Pole barn loft questions

[cdoug]

hello, first time posting here. I have a couple questing because i am designing a pole barn with a loft i plan to build.

So its a 40'x60'x20 with the posts being placed 10' apart. The loft will only be the middle 20' and then 60' long (see link below) it will have a full kitchen, bathroom, bedroom (at least i'm hoping) so it will be livable until i get the funds to start my house then it will be a man cave.

should look similar to this i am hoping : http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&s...w=180&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:94

But i think the beams in that are a bit over kill personally. So my first questing is if i pour a cement pad how thick should i make it? I was thinking 6" with rebar every 4' in a grid and extra under the posts.

How big of posts should i use? 6x6 on the outside and 8x8 to support the loft? is that enough to support it?

My other concern is having the beams spanning over 20' from post to post. What would i want to use for something like that?

thanks -cdoug

 

[DoyleDee]

I think your best bet is to find plans... I'm not a structural engineer, and it would be best to ask one. You really don't want to put a minimal amount of work into it only to have it fail do you? The concrete depends on how your preparation and soil is... I have a 30x36 pole barn shop withought any rebar- I just used wire mesh. (4" thick 3000psi is what I have)- I haven't had any issues yet, but who knows...its only been in use for a bit over a year and a half.


Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[tomroblee]

Your post confuses me a little. You say that you want to build a pole barn (post frame construction), but you include a picture of a monitor barn that is built with post and beam construction. Both construction types use posts. In post frame construction (pole barns) the bottom of the posts are put into holes about 4' deep. In post and beam construction the posts are placed on top of a conventional foundation.

Post frame construction is generally viewed as an inexpensive (compared to conventional stud construction) way to build. The reason that it is inexpensive is that it avoids the need for a solid foundation.

Post and beam construction is generally viewed as being far more expensive than conventional stud construction.

The thickness of your concrete floor would primarily depend on your climate, underlying soil conditions, and how heavy a load it will be expected to carry. It would appears that you will have a relatively low ceiling height, so you will not be using it for "heavy" vehicles or have a lift installed. If that is the case, 4" will probably be adequate.

While I love the exterior appearance of monitor barns, I think that the necessity of having two rows of posts inside the structure could severely limit how the main floor is used. When I built my country home (36' x 64') I ended up using conventional stud construction with attic trusses

 

[Daniel Dudley]

You can use 6x6 for all posts, but if you don't know that you should get someone else to design it.

 

[cyamaha2007]

Id use 8x8s due to the height. The post supporting the loft shouldn't sit on the concrete floor they should go 4 feet into the ground and then you pour around them. The same for every other post in a common pole barn. Now if you want to anchor your post to the floor it needs to be on a footer thats 4 feet thick. You can also pour piers, anchor to them and pour your floor around them.

 

[cdoug]

thanks for the info guys