Barndominiums

MP818
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MP818
Edited Date/Time 2/12/2021 6:52am
How many of y’all out there live or own a Barndominium on some property? What was the rough cost for the buildout? What are some pros and cons you’ve experienced over the time?
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woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/29/2020 5:02am
7/29/2020 5:02am
Well i cant give you any pros or cons currently because we have just started building but our budget is 250k with 6 acres of property. That will get us a 40x80x16 split 40x40 garage 40x40 house with a 25x40 bonus room above the house. Radiant heat flooring in the whole building, stem wall foundation so no poles actually in the ground. Im hoping we will actually come in under that budget since we put a large buffer in on all the quotes i got. I have several friends that have had them for 5+ years and the only con ive heard so far is running a dehumidifier in the summer because the concrete causes more moisture in the air. And one of them ran his grade up to close to the bottom of the metal and it caused some premature rust at the bottom of one of his panels.
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WDSRCR
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WDSRCR 7/29/2020 5:14am
7/29/2020 5:14am
I dream of one often. Like Woodsgoon, I would do 40x80 but since it's just my wife and I, I would probably do a smaller living area.

I love the idea of having full hookups inside for my 5th wheel toyhauler, and plenty of room to keep my truck, cars, tractor, and motorcycles all inside.

If I could have one built on the property I have my current house on now, it would be heaven.

Another idea I had was to have a walk out basement dug underneath the the living area with the shop area being all concrete.
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woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/29/2020 5:53am
7/29/2020 5:53am

This is our layout


This is the colors, rock wainscoting, and doors we will be doing

This is the rough floor plan (weve changed a few small things)
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WDSRCR
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WDSRCR 7/29/2020 6:11am
7/29/2020 6:11am
woodsgoon wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/29/441025/s1200_116144105_288414738892786_9062599827883760344_n.jpg[/img] This is our layout [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/29/441023/s1200_115899692_605955733624076_6313759915752309695_n.jpg[/img] This is the colors, rock wainscoting, and doors we will be doing [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/07/29/441024/s1200_116151963_757859288326666_3406950699416340848_n.jpg[/img] This is the rough floor plan (weve...

This is our layout


This is the colors, rock wainscoting, and doors we will be doing

This is the rough floor plan (weve changed a few small things)
That's going to be really awesome. Consider me jealous.

-J
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The Shop

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early
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early 7/29/2020 6:46am
7/29/2020 6:46am Edited Date/Time 7/29/2020 6:48am
This guy has alot of information on building a post framed, concrete slab house.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MarshallRemodel
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basslips
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basslips 7/29/2020 7:02am
7/29/2020 7:02am Edited Date/Time 7/29/2020 7:03am
Back in 2010 I built a 36'x48' pole barn on my 30 acres. I had the building put up for about $16,000.00 then finished the entire thing myself. All site work, concrete, insulation, wiring, etc....Framed up rooms inside, bathroom, future work bench area as the kitchen. Added an old pellet stove for heat. We lived in it for four years, myself, wife and two kids until we built our house is 2014. All in I think we had about $30,000 into the whole thing.

We always new ours was temporary but in hindsight I would have made the kitchen area a little nice. I say if you can do any of the work yourself, do it! It can be a lot of work but you will save thousands of dollars.

Funny thing is now, daughter is moved out and son is 19 and putting himself through college, so just a matter of time till we are empty nesters. My wife and I could go back down to 1000 sq. ft. living space in a heart beat. There was something very simple and nice about living out of the shop. I would not hesitate to build out a living space in a shop again.
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woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/29/2020 7:25am
7/29/2020 7:25am
early wrote:
This guy has alot of information on building a post framed, concrete slab house.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MarshallRemodel
Ive watched almost all of his videos and some a couple times. Dude has awesome attention to detail and is leaving nothing on the "wish i would have done" list.
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early
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early 7/29/2020 7:47am
7/29/2020 7:47am
woodsgoon wrote:
Ive watched almost all of his videos and some a couple times. Dude has awesome attention to detail and is leaving nothing on the "wish i...
Ive watched almost all of his videos and some a couple times. Dude has awesome attention to detail and is leaving nothing on the "wish i would have done" list.
Nice, good luck on your build, I'm jealous!
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wwdiii
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wwdiii 7/29/2020 8:01am
7/29/2020 8:01am
I always wanted a Barndo or thought I did, even have property I could build one on. In some cases they can be hard to insure and can be hard to sell due to lack of comps. Hard to borrow money to build if you don't have cash on hand.

My insurance company told me even for a pole barn I have to have Engineered drawings before they would insure. Not sure thats the case and did not check around but thats what they told me.

Once we sell both houses and build another house. I will build a pole barn and finish myself, kinda do a semi Barndo. Work shop with AC, apartment/guest house/man cave whatever along with enough room to keep my toys and stuff.

To build a full blown Barndo its at least a 250k. I would rather have that 250k in nice house.
mxtech1
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mxtech1 7/29/2020 8:04am
7/29/2020 8:04am
We have been thinking about one of those for a few years now.

I've heard rumors it can be more challenging to finance one of these new constructions through traditional banks because of the relatively unknown market. Have heard some banks requiring 40-60% down to fund a new construction like this. Any tips?
woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/29/2020 8:11am
7/29/2020 8:11am
mxtech1 wrote:
We have been thinking about one of those for a few years now. I've heard rumors it can be more challenging to finance one of these...
We have been thinking about one of those for a few years now.

I've heard rumors it can be more challenging to finance one of these new constructions through traditional banks because of the relatively unknown market. Have heard some banks requiring 40-60% down to fund a new construction like this. Any tips?
around here (indiana) it comes down to the actual construction type. The bank we went through requires 25% down on a construction loan if there is poles in the ground. They only require 20% with a traditional stemwall/footer foundation. At that point is is just considered a ranch style home with metal siding and a metal roof. 20% is what they require for any construction loan. We just got our pre build appraisal and all of the comps on it were traditional style ranch homes with an attached garage.
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Toddler125
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Toddler125 7/29/2020 8:42am
7/29/2020 8:42am
If you really wanna go down the "Rabbit Hole" on YouTube... start watching the RR Buildings channel. This guy builds a barn like no other! I have watched every build he has done and it was cool to see him evolve as a builder. His technique makes so much sense it's ridiculous... he is definitely the "work smarter, not harder" type/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWXEQsK3UiHszjwgGN5HUeQ
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BMR179
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BMR179 7/29/2020 8:57am
7/29/2020 8:57am
One of the things a lot of barndo builders don't consider is fire stopping around the living space. The walls, "roof", doors and windows of the living area to the interior barndo need to be finished with proper NFPA-ANSI fire resistant rated products. This may also be a part of the financing challenge.

We don't live in one, but have seriously thought about buying some property and building one. A handy place for all your "stuff".
woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/29/2020 8:59am
7/29/2020 8:59am Edited Date/Time 7/29/2020 9:00am
BMR179 wrote:
One of the things a lot of barndo builders don't consider is fire stopping around the living space. The walls, "roof", doors and windows of the...
One of the things a lot of barndo builders don't consider is fire stopping around the living space. The walls, "roof", doors and windows of the living area to the interior barndo need to be finished with proper NFPA-ANSI fire resistant rated products. This may also be a part of the financing challenge.

We don't live in one, but have seriously thought about buying some property and building one. A handy place for all your "stuff".
That goes with any attached garage though....
EDIT: all you have to do is have a fire rated wall from the floor to the rafters between the living space and garage area.
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fins227
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fins227 7/29/2020 9:05am
7/29/2020 9:05am
I wouldn’t recommend slab floor in the living area.
indymxr
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indymxr 7/30/2020 12:01pm
7/30/2020 12:01pm
mxtech1 wrote:
We have been thinking about one of those for a few years now. I've heard rumors it can be more challenging to finance one of these...
We have been thinking about one of those for a few years now.

I've heard rumors it can be more challenging to finance one of these new constructions through traditional banks because of the relatively unknown market. Have heard some banks requiring 40-60% down to fund a new construction like this. Any tips?
woodsgoon wrote:
around here (indiana) it comes down to the actual construction type. The bank we went through requires 25% down on a construction loan if there is...
around here (indiana) it comes down to the actual construction type. The bank we went through requires 25% down on a construction loan if there is poles in the ground. They only require 20% with a traditional stemwall/footer foundation. At that point is is just considered a ranch style home with metal siding and a metal roof. 20% is what they require for any construction loan. We just got our pre build appraisal and all of the comps on it were traditional style ranch homes with an attached garage.
Dream project,,, the wife and I are looking at it more and more... What part of Indiana are you?
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woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/30/2020 1:51pm
7/30/2020 1:51pm
indymxr wrote:
Dream project,,, the wife and I are looking at it more and more... What part of Indiana are you?
Down around evansville area.
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LungButter
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LungButter 7/30/2020 2:01pm
7/30/2020 2:01pm
My wife are discussing something like this right now as well. We're also considering building a shop/pole building with a nice bathroom and parking our camper inside and living in that while we build a house.

We plan to pull the trigger on a property and start moving dirt by end of September.

Pit Row

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Kyle978
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Kyle978 7/30/2020 2:06pm
7/30/2020 2:06pm
Strange that this topic popped up today, the last few weeks I’ve been kicking around moving to Texas on some property and building a shop with living quarters.

I’ll be checking this post like a hawk to see what you guys have done or researched 👍🏼
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Bigoldbeef 7/30/2020 3:02pm
7/30/2020 3:02pm
Anyone have pricing on what they paid/quoted to build? Would love some real world feedback.
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VetMX.com
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VetMX.com 7/30/2020 4:49pm
7/30/2020 4:49pm
Getting financing is tough.

T. Finance guy.
FWYT
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FWYT 7/30/2020 5:53pm
7/30/2020 5:53pm
Man, these are my dream homes. I didn't realize they were a thing. It's just always been on my list
for when I when the lottery.
Goat Kreations 7/30/2020 6:06pm
7/30/2020 6:06pm
Met a GA racer a few years back and his parents were in the middle of building one. Haven't checked it out in quite a while, but it looks unreal now. Instagram TheBroPound

They were really nice. I'm sure you could drop them a DM and get some good answers.
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ellisr906
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ellisr906 7/31/2020 3:08am
7/31/2020 3:08am
Looking through the comments on this forum and thought I would share my experience with building and living in a dual purpose garage/living area home. My first recommendation for anyone considering building a place like this and looking to finance with a bank is to NEVER use the phrase BARNDOMINIUM or BARNHOME this raises red flag right away with lenders, insurance company's and building inspections. From the very start of my wife and I's project we built back in 2017 if and when we were asked any questions regarding the unique style of our home I explained this is just a home with a larger garage for our motor home, vehicles ect. My second recommendation is to avoid the pole barn type approach. If you build on a traditional foundation with footings, CMU's and slab on grade inside foundation and stick built exterior walls (2x6 16" OC) you can very easily explain that this type building is constructed as any other traditional home home is just a regular home with a large garage for multiple cars's, motorhome , toy's ect. This approach will cost more than putting post's in the ground and siding walls right to grade level but if you will avoid all the potential issues such as constant moisture around the base of your exterior wall, insects, ect. We still cut cost's by not sheeting the entire exterior of the walls and roof but rather only sheeted the corners of the 50x x 70 shop/garage walls and the 30 x 30 attached family/ kitchen/dining area and used 1 x 4 purling's 2' OC on the exterior walls and 2 x 4 purling's 2' OC on the roof trusses. Our exterior finish materials our split face foundation block for a more decorative look and cheaper than stone, metal siding and roof on the large shop area and LP smart siding around the 30 x 30 attached FR/Kitchen. We also have a large rock fireplace which gives the look of the exterior/interior a very appealing cabin look on the side of the shop. Our main living area is two story built within the 50 x 70 x 18' tall shop and encompasses 16' x 50' of one side of the interior of the shop space. This left us a two car garage and long 34 x 70 drive thru bay with a 12' x 14' garage door for parking our motorhome inside. Let me just sum up by saying if your considering this type of home and you build with some thought, you will not regret the multi-able use and space the interior of the shop provides. In fact everyone that has come to our home, even the wives/women have commented that they would love to live in this type of home. Currently we have started developing 15 acres (3 five acre lot's) of our 40 acre property and are building another modified version of our of modern farm/industrial home. Happy to share any additional details.






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woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/31/2020 5:05am
7/31/2020 5:05am
Ellisr906, I see you have a mini split in your living area. Do you have one in each room to control the room temp or do you just supplement with that while also having a central air unit? We are doing heated floors in the entire building and want to cool the garage. I believe the easiest way to do that will be to have a multiple mini split unit and have them in each bedroom and one in the shop. Any input? I figured that way they can be used as heat pumps until it gets really cold then fire up the heated floors....
ellisr906
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ellisr906 7/31/2020 8:07am
7/31/2020 8:07am
Hey there, we did use the mini splits throughout the house not in every room but in enough ares that would supply adequate heating and cooling. We also put in radiant hydronic heat under slab just in the living space but have never used. We insulated under slab and with the 2 x 6 framed walls on all the exterior walls and insulated R-19 and aluminum clad windows, are efficiency is so good those Mitsubishi Mini splits keep it very comfortable and the floors are not cold in the winter. I also have a mini split in one area of my shop that is not sealed but works very well. We did not plan to condition the shop space when we built but the walls are insulated and I could very easily spray foam the roof deck, leave the exposed rafters and add a couple more splits and it would be fine.
woodsgoon
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woodsgoon 7/31/2020 9:05am
7/31/2020 9:05am
ellisr906 wrote:
Hey there, we did use the mini splits throughout the house not in every room but in enough ares that would supply adequate heating and cooling...
Hey there, we did use the mini splits throughout the house not in every room but in enough ares that would supply adequate heating and cooling. We also put in radiant hydronic heat under slab just in the living space but have never used. We insulated under slab and with the 2 x 6 framed walls on all the exterior walls and insulated R-19 and aluminum clad windows, are efficiency is so good those Mitsubishi Mini splits keep it very comfortable and the floors are not cold in the winter. I also have a mini split in one area of my shop that is not sealed but works very well. We did not plan to condition the shop space when we built but the walls are insulated and I could very easily spray foam the roof deck, leave the exposed rafters and add a couple more splits and it would be fine.
fantastic. Ive finally found someone who has done this. No one around here uses mini splits for their main source of heating/cooling. So i have a few questions.
did you weigh the cost difference between this set up and a central air unit? The only unknown i have is the cost of the copper to run to each mini split.
How many units do you have vs your total square footage of living area.

As it stands right now we will have 1600 square feet living area with a 1000 square foot bonus room above. (may get split into smaller rooms at a later date)
My plan so far is a 5 unit mini split.
1 in the living area
1 in the master
1 in a spare room
1 in the upstairs
1 in the garage (40x40 with 16 foot ceilings)
We will roughly have an r-value of 25 in the walls, and an r-value of 50 in the ceiling in the entire building.
Thoughts on how this compares to your set up?
ellisr906
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ellisr906 7/31/2020 3:23pm
7/31/2020 3:23pm
The main reason I went with the mini splits was saving space where conventional duct work would have to run. I built the main garage ceiling height at 18' to allow for my 16 x 38 space to be raised up 4" from the garage slab to keep out moisture when washing out the garage floor from going under my wall framing around the living area. It is built as a two story with both floors at 8' ceiling heights so the space was just limited on the main floor to get duct work in and look aesthetically appealing. I would have had to install 2 separate systems and the cost would have been more as well.

I have two compressors that run three wall units each for a total of 6 units but I could have probably eliminated one. We have 2116 heated sq. ft. 900 ft is a large kitchen, dining and family room. I used two wall units in there but It is a large 30 x 30 room with 10' ceilings and when we have a lot of family and friends over it's stays nice and cool.The number of units is really determined by the space and the tonnage is calculated off that. I relied mostly on my HVAC contractor to help me figure out that. If you plan to do yourself there are some suppliers that you can purchase directly and they can help with those calculations if need be.

The 40x40x16 garage space is my only question. Might take at least two units in there with the size and ceiling height.

I found this supplier that you can check out if your looking to purchase and install yourself.
https://www.supplyhouse.com/

I purchased all my hydronic floor heating from them and they ship direct.
PigLover
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PigLover 7/31/2020 8:19pm
7/31/2020 8:19pm
No real input on the topic, but this is a shop with living space I’m currently working on. 80’x28’ of living space over the shop area. Had just enough room under the trusses to get 9 foot ceilings, she’s a beaut.
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ellisr906
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ellisr906 8/1/2020 3:57am
8/1/2020 3:57am
That looks super cool. Perfect home for the PNW area with all the pines around it looks beautiful . Love to see final pics of this when complete
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