Horse Stable Conversion?

[agsanders]

New user here. Glad I found this forum. Due to the economy and depressed housing market, my wife and I were able to find a great deal on a new house with acreage. The previous owner was into fox hunting and behind the house are a 36 x 36 horse stable and 30 x 30 dog kennel. I will never own horses. Ever.

As such I'm thinking about converting the horse stable to my garage/workshop. I do a little bit of everything in my spare time. Work on cars. Work on my boat. Build guitars, fishing rods, furniture. Small time metal work. Repair stuff that my kids break etc.

It's basically a pole barn. Some of the flooring is rough slab. Some is dirt. Siding is T111. It already has 100amp electrical service. I'm thinking about either enclosing all of it or part of it.

My general goals are climate controlled and low maintenance. There is no tyvek under the siding. It will need to be insulated. I supposed house wrap would be needed. As such, if the T111 is removed, would you put it back up or go with hardiplank? What about the size given that I want it climate controlled? If the jump to 36 x 36 from say 20 x 36 would necessitate central heat and air v. a mini split I don't really want to do that.

Basically, I'm looking for suggestions as to what you would do keeping in mind I'm not worried about exterior appearances but I do not want to get eaten alive by utility costs and construction costs. Ideas? Thanks in advance.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd bet the bottom of that T111 is really soft and probably needs replaced.

 

[agsanders]

Thanks. I haven't looked at it that closely, but I'll check it out. Hardiplank then?

 

[kbs2244]

I would start at the bottom and work up.
Get a good floor down and then walls, posts, etc. double checked for strength.

Horses like soft floors and horse people put downs all kinds of stuff (straw, sawdust, etc) to have a soft floor.
Unfortunately, that stuff attracts and hold moisture, and that leads to rot.

Dig it out.
Inside and outside.
Get some leaf blowers and blow it out.
Then you will have some idea of what you have to start with.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Thanks. I haven't looked at it that closely, but I'll check it out. Hardiplank then?

I have no experience with Hardiplank orthe similar stuff. I'd try to match whatever to the house.

 

[trbomax]

Before you dig in there,powerwash everything,walls,roof,and frameing. Stables are very dusty and usually full of pidgeon **** too. ask me how I know! Then excavate at least 12 to 18" out of the inside and grade it flat. Thencover it with lime because the urine soaks in deeply over years. Then do your stone,and fines. Then powerwash it all again before doing the concrete.

 

[Thruxton]

First question, did the previous owner use stall mats, or is the floor in the stalls bare clay? If the latter, trbomax's advice to dig it out is good, though you may not have to go quite that deep, depends on your soil. If the former you'll probably find the soil in pretty good shape underneath, maybe even a layer of stone dust. The concrete areas were probably for a wash stall, tack room, and/or feed room, and these are typically done with not such great concrete, but it may be adequate for what you are planning. Again, take trbomax's advice and powerwash everything (but not that 100A panel!) before you do anything. And there is a good chance the T1-11 is just fine, depends on how it was built. I've never tried to convert/insulate a pole barn, and don't want to, but I'll bet others here have, will be interesting to see what they suggest. Good luck! I think you have already had some with that find.

 

[trbomax]

I was rereading what I posted last night after MY adventures in the horse barn and like others have said, a lot depends onwhat the previous owner did with the floor.Mine are sand with straw spread around.I drg them out once a year abd start over. There is only one place where they pee and its about as foul as anything could be! I dig it out a couple times a year and even 2' down the sand is black and stinks. I will put a couple bags of lime down and fill it back in w/new sand but you can still smell it. Another thing would be to check the fasteners very carefully all around the bottom foot or so,horse urine is very corrosive,Ive seen skidsteer buckets and body panels rotted thru that were left parked in the barn.On the plus side there wont be any termites!
If you garden,use all that floor material on the soil out there.I spread it around, then till it in. The straw keeps the soil loose and the poop is fertilizer at its best! Once again though, I do it in the fall to give the urine a chance to leach out. You will have to spray the garden with a good preemergince herbicide too because of all the undigested seed in the manure.

 

[agsanders]

Thanks everyone. No evidence of anything in the stalls other than bare clay. Georgia red clay. I've started cleaning it up to some degree. Found a rattlesnake in one of the stalls. That put a damper on my enthusiasm until cooler weather. I guess the shotgun blasts did remove some of the dirt however.

Aside from the floor, I'm thinking I'll remove the existing siding and go with either hardiplank or metal siding. The house is hardiplank, but my wife doesn't care if my future shop is metal, hardi or whatever. As long as it's not pink or purple. I want to work in the shop, not on it. Probably go with a light color as it can get really hot here in the summer. Winters are mild.

What are your thoughts on the finished size as it relates to heating and cooling? I have considered enclosing 24 x 36 of the footprint and leaving the remaining 12 x 36 as simply covered work area. I'm thinking this it what I'll do as it will require less upfront costs in terms of hvac and utility bills will be lower. Plus, I'll have a covered area to roll out the planer, wash the boat, clean fish, weld etc.

Thoughts?

 

[camarotoolman]

please post a pic of the inside walls. Unless the t-111 roted badly, I think its a waste to remove it. You could staple house wrap on the inside or go without. years ago I build a garage out of used barn siding and then stapled black felt roofing paper on the inside to seal it up some, worked fine. If the bottom of the t-11 is bad, cut off the bottom and put a row of hardy planks around bottom, I had to do that to my house, easy, worked fine. PS Are you going the the auto swap meet this weekend in Moultry?

 

[NUTTSGT]

It would look good with the metal siding, maybe a different color of a wainscoting on the bottom. Pick a tan (clay ) for the top and a darker color to match the house (trim) and should look nice.

I'd probably enclose the center area but leave the covered area (porch) open.

 

[agsanders]

Thanks for the replies. I like your suggestion. This is a wonderful problem to have. Never been blessed to have so much potential shop space.

I have never done any projects with metal siding. Given that I want it climate controlled, what are the requirements for the exterior? Metal siding and house wrap or do I need to include sheathing as well? Thinking about osb for the interior.

To whoever asked about the swap meet in Moultrie . . . No not this year. I'll end up buying something I don't need.