipulate with various exterior colors, materials, etc. I also wanted to be able to conduct a "virtual walk-through" of the building. Enter in Freelancer.com (a crowdsourcing website). I simply posted a project - convert a 2D pdf drawing to a 3D SketchUp model. After a few hours, I checked back and to my surprise found over 20 bids ranging from $50 up to $250. I ended up selecting a gentlemen from Central America who did a great job and was very easy to work with - all for the agreed upon price of $75!

6. Having to remain flexible. This was the most difficult part for me personally. I like to have all my ducks in a row, but I eventually realized that I would need to leave some decisions for the actual build process. For instance - outlet locations. Yes, I did create an electrical plan that gave me a good idea of where plugs, switches, etc would be located, but I must have changed/added at least 50% based on how the actual framing came out. In the end, I have very little regrets and would change almost nothing about the build.

Deezler · Dec 11, 2019

Awesome! Subscribing on this one for my fellow Michigander. Thanks for all the detail and organized post format.

tapout187 · Dec 11, 2019

Subscribed!! Looks like an amazing build so far, congrats

Kubota Tee · Dec 11, 2019

Deezler said:
Awesome! Subscribing on this one for my fellow Michigander. Thanks for all the detail and organized post format.

Deezler - welcome aboard! We've been in Michigan for the past 30 years - moved over from Illinois and never looked back.

Kubota Tee · Dec 11, 2019

tapout187 said:
Subscribed!! Looks like an amazing build so far, congrats

Thanks Tapout! I'll do my best to document as much as possible - feel free to ask questions along the way or point out anything you think I may have missed.

Kubota Tee · Dec 11, 2019

POURING THE FOUNDATION WALLS

With the cold weather coming, we really wanted to get the frost walls in and back filled in time to get the floor poured so the framers had a nice surface to work on.

Some interesting notes about our foundation:

1. After multiple rounds with our plumber, he insisted on not putting in any sleeves or other accommodations for drains, water supply, etc. His history has been that they are rarely in the correct spot and more times than not, they are punching through walls or going underneath footings. No change in his bid either way, so no use in paying the wall guy extra to form in extra stuff!

2. I wanted the finished walls in the Shop area to come all the way (within 1/4") to the ground without the foundation wall being exposed inside. It was decided that an interior ledge would be created to help support and lock in the floor - this can be seen in the pictures below

3. The interior posts did not require full frost depth as the building would be heated and this area should never experience frost - they still received footings and sonotube pilings.

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Kubota Tee · Dec 11, 2019

STRIPPING THE WALLS, INSULATION AND BACKFILL

After a few days, the wall guys came back and stripped the forms which allowed us to get in and install the 2" thick foam insulation as a thermo break.

Picking up the foam - enough for the walls and under the slab
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Walls stripped and insulation started
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Back wall completed - notice the treated lumber which will be used for installing siding as the land drops down towards the back.
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Notice the height of the post support compared to the wall height
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Our excavator making sure the backfill is adequately compacted. I appreciated how he protected the wall for driving in and out with the skidsteer
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More grading . .
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Finished!
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Riley · Dec 11, 2019

That is really a great looking building and impressive site layout! Looking forward to following along.

PS- Pics seem to be working fine.

Kubota Tee · Dec 11, 2019

Riley said:
That is really a great looking building and impressive site layout! Looking forward to following along.

PS- Pics seem to be working fine.

Thanks Riley - kind words. Also, I appreciate the update on the pics working now. Glad to hear!

Kubota Tee · Dec 12, 2019

UTILITIES - SOME NOW, SOME LATER

During our planning process, we made some decisions regarding utilities for The Willows as follows:

Water - leverage existing well (confirmed large enough by plumber) and run a 1" water line from the house

Septic - tie into the existing septic system with the assistance of a lift pump to deal with the grade differences

Electric - new service tie in with a separate meter

Gas - leverage existing gas service from the house - this was later changed due to current and future load calculations. We ended up bringing in a new service line and new meter.

Cable/Internet - WIFI bridge between the house and The Willows

The critical aspect at this stage is water and sewer getting stubbed in as part of the underground plumbing rough-in.

This is where having a master plan for our land really paid off! The existing well and septic systems were both over-sized for the initial build with anticipation of future construction. The one small change we had to make was re-routing how the septic lines ran between Sheldon House and the first (of three) 1000 gal septic tank. This change was NOT needed for The Willows, but would have been required at some point in the future when we built the future addition (see site master plan). Since we had to dig a trench for the water line, we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and took the time to redirect the septic line as well.

Here are a few picks of this work:

Septic Map used for permitting - we did NOT extend the gas in the end
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Connecting the water line under the footing
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Finding the existing septic line - this was capped off and left in the ground for now.
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Plenty deep to keep everything from freezing
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matouse3 · Dec 12, 2019

Excellent looking build and well thought out plan. Well done.

Kubota Tee · Dec 12, 2019

matouse3 said:
Excellent looking build and well thought out plan. Well done.

Matouse3 - thanks for your kind words. Hope you can follow along as I continue to document this build.

Kubota Tee · Dec 12, 2019

CONCRETE FLOOR WILL HAVE TO WAIT

With the cold and snow moving in, it quickly became apparent that the concrete floor was going to have to wait until the spring. While the framing crew would have appreciated a hard surface to work on, I'm sort of glad that we won't be putting a new floor through all the abuse associated with the framing process.

Let's get some walls up!!

The front and rear exterior walls are framed with LSL Engineered Studs (2x6)
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Rear Wall Complete!
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You get a very straight wall with these engineered studs!!
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The posts and beams are also engineered lumber
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Front wall and overhead door openings framed
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Front and rear walls complete along with posts and beams
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Kubota Tee · Dec 12, 2019

A LITTLE ABOUT THE BUILDER

Selection Process
We have some personal friends who are builders and we have come to know several builders in our area through building multiple homes. We took our plans and specifications document to around 8 builders in total and asked them all to provide bids and timing. We then poured through the results and as you might have expected or have experienced for yourself, it was very difficult to compare apples to apples. We did our best to narrow it down and ended up with 2 finalists.

It ended up coming down to the gentlemen who did our 2D drawings and the person we ended up selecting. Both had very comparable bids (not the cheapest) and a great portfolio of completed projects and references that made us very comfortable.

Introducing Jeff DeKoning and EagleCrest Homes of West Michigan
I cannot say enough about Jeff and his partner Tom. Jeff was the lead on our build and we have become close friends through this process. He is an excellent communicator, project manager and always goes above and beyond the expected.

If you are in the West Michigan area and ever have the need for a builder, I would highly recommend EagleCrest Homes. We will definitely use them again when we eventually get to our next build - The Sheldon House addition.

mwbailey · Dec 12, 2019

Well, dang! Just found the thread and was hoping EVERYthing was already posted. Can't wait to see it all. Nice plan. I guess I'll have to wait. . . . Tough to select from all the photos you have, huh?

Kubota Tee · Dec 12, 2019

mwbailey said:
Well, dang! Just found the thread and was hoping EVERYthing was already posted. Can't wait to see it all. Nice plan. I guess I'll have to wait. . . . Tough to select from all the photos you have, huh?

mwbailey - thanks for jumping in! Lots of pics to choose from indeed!

Millcreekmadman · Dec 12, 2019

Nice build. I'm anxious to see the rest of the pictures. Why the engineered lsl stud wall? Looks like ur setting up to distribute the roof load via the interior posts to Sono tube concrete.

Kubota Tee · Dec 13, 2019

Millcreekmadman said:
Nice build. I'm anxious to see the rest of the pictures. Why the engineered lsl stud wall? Looks like ur setting up to distribute the roof load via the interior posts to Sono tube concrete.

Thanks for checking out my build - many more posts and pictures to come!

Why the engineered LSL stud wall? To be honest, I was a bit surprised as well to see these going up - definitely not something on my specifications document. When the lumber package was initially quoted, these were 2x6 SPF walls. Since then a couple of things happened. My builder was concerned about supporting the loft area and ended up getting the truss company involved in an engineering exercise for the build - trusses, floor joists, headers, posts, beams, etc. They put together a fully engineered lumber package that was less expensive than the original bid, so we went with the LSL's, LVL's, etc.

Looks like ur setting up to distribute the roof load via the interior posts to Sono tube concrete. The interior posts are supporting the loft floor as well as the upper roof of the building and partially the lower roof. This should become apparent as you see the rest of the built. No doubt, they are very heavy duty!

Kubota Tee · Dec 13, 2019

FLOOR TRUSSES BEING SET

After the front/back walls were done and the interior posts/beams set, the floor trusses (open web design) started going in. These are 22' long and 15" high made out of 2x4 lumber.

First ones getting set on hangers and GRK screwed to the beams.
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More trusses set - note the articulation of the material mover. Can't help but think about the mess and possible damage this machine would have caused to a new concrete floor!

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They are being set on 16" centers
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It's always amazing to me how an open space seems to get larger the more you close it in.
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Zen · Dec 13, 2019

Great looking build, where in West MI is this located?

Kubota Tee · Dec 13, 2019

Zen said:
Great looking build, where in West MI is this located?

Zen - welcome to my thread! We are located in Hudsonville - Blendon Township.

Kubota Tee · Dec 14, 2019

LOFT FRAMING

Once the loft floor was in, the framing crew got started putting up the walls in the loft. Here are the rooms planned for the loft:

Office Area - we run a small business and don't really have an office in our residence

Open Living Room / Kitchen - great place to gather for watching a game or just hanging out with family and friends

Full Bathroom - tiled shower, 2 sink lav and toilet

Laundry Closet - for washing exercise clothes, bath linens, etc

Exercise Room - our zoning does not allow for 2 dwellings on the same parcel, so no bedrooms allowed!

Before standing up walls, they stiffened the shop level by adding exterior sheathing and bracing
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Lot easier to frame these up on a flat surface
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Northern most rooms taking shape
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The stairwell (right side on pic below) will get framed in later.
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Kubota Tee · Dec 15, 2019

RAISING THE ROOF

After the loft walls were completed, it was time to start focusing on the roof. We need to get this building covered before the bulk of the snow sets in for the winter!

Loft Framing completed and top rafters loaded and ready to stand up!
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North gable end going in, notice the raised area for the shop ceiling to accomodate a full 14' high service door on this end
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The gable ends are balloon framed and utilize 8" engineered lumber. Notice the full height of the heavy beams!
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North gable end is framed and roof trusses installed
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Just need the snow to hold off for a little while longer :thumbup:

losdudes · Dec 15, 2019

Interesting, I've never seen engineered studs before. I'm following.

jeepxj · Dec 15, 2019

interesting you went with a wifi bridge when you were trenching like that. any reasons in particular?

Kubota Tee · Dec 15, 2019

losdudes said:
Interesting, I've never seen engineered studs before. I'm following.

losdudes - My builder tells me that the engineered lumber is becoming more and more popular. I guess it started with beams, headers, etc and has now moved into standard dimensional sizes. Thanks for following!

Kubota Tee · Dec 15, 2019

jeepxj said:
interesting you went with a wifi bridge when you were trenching like that. any reasons in particular?

Great question jeepxj! Due to the distance between our residence (Sheldon House) and the new build (The Willows), I was not able to use standard twisted pair cable. I checked into fiber, but could have been an option for me. I also could have brought in a new service line specific for The Willows. I ended up selecting the WiFi bridge due to ease of install, speeds and cost. Fiber would have been my next option, but to be honest, I never even priced it out. Perhaps it would have been less expensive? Do you have any insights?

jeepxj · Dec 15, 2019

Kubota Tee said:
Great question jeepxj! Due to the distance between our residence (Sheldon House) and the new build (The Willows), I was not able to use standard twisted pair cable. I checked into fiber, but could have been an option for me. I also could have brought in a new service line specific for The Willows. I ended up selecting the WiFi bridge due to ease of install, speeds and cost. Fiber would have been my next option, but to be honest, I never even priced it out. Perhaps it would have been less expensive? Do you have any insights?

Its the internet; of course I have an opinion.

what kind of distance we talking here? trench length, distances inside house, inside the willows?

i'll assume 500' at this point:

1" conduit because ya never know.
200 bucks at home depot prices.

500' is 225 bucks for a pair of multi mode.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NMAB2W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

60 bucks per end to convert it to copper ethernet
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011KH1TTC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

:beer:

A good wifi bridge at that distance should be really reliable and not introduce much latency. you should still be able to use a VOIP phone in the willows no problem. But IMO if you got the trench open always go ethernet or fiber. hell both for that kinda money.

edit: so fiber costs without hunting for prices is 550$ or so.

a Nanostation air bridge setup is under 200 bucks with power supplies and fancy pole mounts.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GPQKLXW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Honestly if I wasn't a tech head i'm hard pressed to force you to spend the extra on fiber for basic office/shop needs. 450mbps is more than enough for that use.

Kubota Tee · Dec 15, 2019

jeepxj - WOW! I'm blown away by your detailed feedback. Very much appreciated - you certainly seem to know what your talking about! :beer:

I have a buddy that is deep into all things networking and he recommended the following setup:
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tachyon · Dec 15, 2019

Great build thread. I am envious of the simple excavation and ease of building 25’ from the lake. Awesome!

You created a great looking building, congrats and enjoy! Keep the updates coming!

Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

The Willows Barn Build (32x72x14 with loft)

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