# barn design..let me know the pros and cons



## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

hope the attachment worked...
let me know the pros and cons of this design. i want something similar

techincally a 6 stall barn - 2 of which will be used for feed and bedding/hay the other 4 for the horses
a wash areain front and all stalls connected to small outdoor pen

solid concrete floors with drainage either having everything slanted to the middle or down to the back...not sure yet..either way will have a drain system.

there will be a second floor for storage of random crap, with a lounge area, and bathroom, and the tack room will be upstairs as well


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

So you'll have to carry your tack up and down the stairs all the time? Can't say I'm a fan.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

haha well it was either that or the bedding  lol


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

I like it! 

With concrete floors, you will have to use mats and tons of beddings in the horse stalls though. And you probably will want to texture the aisle (just run a broom over the concrete after its been poured).


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

I cannot read the labels, so am guessing at much of it. I have boarded in a place wherre tack was upstairs, actually, 2 different ones. I would rather have it downstairs, but with english saddles it is doable. Western-not so much. You do not have much bedding/hay storage at all. I worry less about shavings than hay. You are best to get good hay in once, maybe twice in the summer, and then not have to hassle with finding it in the winter. WE have a somewhat similar design where I am now, and yes, please texture the concrete aisle.....and think carefully how you drain it, since you are in an area where ice may be an issue in winter. Anyway-we have the hay loaded in upstairs once a year. WE have a hole in the floor about 2x2 ft right above the wall where 2 stalls come together. This allows us to hay from upstairs if we want to. WE also have a small area, like I think I see at the bottom right of the first floor, where we can throw down a few bales for use outside if we choose. That is also where we park the wheelbarrow.

I would recommend you leave the stalls dirt floors and mat them. Works out very well. Hopefully you have allowed for water somewhere in the barn, as well as windows for ventilation. I would recommend that you use one car size overhead doors on openers-very easy to manage and you do not have the issues with dirt and ice etc constantly in the tracks. We do not have a feed room as such, but have a feed bin, which is about 3'wide and 8' long and works really well. I had a feed room in my previous barn, and it was a waste of space, honestly. BO backs her truck right in thru the one car overhead doors, and unloads feed right into the bin. That leaves you some prime real estate on the first floor if you want for your tack. (our feed bin is outside the tack room) WE also keep the bedding outside under a tarp, which is sort of a pain, but it works. We also have a wash stall.....which is nice for sure.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Put concrete in the aisle and feed room if you'd like, but I would leave dirt floors in the stalls. Too much strain on their legs, even with rubber mats and shavings.


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## RunSlideStop (Apr 21, 2012)

Also cannot read the labels but will add a suggestion for bedding storage. One barn I had was built with hay storage up top, and a room split off in the corner for shavings. The room was not totally enclosed; the area that led in/out was mostly open but for barrier walls to discourage loose shavings from getting in the hay. 

The cool parts were this: the top opened up for a hay elevator, and the shavings room was right near the entrance so throwing in bags of shavings or straw or whatever the woman who built it used, was easy (built in the 60's as a barn for her show minis and shetlands, as well as her breeding operation). So having the bedding up top was nice as it was out of the way and helped with ventilation, but the great part was a built in chute that went down to the center aisle where you could place your wheelbarrow underneath and throw your bedding/hay down the chute, go downstairs, pull a rope that opene the chute door according to however much you pulled (awesome so there wasn't hay flying all over) and voila!

That sounded complicated: we had a chute with a door that let hay and shavins down from up top 

Also had some stalls with holes in the ceiling to throw down hay. 

One last thing; a barn I sold one of my mares to had an irrigation system set up so that each stall (plus wash rack and hose hook ups for outside) had an insulated pipe that led down the stall front to a spicket with handle on the outside that was pointed right to water buckets. Alas, no carrying buckets or lugging hoses! Of course the buckets could be taken off their hangers to be washed and the like. A genius plan I will be incorporating into my barn. 

Cheers,
RSS


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thanks guys for the input.

so you think its safe to keep the hay and bedding upstairs?? if so then the area where i have that on the first floor can either be converted into a tack room or an indoor wash area. 

my original idea was to continue using the maintenence tents to hold the majority of hay and bedding in a different location right outside the barn. that way every week i just needed to move some into the barn for everyday use. 

as for stalls wood floors it is  the aisle will have an outdoor rug over it so i can hose it off when needed.

rss i love the idea of the faucets by each stall so no more lugging the water buckets.  i was also going to put a major faucet right in front of the barn where i would have a wash area ourside and add a long hose or two ;p so that way i wouldnt have to lug anything lol just pull a hose haha..so lazy lol
also where were the holes in the ceiling?? over the aisle or over each stall that from the top floor all you had to do was pick up a small door from the floor to allow access to drop hay/bedding down thru.

as for the feed room- frank where exactly do you keep the bin?? and then if you dont have a designated area for it where do you put all the medical supplies and vitamins and crap lol?? very interested in how you guys have it setup

for ventilation- every stall has a dutch door that will open and allow the horses to go into a small pen. the main doors in the front and back of the barn would be the width of a truck and trailer to fit thru so on bad days and conveninece they can pull right in and make unloading easier. the doors will allow for cross ventilation and when doors are shut i will have outlets setup by each stall to allow for fans to be put in, in the summer and all top halves of the dutch doors will be open as well. for the length and width of the barn i think that will allow for enough ventilation.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Our hay drop holes are on the outside wall of the stalls (so that your center area upstairs is not dangerous with holes in the floor) and each hole is centered over the wall dividing 2 stalls, so that you can drop into both from the same hole. Our walls do not go all the way to the ceiling. Our ladder is just that, a straight up and down sturdy structure made from 2x6 sides and 2x4 rungs. The feed bin is about 3' deep (from the wall out into the aisle) and about 4'high at the highest point. The top is flat for about the back 12", then comes down at a 45degree angle. Makes it easy to flip up and it stays up while we feed. That also gives us the 12' shelf for cookies, radio, etc. The inside of the bin (it is about 6-8 ft long) is divided into 3 sections which we use 2 for different feeds (senior and regular) and the end compartment is for supplements, etc as well as a shallow (about 6" shelf along the back on the inside. The lid is also great for posting shore schedules, feed schedules, whatever, and on the inside it is safe from the wind which we have lots of!

There are different feelings about having hay upstairs. my trainer would never think of it, as he had a barn fire about 20 yrs ago. He keeps his hay in a seperate structure all together. That is the only barn I have been at tho that does that. All the rest keep in above.

Why wood floors? just curious. I also would use mats and not carpet in the aisle, since I think it is easier to clean, JMHO. I have had outdoor rugs that stay damp and nasty, and the were not even in the barn!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

**** i ment dirt floors lol... thats what happens when your talking about one thing and typing another lol.. 

i would use dirt floors :/ 

do you mind sending a me a pic of the feed bin you guys have so i can get a visual idea because that sounds awesome.

and i will do matts over the concrete floor no outdoor rug 

thanks for the tips


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

I can't give a picture, but will a computer drawing work?

ETA: Dad called them Grandpa bins. After we lost a horse to some molded grain we put galvanized trash cans in the spaces inside so they could be removed and sanitized. He capped the corners along the bottom with metal to keep the mice from chewing into it. He used decorative nail heads to secure the metal, some nice hinges, old leather harness piece for a handle, and sanded it and stained it to match the stall fronts.

Inside, the shelf folded up on hinges and a chain on each end kept it from falling all the way down. The casters were heavy duty with the lock down tabs on them. They swiveled so it was really easy to unlock, pull out and sweep behind.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

thats awesome rascaholic. i will have to build something like that. seems extremely efficient and easy for clean up and feeding while keeping everything together


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## Hidalgo13 (Dec 24, 2010)

subbing


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## Hidalgo13 (Dec 24, 2010)

You got me interested in all this, so I started doing my own little research and found this! Thought it might be helpful. 

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/ub036.pdf


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

very very interesting will have to read over that  thank you


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Rascaholic said:


> I can't give a picture, but will a computer drawing work?
> 
> ETA: Dad called them Grandpa bins. After we lost a horse to some molded grain we put galvanized trash cans in the spaces inside so they could be removed and sanitized. He capped the corners along the bottom with metal to keep the mice from chewing into it. He used decorative nail heads to secure the metal, some nice hinges, old leather harness piece for a handle, and sanded it and stained it to match the stall fronts.
> 
> Inside, the shelf folded up on hinges and a chain on each end kept it from falling all the way down. The casters were heavy duty with the lock down tabs on them. They swiveled so it was really easy to unlock, pull out and sweep behind.


Oh before I forget again... inside the "lid" put an eye hook dead center, then on the wall behind the bin place a length of chain, cable, rope with a small hook on the end to hold open the lid. It hurts if it falls while you are bent over inside it.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I would not want a loft at all. I would keep everything on ground level. Have large doors where feed, hay and bedding can be unloaded straight from the delivery vehicle. 
Surely the expense of building a loft would be cut if it is on one level?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

There is no way in hell I would store hay or bedding material in the same building as the horses. I've seen two barn fires in my life and never want to see another. In one fire the flames had to be 200' in the air. Nothing survived as in both instances they went up too fast. Because of those fires I can't even leave horses locked in a stall. My small barn has two open doorways and the horses can leave at any time. I also don't have an electrical wiring. My hay shed shares an end wall and lots of air moves through there. There's never more than a hundred bales at any time. If spontaneous combustion occured the horses could easily get out.


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