30x40 pole barn

[billgreenwood]

Hello all, I have been lurking here for quite a while now soaking in all the good ideas for shops. My wife might disagree with how good some of them are though.

But back to the reason for my post. Next monday we are having the slab poured for my 30x40 pole barn. I am going to be getting my building from diypolebarns.com. It will be a fairly simple design with a garage door on each gable end and a man door on an eve side at the corner. Due to the extremely rocky soil it was recommended by a builder that we pour the slab and mount the poles to it on top instead of the traditional style in the ground. This will add a bit of cost to the building materials but should save a considerable amount in avoiding having to hire out the post holes to be dug out.

I will get some pictures of the site and do my best to keep the post up to date. Since I will be putting the building up myself with whatever help I can scrounge from friends and neighbors it might be a long process. Hopefully I can get this thing built before the end of summer.

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[65cayne]

... Next monday we are having the slab poured for my 30x40 pole barn. ... Due to the extremely rocky soil it was recommended by a builder that we pour the slab and mount the poles to it on top instead of the traditional style in the ground. ....

Is there a pier or some sort of footer where the poles are going to go? Need something there to carry the weight of your building no?

Off topic...what are the specs on your barn overall? Wall height, pitch, finish, etc...

 

[billgreenwood]

There will be a 12x12 footer around the perimeter of the slab.

The shop will be a 30x40 pole building with 14 foot eaves. It will have a 10x13 door on the front gable end and a smaller door on the rear gable with a man door on the front eave corner. It will also have a few windows spaced around to promote air flow during the hot Texas summers. I will have a 10x30 apron in front of the shop with a concrete driveway connecting my main driveway to the shop; about 80 feet.



This is a picture taken from up by my house looking out to the rear corner of my yard. The shed in the background is just on the other side of my fence line. My building will be 10 feet off of each fence line from my neighbors.

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[Kevkx125]

Sounds like cool thought out plan, the 30x40 size is a nice to work with I have the same size shop.

 

[billgreenwood]

I was going to get it done last summer but time got away from me and we had a couple of big family trips that we took.

Originally the building was going to be substantially larger (40x60) in order to put a future RV in it but that was going to require us to relocate our septic system and that was just too much of a headache to deal with.

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[billgreenwood]

Here is a drawing I did tonight of how the shop will sit in relation to my property lines and a 24x44 play area for my kids (the brown rectangle). Sorry the picture image is so big but photobucket is not letting me get the codes I need to post the image from there.



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[billgreenwood]

Today we started the dirt work for the shop slab and driveway through the yard.



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[Bib Overalls]

Looks like your neighborhood is one of those places where just about everyone has a shop or shed of some sort. That is the way it is here as well.

My brother and his family lived in Copperas Cove when he was stationed at Ft Hood. Said it was a much better option from a lifestyle standpoint than living around Kaleen.

Building with posts on slab is a good option. Are you setting bolts or heavy straps into the concrete or will you drill bolt holes after the pad has cured? I tend to favor drilling because you can get everything spot on. Another concern is that when concrete is finished the area inside and around the bolts or straps can rise above the desired plain a bit. Same thing can happen around plumbing stubs.

My shop is 30'x40' feet, lots of room if you organize a bit.

Keep the pictures coming. We like pictures.

 

[billgreenwood]

We have been here for almost three years now and we really like the area. I grew up in a small town in Missouri very similar to Copperas Cove. I never thought I would end up in a small town like this when I was growing up but it has grown on me. We actually live a few miles outside of the city limits so our neighborhood is pretty free to do as we want.

The brackets for the posts will be drilled and bolted to the slab. I too like having the ability to move the brackets as needed rather than having them set in the slab but in the wrong spot.

The concrete crew got quite a bit done today. They arrived about 10am and left around 5pm or so. They got the dirt work and fill for the shop pad done as well as getting the footers dug. Here is a picture from the end of today after the crew left.



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[billgreenwood]

Got the pad for the building poured today. The crew is working late tonight to get the front apron and driveway prepped to pour tomorrow.



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[billgreenwood]

I didnt get any pictures today but they got the driveway and apron in front of the shop formed up. The crew was gone when I got home but I figure they will pour the drive tomorrow morning.

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[billgreenwood]

Got the driveway and front apron poured today. The crew is finishing up the detail wirk right now. These guys have done several jobs in my neighborhood before mine and came highly recommended. I too would recommend them for anyone in central Texas.




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[Bears Fan]

Looking good

 

[billgreenwood]

Thanks, now I have to get my building ordered and delivered so I can get it started as well.

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[CNGsaves]

Don't think it's very common to pour slab FIRST . . . then build pole barn.

OP . . . . WHY are you going about it this way ???? Why didn't you do Perma-Columns at same time as slab ??? Just curious what is gameplan.

 

[billgreenwood]

You are correct that I am doing this a bit backwards. Initially I had planned to put up a traditional pole barn with the poles 48" in the ground but then I had Morton come out to give me a quote. Due to the very rocky sub soil (huge rocks) he suggested using the sturdi-wall brackets to attach the poles to the top of the slab. This would alleviate the hassle of digging the holes for the posts and most likely incurring the cost of having to bring in bigger equipment to deal with said rocks.

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[SnowmanIII]

I would add a garage door on the same side as your service door but opposite end. Would have to be a smaller door but it would allow you to go in and out with wheelers and trailers or a vehicle without having to turn around.

 

[billgreenwood]

As much as I would like to be able to do that it just isn't possible with my lot. The rear gable side and east eave side is only 10 feet from the fence.

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[billgreenwood]

It has been a couple weeks since the driveway and slab were poured. I wanted to get a look-see at how the shop size would look with my largest vehicle in it. I put my wife's Excursion on it and still have tons of room left. I'm pretty excited to see how everything will turn out.

On a side note, I bought a Harbor Freight 3 in 1 framing nailer this weekend. I played around with it a little today and so far (very light use) it seems like it will work for what I need.



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[Road_runner]

Hoping to build a 30' * 40' some day. Good luck with the build.

 

[CNGsaves]

It has been a couple weeks since the driveway and slab were poured. I wanted to get a look-see at how the shop size would look with my largest vehicle in it. I put my wife's Excursion on it and still have tons of room left. I'm pretty excited to see how everything will turn out.

On a side note, I bought a Harbor Freight 3 in 1 framing nailer this weekend. I played around with it a little today and so far (very light use) it seems like it will work for what I need.

OP . . . .slab and lot is looking great !!

However . . . . that Harbor Freight framing nailer . . . . NOPE . . .
Take that puppy back if you still can. It will work for VERY light use, but do NOT expect any long-term use.

I bought same HF nailer and it failed after working on roof decking. Not sure if I'm going to rebuild or just junk it.

Instead, I'd recommend ANY of following:
. . . . . Senco, Hitachi, Paslode, Porter Cable, Bostich, Ridgid, etc.

I've replaced my dead HF nailer with used Hitachi from CL (it's super lightweight aluminum) and it works like a breeze. I'll never buy HF again.

 

[billgreenwood]

I did a TON of searching (here and elsewhere) about which brand of nail gun to go with. It seemed like it was hit or miss with the HF 3 in 1 so I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. I won't be building houses for a living so maybe this nailer will suffice for me. If not I have 90 days to take it back.

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[CNGsaves]

^ ^ ^ Sounds good. Keep your HF receipt.

I hadn't used my HF much during those first 90 days and it seemed to work fine. However, under heavy use, it just died.

Hitachi I got on CL is probably 10 years old but works like a champ. It's clipped-head paper tape nails so somewhat hard to find.

If you end up changing to another brand, watch what nails your nailer will take to make sure you can find nails you need.

 

[billgreenwood]

Today was a good day!! My barn showed up on the truck from Ohio. There was one small hiccup regarding when delivery would happen but the company handled it very well. Here are a few pictures I took.







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[billgreenwood]

I finally had a chance to inventory my shipment yesterday. There were a ciuple of small items that they shorted me on and I think those will be easily fixed. The big problem I have is that most of the 2x4s and several of the 2x6s are split all the way through the board. One of the skirt boards also has a huge knot and split in it making it useless. I contacted the company and they requested pictures and will be getting back to me on monday. Here aee a few pictures of the lumber. I have not unbundled the lumber but I feel nothing short of a completely new, and better quality, lumber shipment will be sufficient to fix this.






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[PurdueSD]

Welcome to modern lumber, it *****. The bigger the lumber yard, the crappier the product typically. Dont bother sending it all back, you just set aside the bad and return it. Pretty standard practice these days.

Luckily we have a mom and pop lumber yard that still gets good stuff, but you pay for it.

 

[billgreenwood]

I get that but when a company advertises superior quality lumber with their products that is what I expect, especially when I have shelled out $12k for a building.

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[billgreenwood]

Today myself and a buddy got started with the brackets for the main posts. We started at about 10 this morning and have about half of them drilled with the bolts just loose enough to allow final adjustments. At this point I wish I could afford to pay someone else to do this.


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[Bigdukaaa]

I know the feeling keep going

 

[Bigdukaaa]

you be glad in the end

 

[billgreenwood]

I got the last of the mounting brackets drilled and loosely installed today. Now to get the lumber issue resolved so I can move forward and start putting posts up.

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[ghlkal]

At this point I wish I could afford to pay someone else to do this.

I completely understand!

You're doing great work

 

[Homebody]

I hear ya on the paying someone, if only money grew on trees!

That's gonna be a nice set up when done!

 

[CNGsaves]

Eating an Elephant one bite at a time !!!

Looking good and keep up the work . . . finish line is getting closer each day !

 

[Bib Overalls]

I'm surprised you went to Ohio for your barn "package." I would think there would be a supplier in your area with a comparable package. Lumber yard I deal with here supplies most of the local post builders and they stand behind what they sell.

 

[billgreenwood]

I'm surprised you went to Ohio for your barn "package." I would think there would be a supplier in your area with a comparable package. Lumber yard I deal with here supplies most of the local post builders and they stand behind what they sell.

If I could have found someone close enough I would have but the yards around here are not in this sort of business. Most of the large shop type buildings around central Texas are red iron or stick built.

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[rburke65]

Wow....they shipped that from Ohio to Texas! I am from Ohio and cannot imagine. I got my material from a small local lumber yard and hardware 4 miles from my house and used their crew to erect my shop. Their lumber was really nice. I had treated 2"x12"s with knots no larger than my little finger. So maybe as said the larger the lumber yard the rappy the lumber. Good luck with your build. Looks great so far.

 

[billgreenwood]

While it is not what I had hoped for the company is sending some lumber out to augment the unusable stuff from the original load. I should be getting it sometime today.

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[billgreenwood]

Got a lot of progress so far today. Had a buddy and his family come over for the day and while the kids and wives talk or played we got going on the posts. That 22 footer was a beast to put up but we got it. Right now we only have three posts left to put up.


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[billgreenwood]

Here are a couple more pictures. We got all of the posts up and screwed into the brackets. We also got the temp bracing up all the way around as well as the skirt board all the way around. In our haste and tired minds we accidentally used some of the untreated 2x10s as skirt boards so there will be some treated 2x10s used as headers at the top for trusses to sit on. Until we started putting up posts it didn't quite hit me how tall a 16 foot eave really was. This thing is huge.



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