Converting horse barn to a shop

[CorvZ961]

My family and I are in the process of getting moving from outside Atlanta to Amarillo, TX. We’re looking at houses on Zillow to narrow down and will be going on next week to actually look at houses. One requirement is having a shop. One house we keep coming back to has a horse barn, we like the house itself, like that it has some land, and it’s at the top of our list of ones we have to see next week. I’ve attached some photos from the Zillow ad of the horse barn, what am I looking at work wise to get this converted over?

I want a lift, so I know it’ll be digging out both sides or the entire floor to get some nice high pressure concrete poured and it’ll also be losing some or all of the loft. I do like the drain running down the center for car washes, so I would like to have a section divided up front for a wash bay, whether that’s from a wall or just hanging curtains. I’d also like to spray insulation and add hvac since my work bench would also be setup for reloading and keeping the powder climate controlled is just better all around.

How big of a project am I looking at? Are we talking $5-10k or more like $20k+

 

[racecougar]

The spray foam part of this project alone is going to be more than $5k.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

As in all things in life - it depends. Judging by the pics, I am guessing that is larger than 40 by 75 feet. That is a huge area to insulate and heat/cool. However, if your needs for climate control are much smaller, you could consider building a room within a building using conventional framing and fiberglass bat insulation and using the remainder of the area as non-climate controlled storage. If you want to convert the entire area and factor in upgraded lighting and electrical, I doubt you can stay under $20,000. Another factor is if you are doing the work yourself or contracting it.

 

[CorvZ961]

As in all things in life - it depends. Judging by the pics, I am guessing that is larger than 40 by 75 feet. That is a huge area to insulate and heat/cool. However, if your needs for climate control are much smaller, you could consider building a room within a building using conventional framing and fiberglass bat insulation and using the remainder of the area as non-climate controlled storage. If you want to convert the entire area and factor in upgraded lighting and electrical, I doubt you can stay under $20,000. Another factor is if you are doing the work yourself or contracting it.

I would do as much as possible myself, but it’s also not a project to do it all at once. The first thing to get done is digging and pouring concrete, and demoing the hay loft. The climate controlled part is more of a dream than anything else, but is something that would happen but it would be a few years down the road I’m sure.

 

[CorvZ961]

The spray foam part of this project alone is going to be more than $5k.

I know spray insulation isn’t cheap, that would most likely be a project to get completed after the floor. There is no time frame, so I’ll tackle it as I go. Truthfully the flooring will get done and I’ll do the demo work on the loft. After I’ve paid for that project and it’s completed then I’ll start on the insulating, get it paid and start saving for the climate control aspect. Whatever house we go with will be our forever home so I got time.. I hope.

 

[Fav Onefour]

Climate controlled? It was not built to be a conditioned space. Insulating will be more than spraying foam.
I guess it depends if you want to do it right.

Think of the building like a fancy shed with a busy floor plan. The alley is essentially one structure with two lean to sections on the side. Is the drain just simply a trough or does it function as a true drain?

We have quite a few old barns around here with similar layouts. Those side sections end up turning into storage because they are so hard to use.
Sure it can be converted to a shop, but be realistic with your expectations.
Step back and evaluate without confirmation bias.

What type of climate controlled environment do you really want? Are you planning on a small section with true climate control for temp and humidity? Or, are you thinking about doing the whole building? It would be best to have the final plan laid out before whacking off sections of remodeling. Pouring concrete doesn't make a shop on it's own.

I hate sounding like a downer on projects like this one but reality is a tough pill.

 

[Spindifferent]

Keep the very nice horse barn and build a new shop to your specifications.

You'll get better ROI when you eventually sell the property if you have BOTH a shop and a well-built horse barn. After all, you are (will be) in horse country...

Good luck!

 

[CorvZ961]

Climate controlled? It was not built to be a conditioned space. Insulating will be more than spraying foam.
I guess it depends if you want to do it right.

Think of the building like a fancy shed with a busy floor plan. The alley is essentially one structure with two lean to sections on the side. Is the drain just simply a trough or does it function as a true drain?

We have quite a few old barns around here with similar layouts. Those side sections end up turning into storage because they are so hard to use.
Sure it can be converted to a shop, but be realistic with your expectations.
Step back and evaluate without confirmation bias.

What type of climate controlled environment do you really want? Are you planning on a small section with true climate control for temp and humidity? Or, are you thinking about doing the whole building? It would be best to have the final plan laid out before whacking off sections of remodeling. Pouring concrete doesn't make a shop on it's own.

I hate sounding like a downer on projects like this one but reality is a tough pill.

I haven’t actually seen it yet, so window shopping.

The drain I will find out on, I thought about that earlier and at this point not sure yet.

It’s hard to tell from the photos what ceiling height actually is, but the sides are certainly not tall enough for a lift. But would be used for parking, assuming they’re deep enough for that, again one I see it in person I’ll have a better grasp at sizing since the ad for the house doesn’t have a size for the barn.

As far as insulation goes, I would like it to be insulated, but i am leaning towards building a room that’s actually going to be climate controlled with a mini split or the like for my office and reloading room.

Once I see it for myself and not window shopping I’ll be able to get a better idea, so your response is actually exactly what I’m looking for so I’ll know what to look for specifically that could eliminate this property altogether. The house itself is nice, but there are a lot of nice houses in our price range.

 

[CorvZ961]

Keep the very nice horse barn and build a new shop to your specifications.

You'll get better ROI when you eventually sell the property if you have BOTH a shop and a well-built horse barn. After all, you are (will be) in horse country...

Good luck!

That’s not a bad idea, I have no use for a horse barn though.

 

[Fav Onefour]

I haven’t actually seen it yet, so window shopping.

The drain I will find out on, I thought about that earlier and at this point not sure yet.

It’s hard to tell from the photos what ceiling height actually is, but the sides are certainly not tall enough for a lift. But would be used for parking, assuming they’re deep enough for that, again one I see it in person I’ll have a better grasp at sizing since the ad for the house doesn’t have a size for the barn.

As far as insulation goes, I would like it to be insulated, but i am leaning towards building a room that’s actually going to be climate controlled with a mini split or the like for my office and reloading room.

Once I see it for myself and not window shopping I’ll be able to get a better idea, so your response is actually exactly what I’m looking for so I’ll know what to look for specifically that could eliminate this property altogether. The house itself is nice, but there are a lot of nice houses in our price range.

Side parking and storage is what I commonly see. One thing to keep in mind with parking is access. Usually the sides can't be used from the alley very well. The post structure doesn't allow you to maneuver in and out. Most of those barns get doors at the end of the side sections.

Insulating and conditioning the space would be interesting to do it right. The building appears to be fairly open around wall roof junction. The eves have little overhang. Spray foam will fill the gaps but it's not meant to be exposed. That would also leave ventilation challenges.

The tall alley section is essentially a stand alone unit. Using the upper section means it needs insulation on the walls and ceiling/roof. It would be a lot of insulation for the usable sq ft of floor. The other option is to insulate the loft floor and insulated walls along the alley. You could leave outer sections unconditioned.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Kind of hard to tell on my phone but is it built with well pipe and framed with some lumber ?

It appears to be built very light on duty. The side shed roof are what.... eight feet? There's one 2x6 as a purlin ?

 

[Fav Onefour]

Kind of hard to tell on my phone but is it built with well pipe and framed with some lumber ?

It appears to be built very light on duty. The side shed roof are what.... eight feet? There's one 2x6 as a purlin ?

I assumed it was red iron. I do agree on the side shed roof even if it's red iron. The center purlin has quite the load duty with the length.

 

[CorvZ961]

Kind of hard to tell on my phone but is it built with well pipe and framed with some lumber ?

It appears to be built very light on duty. The side shed roof are what.... eight feet? There's one 2x6 as a purlin ?

No idea, I haven’t seen anymore than you as of yet. I’ll actually visit and see in person in just over a week

 

[jsaw]

Kind of hard to tell on my phone but is it built with well pipe and framed with some lumber ?

It appears to be built very light on duty. The side shed roof are what.... eight feet? There's one 2x6 as a purlin ?

It amazes Me how flimsy things are built in some parts of the country.

 

[ericm]

No idea, I haven’t seen anymore than you as of yet. I’ll actually visit and see in person in just over a week

It looks like tube frame. I think that sometimes the stalls are part of the structure, which would make it even more problematic to convert as you can't just rip them out.

We have a 120 year old barn at our California place that's built in this style with two rows of posts in the middle. They really restrict how one uses the space. It's better than nothing but it would be a lot better to build a dedicated shop if you can.

When we were looking in Oregon we passed on some horse properties because we're not horse people so the infrastructure was all wrong. None of them were so awesome that we wanted to spend the premium for a horse property only to rip out the horse stuff.

 

[denis4x4]

When we bought our property, we built a barn/shop. After the horses were gone, converted the rest of the building to shop space. I suspect that the stalls can be dismantled and sold. Depending on the area, keeping the barn as is and building a shop might be to your advantage. BTW, I still use 3/4” horse trailer rubber mats throughout the shop as they’re easy on the feet.

 

[CorvZ961]

We had some family go look at the house this past weekend before we get out there Friday, said the house itself stinks and there are litter boxes throughout. Sounds like the search continues, but a new house did get listed today that would be much more along the lines of what I’m looking for. It’s a 30x40 metal building that’s already been insulated on 4.5 acres, house has more square footage and the shop doesn’t need to be converted. We have 9 houses we’re looking at, and this one is the “best” from the photos. Oh and the house was built in 1979 and not in 2020 like the others on our list, which to me adds some value