Pole Barn size?

[IndyGunworks]

Ultimately my wife and I have to decide based on what we think is best and what we can afford but my gut is telling me i am planning on something to small for future uses right now so I thought I would ask you guys what size barn you think would work for my below listed intended uses. I have jumped through so many hoops with zoning, and has many many days of frustration to get to the point where I can seek out plans to submit for a building permit.

Right now i am planning on a 28x32 10ft tall. No matter what size i go with i will have a 12 foot wide split slider and two windows on the "front" gable end. 3 or 4 windows and a residential door and an 8 foot open roof on one eve side, and a 10 or 12 foot slider and one window on the rear gable side. I have also added wainscoting, laminated posts, 6/12 roof pitch, a cupola, a ridge vent, and 7/16 osb roof sheathing.

Currently and per zoning for the time being i can only use this as an agrigultural storage structure for purposed directly related to maintaining the site for agricultural purposes.... SO, it will store my ford 340 w/ front end loader, bushhog, grader blade, backhoe attachment, 4 wheeler, chainsaws, workbench, fridge and microwave, welder, maybe a vehicle.... and lots of odds and end garden tools. However in the future once i build out there, i would like to be able to use it as a detached workshop. I will probably install a used oil furnace for close to free heat (will still need electricity for the aircompressor, fuel pump, and blower fan) once its finished off it will store the same stuff as above, but will probably have some large machinery like a lathe, a milling machine, LOTS of workbenches tool chests, and other stuff.

My property is pretty narrow at 165 feet wide, so going wider on the barn is not an option. Going longer is, but i am unsure how that will affect heating the space w/ one of those furnaces i mentioned early. I also might heat it with wood which may be even more of a concern. I have all the firewood i will ever want on myproperty including at at least a cord of wood every year or two brought in from flooding that i will cut up, stack and let it dry.

The current 28x32 is 896 square feet, but am considering a 24x40 instead. I have some more figuring to do but the above proposed barn for materials is looking like 11,000 plus permits, tools that i would have to buy, and more than likely some extra lumber. thats already getting pretty pricey and if it will do it will do. I guess this is more of a frustration vent about cost/size.

Any input on my proposed use and current size would be great. Keep in mind though the house is not built yet, and i will probably have a three car attached garage whenever i do build.

 

[Bill B]

Try this. Stake out the size of barn you're thinking about. Mark out the door openings. Now put everything that you want inside the staked out area, making sure to leave maneuvering room. Is it big enough?
896 sq feet doesn't sound like it's going to be big enough for everything you listed and have room to maneuver around inside

 

[42769vette]

GO BIGGER

Mine that you saw is 22x32. I orginally thought 22x24 would be enough, but added 8 feet because everyone always says you will wish you have made it bigger. I added 8 feet, and still wish it was bigger. If I were doing it today I would have made it 22x48.

I highly doubt all that stuff will fit in 900 sq feet. You should see how much room Mae's truck takes up. My garage is considered 4 car, but that would be 4 small car's. Her truck takes up close to half my space.

 

[pirate]

Go bigger. we have a 30x60 and its still too small. Just like gun safes. If you can't afford it now, save and plan for the future to go bigger.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I'd worry about that height too. 10 feet sounds tall unless the header for the doors knock your useable door height down to a point you can't get your equipment in and out. Like others have said, barns are like gun safes, no matter how big you think you need, you need one bigger.

I'd measure the height of my equipment and make sure it'll clear the top of my doorway plus a little extra. Also, think about the future--and not worry so much about what you have now but what you might have in the future. You might decide to sell off your current tractor and get one a little larger, say with a cab, will it fit through the door? What if you decide to get a boat later on, is the building long enough to park it in there and close it up?

 

[IndyGunworks]

thanks for the advice... i am going to add length and decrease width which will end up at 960 square feet. a 24x40x12 with two 12x11 insulated overhead doors, lots of insulated windows, and a 40 foot long 8 foot wide open porch on one side. If i run out of room inside, i can wall off the extra 8 feet of porch area and still wont have to insulate and heat the extra square footage that i will never need as heated space. going to cost me 12k delivered for all the material. I am hoping i can build it myself w/out much trouble... may have to trade some range time for some ingo labor though.

 

[hornadylnl]

I have a 50x80x12 all steel. 3 12x16 and 1 10x10 overhead doors without a single window. My old barn had skylights and the lights were useless during the day. The outside light cancels out your inside lights.

 

[IndyGunworks]

I will have two 3x3 sliders on the front gable on either side of the overhead. same thing on the rear gable side. 3 3x3 sliders on the eve side w/ the overhang, and a 9 lite residential door. two 3 wide by 2 tall windows placed on the east eave wall about 9 feet off the ground will allow lots of light in during the morning hours.... I am hoping to not have to spend any money wiring this thing up other than a few outlets until i build a house out there.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Go bigger, and if you have not already planned this, go with an attic truss. I never thought I would use storage "upstairs" in my 24x40, but I am SO glad I went with a truss that gives me useable second floor storage.

Unless you are living there, I would not go with any windows. It is to easy for someone to walk by, look in and decide they need your stuff. It's simple to climb in through the window and open the overhead door then and drive off with your stuff.

Dirty Steve

 

[scatwater]

I ve been going through this same dilemma. Mine is based more on cost then anything else. I ve gotten away from taking out loans on everything but the house so... I keep saving for a barn. But I was planning on a 22 by 40 by 12 height farm equipment and such. This is intended to be the shop area, in the future I want to add the machine/hay storage.. So my barn will like like a major lean too for a while... So there are options later for myself. I agree with the above poster.. If your not living there yet.. Make the space for windows on the inside but leave it steel till you get there...

 

[IndyGunworks]

Not going to be much in it worth stealing before i live there anyways. attic trusses are not an option from the one company, and even if they were the usable space would be less than 5 feet tall. I only got so much money to build this thing. 12,000 is pretty much tapping me out right now and thats already twice as large as i originally intended it when i first started looking.

 

[hornadylnl]

I purposely only went with a 2 car garage to justify a larger barn. I had the barn done before the house and it was nice to be able to lock up building materials, my tractor, etc before the house was done. Nice not having to transport the tractor to work out there. My garage is used to park cars, not a workshop. No toolboxes, etc. Once I'm down to 1 dog kennel, even the freezer is going inside.

 

[IndyGunworks]

yea, its going to be mostly for my ford tractor, and a workshop, and some overflow storage. MOST of the implements will be stored under the overhang anyways, but until i have so much crap i dont have room inside i will be keeping them in there... no reason not to. I dont have enough cash for anything larger, and i have added all the bells and whistles that the wife wants since this will be the hub of using our property until we decide to build our house. I would be ok w/ waiting a few more years to build if i had this thing set up and a range set up and could get more use out of the property other than just walking back to the creek for a few minutes then leaving. It also gets my foot in the door for a place to go if SHTF which is really the priority at the moment.

 

[Butch627]

Keep it as wide as possible, you can never add more width. You can always lengthen it in the future. Plan on when all the dust settles as having it partitioned off as one room that is heated and well sealed, and one room which isn't heated and may have a stone floor. If 28 is as wide as you can go I would plan on at least 40 deep when all is said and done. The initial stuff you want to put in there now will fill it as a 28x32 with no hope of adding equipment in the future. Taller walls give much more storage room with pallet racks

 

[IndyGunworks]

The problem with 28 wide, is by the time i add an 8 foot porch i am right close to where i want my bullets to be traveling when i shoot from the future garage location/back porch. with the property being so narrow 24 wide w/ an 8 foot porch is tops. I could go wider if there wasnt a 15 foot setback from the property line that i had to follow. WORST case in the future i could add a 32x32 extension onto the back of it and that would be WAY more storage than what i ever anticipate needing and it wont really change my footprint much at all.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Our garage is also only used to park cars. That's why a barn was a must. My wood shop is in there, plus a room for all of my outdoor gear. Room for my truck, some lumber storage and what is up in the loft.

If you are tight on money now, consider delaying power to the barn now and the concrete floor. Those can easily be added later, especially if you plan to build a house. You may actually pay less for a concrete floor and electrical later as those contractors will already be on site for the home.

Dirty Steve

 

[IndyGunworks]

I am not doing any concrete now, and only enough power to get a couple outlets for building.

 

[tiretrack]

If this building is remote from your current home ,think about everything you will need to have there and safe for a build day,along with all the stuff that you need to store there.A piece of graph paper laying out your building and scaled down cutouts of larger pieces to arrange inside could while away a few hours during our latest snowmaggedon.
I found it very helpful to have tools ,supplies and materials on a trailer, ready to work after a trip to the lumberyard,home center or plumbing shop.
I agree about deleting the windows, you could think about skylight panels at the top of the long wall ,if you are not going to insulate the walls later. I would also advise a raised building pad and thought about concrete floor that would not eat up door height later.
Congratulations sounds like a fun, life consuming project

 

[IndyGunworks]

Not worried about door heights w/ 11 foot doors. Skylight panels will not do me any good once i add a ceiling and insulate it. windows are 73 dollars a piece, so they are not costing me an arm and a let either. My biggest money pits are the overhead doors but they are worth spending money on now as a buy once cry once. the only other things eating up money are the porch which i consider neccessary for the short and long term use of the property, and the cupola, but again thats a buy once cry once kind of thing and i would rather have it now than be wishing i had added it for the rest of my life because with all the other projects coming up i wont put the money into one later if i dont do it now.

also, this is a kit, so 100 percent of everything i need will be onsite from the first day of the project.

 

[Aggar]

Heating with waste oil will be easy to heat that space. We heated our farm shop 60x64x16 with one for years and then we added on and added 2 ng furnaces with the oil burner. It still generates more heat. As said before, go bigger than what you need now. When we added on to our shop, they were only going to add 40x80 and I asked if were ever going to get smaller equipment and they agreed and made it 60x100 addition. Well worth the extra.