Pole building

[mbailey]

Greetings all,

Has anyone built a polebarn/house? We have the land and my wife and I both would prefer a simple structure of around 1200 sq ft to live in while we are building our cabin. I may have access to poles and I am taking some rough cut lumber from an old barn. We have 4 children and we need at least 1200 sq ft to live in. I orginally thought about a double wide but the cost of repos and then having it moved to our property makes me think that I could build a reasonably cost effective structure for about the same as a decent doublewide. I could use the pole building as a garage underneath and live in the 30 x 40 above. Using the poles I could save several thousand dollars on the foundation. Anyone have any thoughts? I would appreciate the input.


Thanks,

Mark

[dvb]

Pole buildings do not support a second story without a foundation, I have an office/shop that I stick built for our business. Office on the second floor and shop on the ground floor. The problem is that the poles do not provide adequate weight bearing area for the weight of a second floor and all of the associated "stuff". (Walls, Flooring, appliances, etc....) The idea of a garage and living space above is a good one, IMHO, but you will need a foundation.

[mbailey]

How about all those homes on the beach? I was in Florida last fall and many of the homes facing the beach are built on poles and they are 3-4 stories. What I want to build is only one story with the open space underneath. I read on one site where a fellow in Florida built a pole building and lives in it with his family. Like many of us LHBA folks he found many items very cheaply and some for free and built a 1000 sq pole dwelling for 2500 dollars according to him. The more I read about pole barns/buildings the more I belive that may be a viable alternative to the mobile homes.

Take care,

Mark

[ChrisAndWendy]

Have you thought about a travel trailer, you can get a larger one for about 20K. A few thousand down, low monthly payments and then sell it after you are done. You may even get most of your money back. It will be a lot nicer then living in a pole barn, it will be cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, hot showers and cold beer. Big plus, the "boss" and the kids will be happier in the end. The cheapest price around is just up the road in Ohio at http://www.rvwholesalers.com/design/design.php. They are decent people to deal with. My two cents, Chris.

[dvb]

The difference between a pole barn and the house built on piers is the amount of load bearing surface in the ground. A pole barn typically has a pole every ten feet of wall around the exterior of the building, a house built on piers typically has a pole (pier) every 16 sq. ft. throughout. You can add load bearing supports inside the pole barn to support the second floor. Check with a local engineer or builder for advice on local codes and typical soil conditions.
Good luck with your plans,

[jeffro]

Or find a large farm barn that has a hay loft above the working area. Anybody that says hay is not heavy has not loaded a loft full of it. Mimick what has worked for people in the area.

If the barn structure will support the full loft of hay, it will support your living room. A good point is the depth of the posts, you get friction on the sides from the surfave area of the post beneath ground to support your intended load in addition to the relatively small footprint support of the post.

Jeff

[stubborndad]

We built a pole barn with a stick frame apartment on top. No foundation. The poles are just under 8' apart. It is 24' sq. Code said it needed floor joists 2'x8' w/under 12' span, one post in the middle (6"x6" as all the rest)and the carring timber could be 4-2"x12"s. Stick framed in the top with 10' 2"x6"s for walls. Set a ledger board at about 7' something to get loft floor joists (knee wall) and used the same post in the middle and 2"x8"x12' for the floor joists which also function as collar ties. We left them exposed for effect and they get lots of compliments. We also used locally milled lumber for the post in the apt. for good looks. We use the upstairs loft for a giant bedroom 24'x24'. Then we have the 24'x24' "living area (second floor) that house our kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Sort of like a open cabin. Downstairs is our 24' sq. shop/barn. We have a large trap door on a counter-weight system that we put the screen door on (laying down) in the summer and the barn cools off the air and it flows up through the top floor and a half. We get a good wind up here and the views are awesome. Home is completely off grid, using solar. Wood heat, woodstove now but this fall we will install one down in shop/barn with ductwork venting into upstairs for more passive heat. Code was supportive. The home is so comfortable we have to keep reminding that our log home is really the goal! It took my three kids(now 4), myself and wife around a winter and spring to get inside to live. We have built a 12'x 24' (one story)addition on one side for our 2 horses and will build another on the other side for hay storage before winter. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

[mbailey]

Thanks to all of you for your responses, especially stubborndad. I want
something that is small but usable space and will not cost me an arm and a leg. I believe that I can build this and avoid more debt which is my plan. I am glad to hear from someone who has been there. My wife says she would rather live ina barn than a trailer, but I will make it nice.

Take care,

Mark

[dbtoo]

We built a pole barn ... Do you have a website with pictures? thanks.

[stubborndad]

I have some pictures, most are aren't the greatest examples of what we have built, :oops: but then I have never spent the time to learn to upload them on a site, sorry! (my personal computer ignorance) possibly in the near future!