40x80 planning

[Beebazaar]

Hello All,

Ive lurked here for a long while. I'm in the planning stages of another barn. I'm going to build in stages over hopefully the next 2 springs. 1st stage will be foundation and roof, then the walls and interior. Im wanting to build a post and beam but might not want the post in the ground after seeing a barn currently being built. They poured a foundation wall, not sure how deep but I assume at least 4' (SW ohio) and its about 8 or 12" above the ground. I've been looking up options and that never occured to me until I saw it. It seems like it might be easier to excavate and also a nice water deterrent. But if i did something like that, I would want to pour a slab inside it. what would keep the slab from heaving? It will be built at the top of a slight hill, maybe 8" from one side of the barn to the other.

I want to use a 6x6 post every 10' with metal trusses. is this inherently weaker than setting the post 4' below the surface? I will most likely use wet set post bracket for them.

Would pouring 4' columns (over a footer?) at the post locations and a pad overtop be a better option? still with wet set brackets? I'm just concerned about heaving and my pad moving mostly....

The idea is to make a carport of sorts to keep my equipment out of the weather and then put walls on later. I plan to do all the work myself as I want the barn to be insulated, power, heated (maybe AC but i doubt it) the whole shebang without having to fork out 100k... My buddy bought one and had it installed. 40x60 with concrete floor for 68k. i think I can beat that....

I can lost my plan thus far later down the thread if needed also.

Thanks,
Phil

 

[nadogail]

I see you are a newcomer to the forum, that is OK because we all start someplace. Welcome to the party.

Be careful that you don't build your project so cheaply that something you overlooked becomes an expensive fix. That is why we hire architects and engineers, or copy somebody else's proven design.

 

[Beebazaar]

Thanks. The idea isn't to be cheap, its top get more value for the dollar spent.

Im just trying to plan the foundation, I may pour hat this year....

 

[matt_i]

I don't regard a wetset bracket as appropriate for a post that's going to be 12' or higher unless you have specific testing that shows it.

It might be fine for a deck but that's a different animal.

There are other solutions like Perma COlumns which do what you want and have testing to prove out their connection between earth, wood, steel, and concrete.

If you are going to build a roof-only to start make sure you pay close attention to uplift connections from roof all the way to the earth. The forces generated by wind gusts can easily sum to thousands of pounds over the area, more than the weight of the building materials to hold them down. Its accentuated with an open, roofed structure as opposed to a closed-in version. There are a number of sheetmetal reinforcing products which are designed to do this, see also the Simpson catalog but a lot can be accomplished with 16ga flat metal strapping.