I know the best answer is attic truss... but they are pushing be out of my budget.
Have any of you used a scissor truss (which I was going to have over a portion anyway for a future lift) and then built a loft/platform for additional storage?
This will be a pole/post frame build, looking at 28x36 max would like 10' walls (8' tall doors) but might drop to 9' walls if the 7' tall doors are considerable less expensive.
Thanks.
You need to stick with 10 foot walls or taller. You aren't going to save a darned thing if you take a ten foot stick and cut it to nine. You may be pressing the budget, but what you build now will be standing for a long time. Long enough to regret not making it the way you want it.
You could go with with even taller walls and scissor trusses, but you would have to add a center post or two or go with laminated beams to make the span. All that would need to be engineered.
You need a plan. My plan was originally to build a 30x26, but I wound up starting with a center structure that was two stories tall and 20x26, to which I added a 10x26 shed addition later on one side , and a 22x26 shed addition to the other. I was able to afford the costs this way, spread out over time. The point is, I had a plan, and later when I started wondering what to do, I was able to go back to the plan and I did wind up doing everything according to the plans. I got all the space I needed for a nice second floor, and more first floor space in the end...
7 foot doors can cause regrets. Short ceilings cannot be undone. Everybody thought I was NUTS to want a 30x26, and that it was extravagant. It was not.
Figure out what you want/need, plan it, and Make It Work. It is always better to work it out on paper first. The BIG advantage to a pole barn with attic trusses is the simplicity and ease of construction, with a clear span ceiling on the first floor. Do that with 12 foot ceilings and attic trusses and you would never be sorry. Put off the concrete if you have to, but get the structure RIGHT !
