Engineering Breezeway from Stick/Traditional to Pole Barn

[asizzle10]

I am "trying" to build a 80 x 36 pole barn in the PNW which I will connect to my house via a breezeway...this is required in my county. I have received several quotes from Pole Barn Builders with great reviews and they are all significantly cheaper than doing a traditional structure build.... which I entertained for a while. Each builder specifies that their work stops at the barn structure. The breezeway and it's engineering/connection must come from elsewhere. My county requires the breezeway to connect it to my current house. It has to be structurally attached...i asked.

My architect is very wary of the breezeway connection from traditional to post frame, more from the engineering point of view. Has anyone done this? Was it difficult to get it through? My county is notoriously difficult.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

It should be trivial for a carpenter to do. The breezeway itself should be self supporting with connections primarily for weatherproofing.

I’m amazed that your county requires it. I’ve known several people who wanted to have one, but insurance absolutely refused to allow it without an insane premium.

 

[larry_g]

Your county and specific location could help. In my building, linked below, you can see that the man door is on its own frame that will not move with the main building. Connecting the breezeway to the separate poles will keep it from having to move with the main building. I believe that engineering a flexible connection between the two buildings is what you have to accomplish. Look at how some log buildings are constructed so that things can move against each other.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[carcruse]

I guess you are doing this to get around a zoning requirement that an accessory building footprint cannot be larger than the house's? Any change getting a zoning variance? Also, you will probably be required to have a firewall between the house and pole building.

 

[ConCretin]

My architect is very wary of the breezeway connection from traditional to post frame, more from the engineering point of view. Has anyone done this? Was it difficult to get it through? My county is notoriously difficult.

The framing itself should be simple enough but I wonder if he's concerned about differential movement. I realize the posts for the new structure will extend below the frost line but I've never believed this makes a pole barn as frost resistant as a typical foundation with a footing and wall. I've seen frost grab hold of a post and move it on many occasions.

A rigid frame connecting a pole barn to a structure on traditional foundation could cause problems if the soils aren't frost resistant enough. Just a thought.

 

[larry4406]

What are the sizes of the proposed breezeway (length, width, height)?

What are you wanting to build it out of (wood framing, metal, ...)?

At the day job, we used to build smaller homes with a rear detached garage. After many requests, we started offering a breezeway to connect them.

Our homes and detached garages had poured concrete foundations and wood framed structures. We poured a structural slab on grade to bridge the foundations of the structures and soft earth from the overdig. Columns were then anchored to the slab to support beams which held trusses which framed into the garage and the house.