# Turning a large "shop" into a barn



## Kelli (Mar 13, 2012)

We are looking at a home in the country that has a 40x80 pole barn used as a "shop" I guess for autos or something. It has 3 large bay doors on one of the long sides and 2 smaller doors on the ends, concrete floors, hot and cold water, heat and air, a loft, and I think a full bathroom, not sure maybe just a toilet and sink. It is also very tall, bet you could pull an RV through the bay doors. The location on the property is great, it's about 1 1/2 acres from the house, behind a large pond and berm ( great for me as my husband is allergic to horses....he must really love me). It is not set up for livestock at all, has anyone had any experience converting shops into barns? I would like my stalls to have attached paddocks as well. What are some " must haves" that you would recommend. Would it be economically feasible to convert or would it be better to start from scratch? I am not ready for my horse to stay with me full time, still learning and plan on continuing to board for the foreseeable future, but would like to begin researching.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

You could stick in some dutch doors that open to the paddocks. If you still want part of it as a shop I would partition in off so you could heat and cool that area. Also put down rubber mats where the stalls are. You could also leave as is and put a large overhang for the horses and paddocks


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

That would be a very Do-able situation! You'd need to use rubber mats to protect the horses legs, and bed deep or use a stall mattress system which would eventually pay for itself in savings on bedding. You would anchor your stall(s) to the concrete floors which is a bit of a pain as an after thought but still do-able, and I'd put down some kind of matting over the concrete aisleway so it wasn't slippery. Cutting a run out door, somebody mentioned dutch doors, is easy and inexpensive and you could put pipe panels off the back of the building to make the run for the horse. I would recommend putting in rain guttering or an overhang of some sort to protect the run from rain run off and I'd put down gravel and sand to make sure it didn't stay a muddy mess. 

Otherwise, that shop building sounds ideal! You could make a veritable horse Heaven out there.


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## Kelli (Mar 13, 2012)

Ohhh, I like the ideas! I love dutch doors leading to their paddock. The side that I would put the stalls and paddocks on has some tall trees that would provide good shade. I only ever plan to have 3 horses max, so I could put 4 (just in case) 15x15 (do they make this size, or would I have to have them custome made?) stalls in on one side with 15x40 run outs for each stall......more than enough room. What is a stall mattress system? Thanks for the help!


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## DebSmith (Feb 15, 2012)

When we moved to our current home, there was a 36X72 building the previous owners used as an electrical company office/storage. I had 7 10X12 stalls built, use the front half on one side for hay storage (I can fit 300 bales) and the other front half for equipment storage. My stalls were built by a contractor friend of ours in about 4 days. Walls are 2X12 boards, posts anchored to the cement floor. It has worked out great for me. I actually don't need 7 stalls anymore. Going to take down the 3 on the one side and will just have 3 stalls and one that I will use as a wash stall because it has a drain already in the floor that was to be used as a bathroom. I have 4X6 mats in each stall that I remove every spring and clean under. I also have 5X8 mats that I put lengthwise across the aisle.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I would never give up a shop like that for a barn and I love my horses. Build a barn and let your horse allergic husband have a play area of his own!


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