Pole Building / Apartment Combo

[RKDFEN]

My wife and I had this built over the summer and are in the process of finishing it and living on our 20+ acres of land for a few years while they build our house. The right side is all open (a great room), and then there are two bedrooms and a bathroom built inside of the big portion of the pole building.

Have any of you ever finished off the interior of a pole building? We are almost ready to insulate. We have a cement slab foundation and very little windbreak from the cold, so we are worried that we will make any wrong choices.

We are planning on putting in batts of insulation as well as baseboard heaters. We are still trying to decide if we want to do hardwood, laminate, or tile throughout and carpet in the bedroom. Do any of you have any tips for us? We aren't going to be living there more the four or five years, so we are trying to be budget concious.

Thanks for your time. I'm quickly becoming obsessed with this website!

 

[harvey4804]

looks like an awesome place! where ya at in Ohio?

 

[RKDFEN]

Northwest Ohio ... in the middle of nowhere!

 

[mikefromme]

Looking good

Spray foam would keep the drafts out - -not sure it would pay for itself in four years though.

What are your plans for the apartment after the house is built? Will it be something that you want to keep heated? If not forced hot air or monitor heaters might be an option. So that you can flip the heat on when you need it.

 

[harvey4804]

I grew up outside Cincinnati and my cousin lives in Anna.

as far as insulating... spray foam would probably be your best bet however like Mikefromme said, it is a bit pricey. I'd just go with standard insulation. Good Luck!

 

[RKDFEN]

Thanks for the input. My wife works with people from Anna...it takes about 90 minutes to get there from our house. It's a small world!

Do you think tile flooring would be too cold? We like the look and the idea that it'd be so much easier to keep clean when we track mud in, but we don't want a huge cold room. I know we could do heated tile, but I don't know if I want to spend the money. Then again, we are planning to use the barn house as a game room/man cave/get-together place when we are finished and I don't think we'd ever regret putting one in.

There are so many things to consider. By the way - nice trucks!

 

[laeagles]

Very nice! I am wanting to do this same thing, Pole Building / Apartment Combo. With only me to house 2 bedrooms is plenty. Would love to see more pictures and floor plan layout.

 

[cletus66]

You're going to build a house?


I would never move out of that building.

 

[Warg]

Thanks for the input. My wife works with people from Anna...it takes about 90 minutes to get there from our house. It's a small world!

Do you think tile flooring would be too cold? We like the look and the idea that it'd be so much easier to keep clean when we track mud in, but we don't want a huge cold room. I know we could do heated tile, but I don't know if I want to spend the money. Then again, we are planning to use the barn house as a game room/man cave/get-together place when we are finished and I don't think we'd ever regret putting one in.

There are so many things to consider. By the way - nice trucks!

Tiles are easy to keep clean and look nice. However, tiles on an unheated concrete slab will be extremely cold in the winter, and as you're going to live there for a couple of years, I wouldn't cheap out on floor heating.
Heck, I'd do floor heating under a wood floor too in that kind of building.

Paul

 

[Grizz1963]

Just incredible, the space.

Loads of stuff to develop in future.

 

[Kevin54]

You could do the heated tiles, or lay down some sleepers, insulate with either fiberglass, blow in, or styrofoam sheets, then cover with wood. Just a barrier between your feet and the cold concrete would make a huge difference.

 

[ironman70]

RK - I'm in NW Ohio too. Genoa to be exact. You?

Nevertheless, screw building the house...

 

[Gizzy]

Welcome...I'm north of Celina.My son has talked about building a pole building w/living quarters.

 

[denvermike66]

I was going to build a house after my barn with a loft..... said to hell with the house....this place is sweet! As well is yours. Nice job bud!

 

[five0jo]

Very nice structure!! What is the size of the big garage door on the front?

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

I have (at other houses) finished off an office or two on an unheated concrete slab and I placed treated 2x4's with bats & subflooring between me and the concrete covered in carpet tiles. The carpet tiles are the one with the rubber backing, lay in a flooring adhesive if one gets damaged just remove the one tile works nice. Especially in an area that gets high traffic or dirt loads.

I agree with those that say if you don't heat the floor you need to provide some type of thermal break.

Grew up in NW Ohio now 5 miles into that state to the North, but always a Buckeye.

BTW: nice looking barn, who did you have put it up for you? I'm always looking for good references from sources other than the builders.

 

[lost]

My brother-in law and I build a 600sq.ft apartment in my pole barn about 2 years ago. We did a floating floor (laminate). The ceiling is 12ft so there are two big ceiling fans to push the heat down when it climbs up. It's forced air heated (gas). The bedroom has a pocket door, which I'd recommend as it takes up no space swinging in or out. If I blind folded you and put you in there you'd think you were in a loft in the City.

Looking fwd to your progress pics.

 

[RKDFEN]

Thank you so much for your comments and your insight. Around here, people just think we are crazy!

We talked about the sleepers. Heat is out as we did our research and can't see spending so much money to heat over 1500 square feet of open space. We're looking into other options still.

Any suggestions for spray foam? We've gotten a lot of snow recently and we have snow in every corner of our building and under the cupolas - two of which are "closed". We have a lot of sealing up to do. We thought we were doing well being that we have spray foamed and siliconed the perimiter of the building, but we learn a little more every time we are out there. The other day, it was actually snowing ON us from the roof vents in our "great room" area. Originally, we wanted to be in the building before winter. I can only imagine what kind of mess we would have had if we would have finished this off and then had all of these leaks. I'm happy we waited a winter. You never know what is going to happen around here!

Lost: We have high ceilings that mimic cathedral ceilings. We are planning on the celing fans as well. We hadn't though of the pocket doors, but those sound like a good thing for us to look into. Thanks for the suggestion. Any pics?

Ironman: We'll be really close to Arlington.

NWOhioChevy: Troybuilt Buildings in Findlay. We had many other estimates from private contractors, Cleary, etc. and no one compared to Troybuilt. We would recommend them.

 

[M-technik-3]

That's a very nice looking structure you have built. Honestly I would live in that but I know the opposite *** would not want to the majority of the time.

Once it comes time to build the house want are your plans for the apartment? Rent out or just use it as your get away? Or as a guest home?

 

[RKDFEN]

Thanks, M-Tech. We plan to use it as a pond/pool house or let my brother live there if he's in the area. It's pretty flexible.

 

[jimbo0076]

I would LOVE some more info and pictures of this place! My wife and I are talking more and more about building something very similar but also would be a first for me and haven't found a lot of info on the web about a shop/apartment(or house) combo. What are the dimensions and all

Sorry to bring this back from the dead

Jimbo

 

[Justanoldguy]

You guys in the USA are so lucky to be able to build and decide what goes in as you are working on it.
Here in New Zealand, every new building or alteration has to have a building consent (permit) with everything detailed and signed off before any work can start.
Makes no difference if you are in the city or in the remotest part of the outbacks.
Then they do a lot of inspections to make sure you are doing what they agreed upon.
Tough over here.