# Most economical way to build a barn?



## loveduffy (Dec 22, 2011)

If you can build it your self ,the important part is making the ground level and getting the water and electric to the site ,the rest if easy that is were the cost is high


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

They sell barn plans, and if you do it all yourself you can save a lot of money.


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

loveduffy said:


> If you can build it your self ,the important part is making the ground level and getting the water and electric to the site ,the rest if easy that is were the cost is high


I don't think that we would need to get water to the site other than running a hose out there. Most of the places we're looking at have had horses or other livestock out there before, so I'm sure there's a pump or something. Electricity, on the other hand, could be a bit of a feat... Any good places to find the info on how to do this?

It's a small farming town where everyone knows each other, so I'm sure we could find someone with some machinery experience to level the ground for us. Otherwise, we could hire someone to do it. Has anyone build their barn before without having had previous construction experience? I'm sure I could find someone to hold my hand along the way, but I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into. If it's doable, I think I'd have a blast building my own barn. It's like the really cool version of the tree house I never had as a kid!


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

I'll look up some plans that we'd like, but if anyone could give me a ball-park estimate and what will influence that would be great. Also, what should I watch out for if I do decide to build it myself? I've got lots of family that would probably help (mostly all big football raised boys!) and family friends that likely have some useful experience and resources (though maybe not specifically with barns).

Sounds like we might be in for an old-fashioned barn-raising experience! Maybe we should learn to square dance too?


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

This would be an ideal type barn for us. Of course, the runs won't technically be part of the barn, but I included them to have a clear idea of what I want to do. As a pole barn, I'm thinking I'd only have to put in 10 Poles to build this. Any thoughts about the design itself or building it myself?


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Looks decent, not a very big tack room and no hay storage though. I like a plan like this, and tie in the aisle, and turn one of the stalls into hay storage. It sounds like they will almost all the time be out in the pasture hay storage in a barn should be fine.


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

caseymyhorserocks said:


> Looks decent, not a very big tack room and no hay storage though. I like a plan like this, and tie in the aisle, and turn one of the stalls into hay storage. It sounds like they will almost all the time be out in the pasture hay storage in a barn should be fine.


I do like that as well - I'm thinking it will be easier to stack hay outside the barn, though. It never hurts to have two extra stall-type areas, though, for tack or hay! We'll have to see what we end up buying. Right now, we're looking mostly at homes with 1 acre, and I'm crossing my fingers that at least half of that will be in pasture. I'll keep both plans in mind, though, and see which one fits.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Or.. How about this custom plan made my Claire (aka: caseymyhorserocks) for you  You can make floor plans on floorplanner, an app on google chrome. Sorry bout the tiny words! The blue places are the horse stalls, the small brown is tack room, big brown is an overhang (could be completely walled in though) which you can use for hay AND grooming. If you use it for hay you may want to put the hay in a corner and put up a little half wall for it.


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

caseymyhorserocks said:


> Or.. How about this custom plan made my Claire (aka: caseymyhorserocks) for you  You can make floor plans on floorplanner, an app on google chrome. Sorry bout the tiny words! The blue places are the horse stalls, the small brown is tack room, big brown is an overhang (could be completely walled in though) which you can use for hay AND grooming. If you use it for hay you may want to put the hay in a corner and put up a little half wall for it.


Haha thanks! I made my plan on another website, too  This is really cool to see everyone's ideas! It think it will all come down to what we can fit on the property we get, but that is yet to be determined so I love seeing everyone's ideas. I like seeing the different shapes, as well, since we'll have to work with whatever area we're able to buy. I prefer something that is completely enclosed for those rainy and windy days, but that I can open up large sliding doors to have an "outdoor" feel on the nice days. Now, do any of you want to come over next summer and build this thing??


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

jillybean19 said:


> Haha thanks! I made my plan on another website, too  This is really cool to see everyone's ideas! It think it will all come down to what we can fit on the property we get, but that is yet to be determined so I love seeing everyone's ideas. I like seeing the different shapes, as well, since we'll have to work with whatever area we're able to buy. I prefer something that is completely enclosed for those rainy and windy days, but that I can open up large sliding doors to have an "outdoor" feel on the nice days. Now, do any of you want to come over next summer and build this thing??


What about a garage door? And I totally agree about rainy days and sunny days..


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

caseymyhorserocks said:


> What about a garage door? And I totally agree about rainy days and sunny days..


Garage door = Scary, noisy monster that is going over my head = my Arabian going bug-eyed and setting back, or at least trembling and then rushing through the door because it's going to get him.

I know this is something we could work on, but it was a huge blessing when I moved my horses from the place with garage doors to sliding doors. And I never want to return!

Plus, for my sake, that garage door was a pain to lift even without a horse and came back down on me more than once. Never had that happen with a sliding door lol


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

I think a pole barn is the least expensive kind you can build. As far as layout, don't get too attached to a floor plan before you buy property. You might have to rearrange things based on direction, the position of the house etc.


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## eclipseranch (May 31, 2012)

we built a barn 3 years ago..here are some things to think about...ground plans as you have been playing with are a good starting point..but, every good "thing" you think you want adds cost. I recommend figuring out your "must haves" to start then build a plan around that. Example, insulated ceiling sounded frivolous to me at first but you know what thank goodness we put it in..it keeps it significantly cooler on hot days and my horses water buckets have never frozen through..only a thin layer of ice when it goes down to zero. An isle way large enough to drive a lger pickup down...the vet, farrier, hay guy, your own truck, tractor...its a huge detail. as far as leveling, you need some sort of base we used many tons of chat and my property is very level already but not by laser! we built a smallish barn with 7 stalls, a "tack room" that turned in to a feed room (the trailer is our tack room) just the building & stalls were 23K added electricity by a licensed electrician (the last thing you want is an electrical fire in your barn) 3K & ran water to the barn (hoses got really old really fast) 1K hope this helps


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

ponyboy said:


> I think a pole barn is the least expensive kind you can build.


And easiest, too. Here is the pole barn my wife and I put up last year (without any heavy equipment). You can find plenty of free plans at the websites of universities with agriculture departments. Once you build the structure, you can partition the inside anyway you want. Our mares are out 24x7 so we decided to use part as a shelter instead of making stalls. Total cost of materials (28'x32' barn) was just a bit over $4000. It's a lot of time and work, but if you can use a hammer, saw, and drill, you'll save yourself a ton of $$s (around here labor is about 2/3 the cost of new structures).


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

PaintHorseMares said:


> And easiest, too. Here is the pole barn my wife and I put up last year (without any heavy equipment). You can find plenty of free plans at the websites of universities with agriculture departments. Once you build the structure, you can partition the inside anyway you want. Our mares are out 24x7 so we decided to use part as a shelter instead of making stalls. Total cost of materials (28'x32' barn) was just a bit over $4000. It's a lot of time and work, but if you can use a hammer, saw, and drill, you'll save yourself a ton of $$s (around here labor is about 2/3 the cost of new structures).


Thanks so much - that really helped! Your barn is about as fancy as we want ours to be, so I'm glad you posted your cost and pictures. My stalls will mainly function as a shelter, but I want the option of closing the horses in if needed. We only need two stalls, and it would be pointless to add any more since we'll likely only be able to legally have two horses on the property. 4K is a really nice price for us!


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

eclipseranch said:


> we built a barn 3 years ago..here are some things to think about...ground plans as you have been playing with are a good starting point..but, every good "thing" you think you want adds cost. I recommend figuring out your "must haves" to start then build a plan around that. Example, insulated ceiling sounded frivolous to me at first but you know what thank goodness we put it in..it keeps it significantly cooler on hot days and my horses water buckets have never frozen through..only a thin layer of ice when it goes down to zero. An isle way large enough to drive a lger pickup down...the vet, farrier, hay guy, your own truck, tractor...its a huge detail. as far as leveling, you need some sort of base we used many tons of chat and my property is very level already but not by laser! we built a smallish barn with 7 stalls, a "tack room" that turned in to a feed room (the trailer is our tack room) just the building & stalls were 23K added electricity by a licensed electrician (the last thing you want is an electrical fire in your barn) 3K & ran water to the barn (hoses got really old really fast) 1K hope this helps


It sounds like your barn is actually a lot fancier than what we plan, but thanks for the prices and things to think about!


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

jillybean19 said:


> Garage door = Scary, noisy monster that is going over my head = my Arabian going bug-eyed and setting back, or at least trembling and then rushing through the door because it's going to get him.
> 
> I know this is something we could work on, but it was a huge blessing when I moved my horses from the place with garage doors to sliding doors. And I never want to return!
> 
> Plus, for my sake, that garage door was a pain to lift even without a horse and came back down on me more than once. Never had that happen with a sliding door lol


Ahh okay.. Lol! And yes, a pole barn is one of the cheaper barns. A support should be placed about 8-16 feet apart with trusses connected to them to the roof- which holds up the roof. The the posts (support) should be 6-8 inch in diameter and pressure treated and set 3-6 feet below the ground with the base fixed in concrete. Make sure that the properties you are looking at are zoned for horses and check with your state laws to see how much land you need for a horse. Some states require an acre per horse, others 1/4 acre, etc. Here is the layout of my barn. Hope it makes sense with the new/old stuff. I am extending out the barn into a 2 stall barn, much more complicated than it sounds.. Have to remove a side of the roof, lift it up, take off a side of plywood to move it over to the new stall.. All very confusing, sorry! The old barn (which is the one on the left with 8x12 stall) cost about $2000 to build. I am making another plan right now that I will post in a minute.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

Okay, heres another plan. I really like this one. If you put in a couple sliding doors, this barn could go from being cozy and enclosed to nice and open and airy. Hope you dont mind me crowding this thread up with barn plans ( I feel like a saleswoman trying to sell barns :lol OH! And this barn plan would be really economical, cause it uses all the space up. If the stalls were 10x12, this barn would only be 20x24!


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

BTW, you can save a bunch if you buy rough sawn lumber right from a sawmill instead of buying from a lumber yard. The only reason we didn't do this with our barn is that we were rushing to finish before winter and didn't have time to let the greener lumber fully dry out.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

Ideally, we're planning on moving this December. We've found a few houses that look promising - now we have to go see them in person. They're all about an acre, and in that area you're allowed to have two horses per acre. Most have outbuildings of some sort, but not really a barn like I would like. For under 5k, I think we could afford to build a barn next summer (AND I'm going to be a teacher, so I've got 3+ months to dedicate myself to building it!)

And I totally don't mind filling this up with barn plans - I just want something small and efficient, so we don't take up too much pasture area by building a barn (which is likely what the tradeoff will be). I enjoy seeing everyone's creative ideas! Plus, I want this to be as simple as possible so I can actually build it lol.

And thanks for the building tips and suggestions - I want to be sure I have a game plan for everything before I start planning and building for real!


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

More tips
- For something simple, avoid trusses for the roof. Trusses are a PITA to make yourself. You can buy them pre-built, but they are still a chore to put up without lots of folks or something to hoist them. 
- Use square drive exterior screws instead of nails as much as possible. They cost more than nails, but you can drive them with a cordless drill as fast as nails and you don't have to deal with nails that back out over time. It will last forever with no maintenance.
- Go with metal siding. Overall it's no more expensive than wood siding, you can get it in any color and it never needs painting.
- For barn hardware, etc (stall doors) look at the Tractor Supply web site. They're the cheapest place around here.
- Put in a good supply of beer. Guys will help you do anything if there is a cold cooler there.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

We are also planning to build a barn sometime next summer. I did get a number of quotes for a 36x36 pole barn. They came in at about 20-22 K, including labour ( assuming the site is graded and ready). Materials were about 8-10 K, and that is without any stalls, insulation, electrical etc. Roof trusses were quite expensive, and we would need to hire a "picker" to get them up on the roof. We are also looking into building a larger "lean to" style pole shed with one cantilevered roof rather than a trussed peak roof. Like you, I need hay storage, a couple of stalls, tack storage and space to get out of the elements when tacking up and when the farrier comes. 

If you can work with central support poles in your structure, you won't need roof trusses, which should cut down on the cost some. 

PaintHorseMares - is this what you did in my your barn?


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## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

PaintHorseMares said:


> More tips
> - For something simple, avoid trusses for the roof. Trusses are a PITA to make yourself. You can buy them pre-built, but they are still a chore to put up without lots of folks or something to hoist them.
> - Use square drive exterior screws instead of nails as much as possible. They cost more than nails, but you can drive them with a cordless drill as fast as nails and you don't have to deal with nails that back out over time. It will last forever with no maintenance.
> - Go with metal siding. Overall it's no more expensive than wood siding, you can get it in any color and it never needs painting.
> ...


Great advice! Thanks!


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Yes. If you look at the first couple pictures, you see 9 6x6 poles with 4 2x12 rafters (1 on each end and 2 in the center) bolted to them, and 2x6 purlins to support the metal roofing. Much simpler than trusses.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

jillybean19 said:


> Ideally, we're planning on moving this December. We've found a few houses that look promising - now we have to go see them in person. They're all about an acre, and in that area you're allowed to have two horses per acre. Most have outbuildings of some sort, but not really a barn like I would like. For under 5k, I think we could afford to build a barn next summer (AND I'm going to be a teacher, so I've got 3+ months to dedicate myself to building it!)
> !


Best of luck jillybean19 with finding the perfect home and with your new career. I have been a teacher for over 15 years. It is a wonderfully rewarding career, but those summer months do go very fast!

As I posted, I am also looking for a barn very similar to what you have described. Although I am north of the border from you, prices are similar (maybe a little higher here). We also have similar climates to deal with. I will let you know what I find as well.


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## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

PaintHorseMares said:


> Yes. If you look at the first couple pictures, you see 9 6x6 poles with 4 2x12 rafters (1 on each end and 2 in the center) bolted to them, and 2x6 purlins to support the metal roofing. Much simpler than trusses.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Ah yes! Thanks! Did you purchase a plan to build your barn?


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

jillybean19 said:


> This would be an ideal type barn for us. Of course, the runs won't technically be part of the barn, but I included them to have a clear idea of what I want to do. As a pole barn, I'm thinking I'd only have to put in 10 Poles to build this. Any thoughts about the design itself or building it myself?


So if I go back to the simple plan I designed, for a barn that is about 24x24 ft, and included a central pole in the middle where the two stalls meet at the front, do you think I'd need trusses? In all, that puts all my poles about 12 feet from each other, including one central one. I could also put additional supports across the middle along the stall walls as well as the tack room walls if needed.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

There are lots of free plans for all types of farm buildings on the web sites of many colleges with big agriculture schools. Pole barns are so simple that your biggest worry is correctly placing the poles and measuring the height so that it is level and square.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

jillybean19 said:


> So if I go back to the simple plan I designed, for a barn that is about 24x24 ft, and included a central pole in the middle where the two stalls meet at the front, do you think I'd need trusses? In all, that puts all my poles about 12 feet from each other, including one central one. I could also put additional supports across the middle along the stall walls as well as the tack room walls if needed.


You can do 24x24 like we did without trusses...no problem. Once you have the structure up, you can build the stalls/tack/feed/etc rooms with 4x4 posts/etc wherever you want since they do not need to support any load.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

So it looks like you put the center poles a little off-center to make more room in your aisleway. How far apart are your poles and center supports? And, though I don't think it'll be an issue with the size we're wanting, but what is the farthest you should put poles and center supports before adding trusses or at least another support?


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

jillybean19 said:


> So it looks like you put the center poles a little off-center to make more room in your aisleway. How far apart are your poles and center supports? And, though I don't think it'll be an issue with the size we're wanting, but what is the farthest you should put poles and center supports before adding trusses or at least another support?


Here is the very simple plan that I used as a base design. If you look at this plan, you can actually go to 28' in width without center posts at all with the sets of posts every 10' along the length. Since we wanted to partition ours with a shelter, and I wanted to avoid having 2 posts in the shelter area, based on another plan I saw, we went with 28' in width, but increased the distance of the posts to every 15' in length (total length 30') so the shelter part is 10'x30' and we added the 3 'offset' posts at the 10' width of the shelter. Since 16' is a common lumber length, this gave us 30' in the barn/shelter with a 1 foot overhang on each side. Similarly, even though it's nice to have long overhangs, since 16' is a common length, we used 16' 2"x12" rafters and just reduced the overhang. Just more convenient, lumber wise. The only really important factor in the spacing of the posts/purlins and roof pitch is to consider the snow load that you need to support. Although we basically stuck to this plan to be conservative, it is really overbuilt for the amount of snow we get in NC, e.g. we could have used 2x10 rafters instead of 2x12, less pitch in the roof, etc. It was impressively sturdy, however, during the wind and rain we get during hurricane season.
For the exterior walls we set 4x4 posts evenly spaced (every 5' or 6') to support the girts/siding (see picture). It would be similar for your interior walls/stalls.

BTW, I said my wife and I built this by ourselves, but I forgot to mention that "Cinnamon" did offer to help store the grain (last picture) ;-)

Finally, although I had built decks, small sheds, and remodeled our kitchen/baths, I had never taken on building a barn, but I'm sure glad we did. It was well worth the effort and seriously within the capabilities of DIY.


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

jillybean19 said:


> Ideally, we're planning on moving this December. We've found a few houses that look promising - now we have to go see them in person. *They're all about an acre*, and in that area you're allowed to have two horses per acre. Most have outbuildings of some sort, but not really a barn like I would like. For under 5k, I think we could afford to build a barn next summer (AND I'm going to be a teacher, so I've got 3+ months to dedicate myself to building it!)
> 
> And I totally don't mind filling this up with barn plans - I just want something small and efficient, so we don't take up too much pasture area by building a barn (which is likely what the tradeoff will be). I enjoy seeing everyone's creative ideas! Plus, I want this to be as simple as possible so I can actually build it lol.
> 
> And thanks for the building tips and suggestions - I want to be sure I have a game plan for everything before I start planning and building for real!




Per the bold... I am guessing this acre is also going to have your house on it? You do realize just how small an acre actually is don't you? 1 acre = 43,560 square feet (for an exact square of an acre it's only 208.7' x 208.7' so really, really tiny...). With a house, barn, and outbuildings that really doesn't leave any space at all for a horse to have turn out...


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## Sunny (Mar 26, 2010)

caseymyhorserocks said:


> Or.. How about this custom plan made my Claire (aka: caseymyhorserocks) for you  You can make floor plans on floorplanner, an app on google chrome. Sorry bout the tiny words! The blue places are the horse stalls, the small brown is tack room, big brown is an overhang (could be completely walled in though) which you can use for hay AND grooming. If you use it for hay you may want to put the hay in a corner and put up a little half wall for it.


We are in the process of buying a place where we will be building a barn. This is pretty much what we are going for. Only changes are that we will have a loft above the stalls for hay and the stalls will have runs, and one side of the barn will have a lean-to shelter. 12X12 stalls and a 10X12 tack/feed area.


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## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

jillybean- Just to let you know, once you get serious in some places, pictures are needed ;-)


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