Planning a pole barn for new property HELP

[Stickbowcrafter]

I purchased 40 acres in NE Ohio a few months back and I'm in the planning stages for a structure. After much research and layout, I've come up with a 40x30 pole building. The property will be used mainly for farming (already leased 20 acres of tillable ground to neighbor) and hunting. The structure will be half garage and half living area.

I live and work an hour and a half from the property so I won't be living there full time for now but I want to build it right so it will still be in good shape if I decide to move there when I retire in 16-20 years.

My plan is to build it myself. I have experience in home building so I have the skills and help to get it done. Best part is I'm in no hurry. I have more time than money so that works out good.

Here's the breakdown. 40x30 pole barn on 6x6 posts on 8 ft centers. I'm thinking 10 foot side walls. 18x30 will be the garage on the right side with the remainder 22x30 being finished as living quarters. Exterior will be finished with OSB and some type of maintenance free siding (vinyl, cement/fiber board, etc.) OSB for roof sheeting finished with metal.

My reason for deciding on a pole barn is cost and the construction process will allow me to go at my own pace as time and money permits. My priority would be to get all the poles installed for the entire structure and the garage side weather tight first so I can have a place to store and secure tools and equipment. That will also provide a roof to crash under if I get tired of running to town for a hotel room when I'm working multiple days up there.

I'm interested in hearing your input on my plans. Thank you.

-Brian

 

[larry_g]

Poles set and unsupported in the weather will warp and corkscrew. I would suggest that you get the whole shell built and covered quickly.

Now if your using the fabricated posts then the above is not as applicable.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[RickP]

What about putting in a small 2nd floor for the living space?

You could use attic trusses like these:

:

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Thanks for the input. I didn't consider the weather effect on the poles left uncovered. Good advice on getting the whole shell done and roofed.

NE Ohio can get a lot of lake effect snow so there will definitely be a 6/12 or 8/12 roof. I have seriously considered the attic trusses but goodness they are expensive. Since I'm splitting the building in half, I may be able to make the divider wall load bearing and go with a traditional beam and rafter roof with a steeper pitch that will allow for a loft. I'm still looking into the beam and rafter option, a 30 foot span may be too much for that type of application.

-Brian

 

[mburgett]

Where in NE OHio? I own 15 acres in Geneva, OH (Harpersfield Township).

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Ashtabula County near the SW corner of Pymatuning Lake. Closest "town" is Williamsfield.

-Brian

 

[larry_g]

, I may be able to make the divider wall load bearing and go with a traditional beam and rafter roof with a steeper pitch that will allow for a loft. I'm still looking into the beam and rafter option, a 30 foot span may be too much for that type of application.

-Brian

If you look at my build below you can see how I did this. With 2 extra poles in the dividing wall I eliminated the truss and used rafters. My poles are on a 12' center with a 4/12 pitch roof.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Larry your shop looks great and the pictures have given me some great ideas. What size lumber stock is on the double rafters? 2x8 or 2x10? What snow load did the engineer figure for your area? With the poles 12 ft on center, that would save me a bundle on trusses.

Your rafters look like something I could easily duplicate and build on site with the support beams in the middle. Since I will be partitioning off the building anyway, clear span is not that important to me. The garage side will store a Polaris Ranger, a 6x10 trailer and a compact tractor and attachments so two support poles in the garage won't bother me.

-Brian

 

[mburgett]

Brian,

That is awesome that you are also building in Ashtabula County. I am working on lining up a kit and/or builders. I am currently deployed to Kuwait, but will be home spring of 2014 and plan to start building then.

I will be following your thread.

Mike

 

[sofob0909]

Great build. Looking forward to this build

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Thanks for your service Mike, my family and I deeply appreciate your unselfish dedication to our great country.

-Brian

 

[CNGsaves]

With such a small building of 30' x 40' planned, I'd sure hate to lose half for 16 to 20 yrs for just occasional living quarters. Instead, I'd get a cheap camper that would fit inside the building so you'd have everything you need from water, electricity, etc already done so you could live in camper while there. Also give flexibility to use camper for other purposes like vacations. Seems like waste of money for make-shift living quarters at farm pole barn that may not be permanent over the long haul.

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

My house is a 2-story colonial with a footprint of 38 x 30. The idea of a 40 x 30 pole building is not small to me. I've never done anything "makeshift" in my life. The living quarters side of the building will eventually have all utilities and will be way more comfortable than some stuffy camper. Not to mention how unsightly campers are on a beautiful piece of property.

-Brian

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Are you ready to step down from 2280 sq ft of living space to 660 sq ft of living space? That is a pretty drastic change. My cousin did what you are planning but built a 40 x 50 with 16 foot side walls. This allowed a 2000 sq ft 2 story living space in one end and a 1000 sq ft shop with storage loft.

As others have suggested, get the exterior put up all at one time. Around here, there are many companies that erect these buildings and complete the task in just a few days. They normally put up the building and then pour any concrete desired. If cost, project phasing and do-it-yourself factors are a major issue, you might start with the exterior building with fine gravel in the garage part and slab the house part with concrete so you can build your living space as time permits.

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Thanks for the input. I didn't think I had to go into all my retirement plans but to answer your question, yes, we will be ready to downsize our home. I built our 4 bedroom home 15 years ago in anticipation of having at least two kids, a dog and a two cars. My daughters are 11 & 8 and we won't need this big house (big to us anyway) once they leave the nest. I love the country, hunting and farming. My wife loves the beach. We plan to sell our home and buy a place in a warmer climate near a beach. So, my farm will not be a primary residence year round. We will go back and forth.

I plan on having a room above the main floor as well plus the garage side will be unfinished. If we need more space, we can always throw up another pole building for a garage and finish the other half of the 40x30. I need something easy and cheap for now and the 40x30 will fit the bill. Cost is a major issue for me as I'm not the type to go sign my name for a bunch of debt and live pay check to pay check making payments on everything. I am going to pay cash for materials and do the labor as I go.

-Brian

 

[ddawg16]

So.....you want a pole barn.......

May I suggest you read this recent thread.....

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=207941

 

[NUTTSGT]

Brian, sounds like you have thought out your plan. I can make two suggestions.

1. Spend some time reading through the Gallery section and see what other members have done. They are some others that have done something similar to what you are planning. A few others have a very nice inside their garages, that some of us would be happy to live in.

2. Since you are 90 minutes from home to building lot and crime keeps getting worse. I don't know what area you are going to be in, rural/deep rural/crime area, but you want to consider a way to lock up tools while you are gone. A few hundred spent on a job box may save twice that from a couple of smash & grab heroine heads. Something like this. . . .

http://cleveland.craigslist.org/tls/3911371038.html

It would be very easy to temp anchor it to the concrete so the entire thing can't walk off without some serious effort.

 

[NUTTSGT]

So.....you want a pole barn.......

May I suggest you read this recent thread.....

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=207941

That's not quite a fair comparison John, that was a major storm that did that, not a little T-storm.

 

[classic boost]

an unattended building in a rural area, you better take everything home with you. it will be picked clean as soon as you drive out of sight.

 

[kc-steve]

I purchased 40 acres in NE Ohio a few months back and I'm in the planning stages for a structure. After much research and layout, I've come up with a 40x30 pole building. . . .

. . . I'm interested in hearing your input on my plans. Thank you.

-Brian

You must be rich buying land these days. Land prices have skyrocketed in recent years (caused by the falling dollar value), so much that we are selling now after we had a similar plan to yours.

http://missourifishingproperty.com/

We live 3.5 hours away from our property and as we have gotten older it has become a major chore just to go and mow the grass so our plans have taken a turn.

So you might want to consider the extra work involved of country living and getting older.

Good luck,
Steve

 

[larry_g]

Larry your shop looks great and the pictures have given me some great ideas. What size lumber stock is on the double rafters? 2x8 or 2x10? What snow load did the engineer figure for your area? With the poles 12 ft on center, that would save me a bundle on trusses.

Your rafters look like something I could easily duplicate and build on site with the support beams in the middle. Since I will be partitioning off the building anyway, clear span is not that important to me. The garage side will store a Polaris Ranger, a 6x10 trailer and a compact tractor and attachments so two support poles in the garage won't bother me.

-Brian

The lumber in the trusses is 2x6 and they are rated for 25 psf snow load. They are engineered for this building. I went to a local pole building place and they provided the building package including the engineers stamp on the drawing for the permit. I forget what the rafter size is and now that it is in the wall it is not easily measured.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[mattmankow]

You don't use osb under metal roofing. Metal roofing is usually screwed down to two by framing on top of the trusses. Metal roofing needs air circulation under it to help keep the condensation from rotting it. FYI

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Change of plans

Thanks for the input. I appreciate the retirement, crime security and other advice but I'm really here for building info. I have already researched and checked out all of the above before dropping my hard earned money on land. My neighbor is a farmer and I lease 20 acres of my fields to him and he keeps an eye on the place. In return, I get to have free reign on his place to hunt since he is not a hunter.

KC-Steve, if I was rich, I would have bought a lot more than 40 acres and I wouldn't be putting up a building myself. You can still get land in eastern ohio for $1000 to $1500 an acre without the mineral rights. The 40 acres cost me less than most guys new pick up trucks so no, I'm sorry to say I'm not rich. Just different priorities. I drive an 11 year old Suburban and have not had a car payment in 8 years. My home that I built 15 years ago is almost paid off. Now, can we get back to talking garages?

Change of plans, decided to put up separate buildings starting with a 16 X 24 two story barn. This will be storage with a place to crash on the second floor until I save up for another separate building just for living. Once a residence is built, the barn will become storage. Here is an example of what it will look like.

I'm looking at $3,500 in materials not including windows, doors, metal roof and concrete. I got the driveway graded and staked out the footprint for the building. Here are some pics of my progress and my property:

-Brian

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Here is the feral field on the back end of the property:

-Brian

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

-Brian

 

[skippy24]

Sweet property. Sometimes I wish NV had more livable land. Don't worry about what other people say about your finances. It's all about priorities.

 

[mburgett]

Stick, Any more updated pics? I am down to less than 100 days left in country and then will be back home in Ohio and starting my own build in Spring of 2014

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Sorry to leave you hanging Mike. Before I knew it, archery season had started followed by a brutal winter so not much progress was made up until a few weeks ago. My plans keep changing, it was miserable not having a place to stay on the property all fall not to mention dragging tools and equipment back and forth, staying in motels 30 minutes away, etc. I decided to get something quick and cheap up and got a head start this year in March.

This is moving along fast and cheap. I am building gambrel (barn loft) rafters at home this week then trailering them up and setting them. Hope to be under roof by the end of the weekend.

-Brian

 

[Diesel Dan]

You don't use osb under metal roofing. Metal roofing is usually screwed down to two by framing on top of the trusses. Metal roofing needs air circulation under it to help keep the condensation from rotting it. FYI

You most certainly can install sheeting under metal roofing. That is how my current barn is and how our last addition was with standing rib metal. There is 7/16 OSB covered by 30lb felt and then there are closure strips that go along the bottom edge and at the ridge vent that stops air movement. AFAIK, all residential roofs done in metal have sheeting under them.

 

[borgdog]

Awesome looking little barn, sounds like a great plan, look forward to seeing it come together. I thought about doing the same type of thing on my property, but ended up just going for a 20x28 cabin after camping and using a 8x10 for a bathroom/kitchen/sleeping loft for several years (had septic and power on property). Any plans for water, electric etc?

 

[DekeT]

This is moving along fast and cheap. I am building gambrel (barn loft) rafters at home this week then trailering them up and setting them. Hope to be under roof by the end of the weekend.

-Brian

I hope you left a set of new drawings at your local building office.

 

[4AudiQ]

You really need to read this guy's post. He is in Crestline, OH and he has
done what you were originally planning:http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226535

 

[msgross]

nice little project...


That buck needs to eat some corn though!

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Of all the sites I have been to, this one always has a bunch of people getting off topic and questioning every unrelated detail of the topic.

This is a farm. These are ag buildings. Nobody will be living here full time. I checked with the building inspector and he was the one who told me the rules for ag buildings. Geez. Please from now on, only relevant input and criticism.

Sorry to rant, I do appreciate the valid input guys. So thank you. Borgdog, I know a lot of guys who did it that way. Of course it would be nice to have all the time and money in the world when we jump into these projects but reality hits and you end up scrambling for a compromise. Oh well, gotta do what you gotta do.

Very cool 4audi. Heck I'd have to sell my house to build something like that. What a project!

Msgross, oh they eat plenty of corn, you should see my feeder bills.

-Brian

 

[DekeT]

Please from now on, only relevant input and criticism.

Sorry to rant, I do appreciate the valid input guys.

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Wanna be cyber bullies are even more pathetic than real life ones

Mike, I hope you made it back safe and are gearing up for your build. I had a pretty productive weekend. I pre-built some rafters at home then trailered them up to the farm.

We set the loft floor joists and plywood which really made setting those rafters simple.

-Brian

 

[Stickbowcrafter]

Dan I'm still up in the air on utilities. There are public utilities at the street but I originally had ideas of setting this up off grid. I have experimented with catching rain water and I have two 55 gallon plastic drums ready for the task. Solar panels and a wind turbine would do well in my location. I have been researching waterless toilet options but that change will take the biggest getting used to.

-Brian