# Building a barn



## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

Down the road my boyfriend and I have talked about building a barn on the property (to go with marriage, kids etc). We have 40 acres of mostly forest, and its generally pretty flat too! We'd have to clear some of it for the barn. Given that my boyfriend chops down a few trees every year to fuel the wood stove in the house thats an easy task.

The awesome thing about my boyfriend, one of many at least, is that he's quite the handyman with construction, paving, electrician and plumbing experience and has a lot of toys (heavy machinery) at his disposal. So barn building would be a largely to it ourself project. We've discussed building more stalls than I would use for personal horses so that we can have boarders, mostly just to cover the cost of feeding my own (since there's not much profit to be made in horses).

Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions you guys may have for layout, building materials, design etc for building a barn. What are some features you like, or don't like, in a barn? I also love pictures.

I live in Massachusetts, so warm in winter, and cool in summer, are necessary! I'd like an indoor wash stall but its not needed. Concrete center aisle, then stone dust flooring in the stalls with mats on top seems to be the norm. Does urine soaking the footing underneath ever cause an issue with wood rotting or smell? I initially thought about doing the stalls on a concrete slab with drainage underneath so I could pressure wash the floors once or twice a year.

I'm thinking I would like hay stored in a different building (because I'm paranoid about fires). I think boyfriend (being a firefighter) would be on board with that idea too. Ideas for hay storage would be ideal, or maybe a fire wall in the barn loft to keep the horses safe. I don't like the idea of dragging hay bales across the yard in the winter, so maybe separate hay storage wouldn't be ideal. One thing that drives me nuts at my current barn is that the more "controlling" boarders like to weigh and bag a few days worth of hay at a time. Since there's no extra room in the little 6x6 area where we stack a few days worth of hay (the rest goes into the loft) so their hay bags end up crowding the walkway to the tack room. So every time someone walks by with their tack they end up knocking down hay bags and its a pain in the neck having to clean up clutter to saddle my horse.

I love the European stall fronts, and I'm thinking full walls between the stalls is ideal. Has anyone ever made their own stall fronts? My current barn has a pipe that runs along the top of all the stalls with hose attachments in front of each stall to fill water easily. I'm not a fan of automatic waterers, impossible to clean the horse crap out of them!

I'm on the fence about having run outs attached to the barn. Part of me likes the ease, but I also believe horses should be handled on a daily basis, so manually bringing them in and out facilitates that. I also don't love how the doorways of the stalls become a muck pit. Pros/cons?

Whats the best way to handle blanket storage? Stall front just looks cluttered if theres more than one. Given the climate horses up here tend to go through a variety of blanket weights weekly. Any ideas on this topic?

Other ideas and suggestions?


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

I'm going to answer directly in your post so it makes more sense my book written. 
I edited out some of the background information just because my book got so long a post...:icon_rolleyes:



SKB1994 said:


> I live in Massachusetts, so warm in winter, and cool in summer, are necessary! I'd like an indoor wash stall but its not needed. Concrete center aisle, then stone dust flooring in the stalls with mats on top seems to be the norm. Does urine soaking the footing underneath ever cause an issue with wood rotting or smell? I initially thought about doing the stalls on a concrete slab with drainage underneath so I could pressure wash the floors once or twice a year.
> _Over time all wood absorbs odors and will rot.._
> _I would *not* do wood floors in stalls..._
> _I would do concrete, stall mattresses and I am a fan of a ample supply of bedding from shavings...means 6"+++ thick over the entire floor._
> ...


That's all I can think of quickly....some are things I've experienced in my own barn building adventures...some are things we had where I worked or wished we had and did not...
:runninghorse2:...


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Sounds like building a barn is a little way off in your plans. It's fun to think about, but you have the advantage of having a few years to think about what will work best for you so use this time to visit lots of barns! Ask people if you can go visit their barns, and ask what works and what doesn't. Learn from others. The thing is, what works for one person will not necessarily work for another. There are climate considerations, but beyond that, lots of personal preferences as well. 

I currently have 3 horses in a barn I built 2.5 years ago and I couldn't be happier with it. For me, this setup is perfect. I have a concrete floor and full foundation with rubber mats in stalls. I also thought I would wash the floors a couple of times a year, but hauling those mats out is a lot of work! And honestly, the floor wasn't that dirty under them. Two stalls have dutch doors that lead to the paddock, and those doors are almost never closed so in reality, my horses spend very little time in stalls, and the vast majority of their time outside. I love this setup. So much so, that when I brought in a third horse, I just tore down the wall between the two 10 x 12 stalls to make a very large run-in that has two ways in and out for safety. This morning, when I came in to feed, all three were in the 10 x 24 double stall, standing quietly together (the doors were open, they can leave anytime). I do feel that horses benefit from as much turnout as possible. I do have a third stall so I can separate them if needed. I kept some of the boards from the dividing wall of the two main stalls and nailed a couple of boards to create a groove I can slide the boards in. That way, I can divide the double-stall back into two stalls in a matter of minutes. The biggest advantage of the large run-in though, is that if I am at work and the weather turns suddenly, they always have shelter. Without it, I would have had to have built a separate shelter. Also, I keep my heated water buckets in the stalls (there are two in the double stall, one on each end) so I'm not heating water outside. They just come in when they get thirsty. I honestly could not live without this setup. 

There are numerous windows, and I did not put bars in them because they are quite high up in the stalls so the horses can't reach them. The lighting is very good year round. Oh, and it's great that your boyfriend is handy, but hire professional electricians to do all the wiring. It isn't cheap, but it needs to be done right in a horse barn so you don't have a fire risk, or rodents chewing on the wire. Lights need to be encased in a large glass dome and plastic casing. All my outlets also have built-in covers to keep stuff (and horse noses) out. You will want plugs situated outside each stall door so you can plug in heated buckets. Extension cords are a no-no, as I'm sure you're aware. 

As for being handled daily, I do that anyway. I am always handling them, and all three are very friendly and inquisitive so anytime I am at the barn, they are looking for scratches and follow me around the paddock. I can halter any of the three anytime by just walking out with a halter. I check them over daily, even when they're out in the pasture. Speaking of which, I have two pastures which allows for rotation, but they're both connected to my paddock by a gate so I just open the gate, then open whichever pasture I want the horses to be in. Again, this makes for a very easy system. They can come back to the barn at anytime if it gets hot or buggy - and they do. In the hottest months, they come in around noon and doze in the shade of the barn for part of the afternoon. The barn has excellent ventilation just by keeping it very open (ceiling is 18 feet high). I also added a 10' overhang to the roof over the stall doors so they sometimes just stand under there. The barn stays cooler than the outside on those hot days (I think the concrete really helps, but I also have a light-coloured roof and of course, vents on either end). And regardless of what they are doing, I call them to the barn twice a day with a cow bell for hay cube feedings. It allows me to interact with them regularly and check them over for injuries. But in the end, they decide when they want to be out and when they want to come in (they change this routine seasonally) rather than me making up an artificial routine which may not suit them. 

Otherwise, my barn is a basic wooden structure with trusses (it's 48' by 24' and 18' height in total). We put metal siding and a metal roof on it. My stall fronts (inside) are very basic half-walls. I don't like bars and don't need them with my horses. But you may want to have one or two stalls with bars in case a boarder has a biter. My contractor built basic swinging doors. I opted not to do sliding doors because I know a lot of people around here who have had issues with them jamming, betting bent by horses pushing on them, etc. I kept my barn very basic so I can fix most things without special hardware which is hard to get in my part of the world. My barn aisle is very wide at 12'. I love it that way. No clutter. And I have a 2' x 10' space beside my take room where I can keep enough hay for a week so it's not cluttering up the aisle. Most of my hay goes up in a hay loft because I don't care to haul bales from an outside building through snow on a regular basis. 

My barn is not insulated. I have seen many insulated barns drip from condensation in the winter. If you want to insulate, you will want to have a good air exchange system, and forget run-ins as they defeat the purpose. But this morning, it was -17C with the windchill when I went out for first feeding. In the barn, it was just barely below freezing (around -2 or 3C) even though the doors on the side of the barn were wide open. All three horses in there kept it plenty warm, but the air is still of excellent quality. I do shut the doors on the most brutally cold days, or when it it snowing sideways. That only happens a handful of times. 

Manure removal in winter will become an issue you'll want to consider. Shoveling a path to the manure pile after each storm is one of my least favorite aspects of winter, but it is inevitable. I use a muck bucket to clean stalls in winter, and since my manure pile is downhill from the barn, I put it on a round saucer type sled and push it down the hill, lol. It works! I have a couple of old threads about my barn on here if you want to look them up. Lots of pictures in there. 

I wouldn't change anything in my setup, but it may not be what you need. So again, your best bet is to visit lots of barns in your area. Ask people what they like and dislike. 

Now, if you plan on having a few horses, you will want individual run-ins of course. Multiple paddocks and pastures will probably be necessary if you are boarding other people's horses.


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## AGibson (Nov 23, 2018)

When we were building our barn we agonized over doing concrete floors or compacted DG with mats and a concrete boarder. After talking to several barn owners and trainers, we went with the DG and mats. The biggest reason we did not do a concrete floor was the fact that everyone said unless you bed it super deep you will have soundness problems. Even with rubber mats. 

We have had our barn for 10 years with the DG and mats. I haven't had a problem what so ever with them. But my horses aren't in their stalls during the day. So maybe that's why they have held up so well.

The other big thing for us was drainage. Our barn is on the higher part of the property, so that water drains away from it. We also get high winds in our area so we have the barn away from trees that could potentially come down. And it is angled to protect it the most from the winds. The roof is rated up to 85 mile an hour winds. 

Last we made our hay storage easy. We can back a truck in and directly unload from the flatbed. 

Also my husband is a contractor and we went back and forth as to whether he should build the barn himself or have a pre-fab from a company. After penciling it all out we went with a company. Because I wanted horse rated kick walls, doors etc. which we would have had to buy from the company, it was cheaper to go with the company for the whole barn. My husband did do all the foundation work himself, ie water, electrical, grading etc. All the barn company had to do was come and install. 

Good luck and have fun.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Think very hard about these less enticing subjects before you get bogged down in stall designs:


Drainage
Solar exposure
Convenience (especially for winter)
Prevailing winds
Pasture/turnout layout, paths and gates
Arena site
manure storage area
trailer, tractor, and truck parking
lighting (bringing in natural light is a big plus)
don't forget an indoor frost free hydrant

You didn't say how many horses or whether you'll be managing boarders. Makes a big difference whether it is three good buddies or twenty-five random occupants.

I have a wonderful three stall stable with a loft, that was a kit barn from The Carriage Shed company in Vermont. It's worth looking at their layouts. It has a 12' concrete aisle (which I matted completely) and tackroom, but the stalls are granite dust over drain rock, then matted and bedded. My horses have pasture access at all times; I set up the gates so each stall has a separate run plus gate to pasture. The horses can be closed in the stalls, closed separately in runs/stalls, have their own pasture -- or have everything open free choice, which is how it is almost always since I have two horses who prefer to be together.

In MA a southern exposure would be ideal. Orienting the barn so that the prevailing wind sweeps through in summer will be a help for cooling. Drainage is very, very important in a wet climate like New England. You will want the manure area to be downwind, downhill, close to the stable, and accessible by a tractor. In fact you want everything accessible by a tractor. Every area needs a drive gate and room to swing it.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

I suggest a pad and paper.....layout the plan, draw some sketches, and form a mental picture of what you want....


I store my blankets in plastic totes.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

We built our barn going on 7 years ago. It was one GIANT recycling project! 

My barn is not small, but not really big.....the best decisions are:

Building the barn frame out of steel pipe

Making the aisle 16’ wide

Using wood floors in the stalls(horselovingguy KNEW I was going to post that, which is why he said he wouldn’t do it, even though you didn’t ask.....)

Not wasting space on a tack “room” but making reach in closets for it.


I have never cared for attached runs....but my barn is on 8 feet of fill on one side, so I could not have done them anyway! It makes going around the barn too long a trip....

The key to using wood on the floors is using full cut, hardwood(as old growth as possible). Mine came from a local Amish mill. They are installed on about 3 feet of large gravel fill, so they drain. 

A 16’ wide aisle with 10’ high doors allows my tractor to be in the aisle, and horses to pass. It allows be to hitch and drive a large pair carriage through. 

My barn could be a 14 stall barn(84 feet long) but I have 6 box stalls, then a 12’ cross aisle way, then on the left side, I made those 3 stalls into 9 standing stalls, and the other side is the tack storage, an office/ apartment, and the carriage storage/ wash rack.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

one day when i build a barn im using this stuff. basically what you do is dig the stall WAY low so you can back fill it with layers of larger to finer gravel. basically creating a french ditch. then you put this honey comb looking matting over it that protect the layers of gravel from being dug into and helps drainage. THEN you put mats and bedding over it. you can even do sand over it for outdoor runs (OR for walkways to and from the barn to prevent mud hint hint). 

Cv Supply - Horse Stall Flooring, Horse Stall Mats, Equine Stall Mats

im also a fan of runs attached to stalls. some people cant come out every day or a horse has a slight layup (or they are brats and cant play nice with other horses) so daily turnout may not be an option. so runs give horses a wee bit more space and some outside time. also if you board a bratty one you can lock their butts outside while you strip the stall and not have to shuffle them around. and when its hot leaving that run door open will allow more air flow and the horses a chance to step outside if the barn itself gets too warm.


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## humanartrebel1020 (Nov 12, 2018)

Hey I was recently looking for property and what I would like for it as well. If you have money to spend this website im going to use sells great packages and different stalls and barns which include stall fronts and grills!!. I love this website, You might too. Make sure if your buying stalls that they have high probability of being used. These packages have wash stalls too and they have a separate wash stall package all in one. There is also a "NO STALL" package which is a few stalls and there will be a box indent which wont be a stall and can be used for washing. Take a look! https://www.barnpros.com/default.aspx? Your can sell Your trees wood for lumber profit and save and self build which is a neat idea too!


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## humanartrebel1020 (Nov 12, 2018)

The look good for the blankets https://www.doversaddlery.com/european-horse-clothing-rack/p/X1-27326/
https://www.doversaddlery.com/knock-down-3-arm-blanket-rack/p/X1-27992/
If you just need holders the second link, if utilized differently can hold six. That's how I would use this one .


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

I went through much of the same process when I had my barn built a few years ago. Some points on what I learned in the process:

There are effectively two ways to build a barn. (there's a 3rd method, but it is difficult, expensive and requires experienced craftsmen). Stick frame construction and pole barn. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. It's really up to you to decide which is best for your situation. As you are planning on doing it yourselves, I suggest that a pole barn might be the better solution.


*Plans:
*When I built my barn, I spoke to several different contractors/builders. I ended up with a "kit" from a company called BarnPros (you can find them online - west coast, but they ship nationwide). There were several advantages (for me) to this method. Their kit includes a plan and comes with virtually all materials needed. It's like a giant Ikea furniture project. It may look expensive, but my final cost for the kit and the contractor to build it wasn't very far from a local builder "turnkey" quote. In the end, the difference was likely small, since I'm sure there were things the local builders would consider "extras" that were included in my kit. With the kit, you know that the plans are sound and the structure is engineered to your zone.

*Location:
*Think hard about where you place your barn AND how you orient the structure. I set mine up to that the sun doesn't beat down on the stalls and the prevailing wind goes in one side and out the other (thru the center aisle). This allows for good air flow and keeps things cooler in the summer. Also consider access for large vehicles - delivery trucks (up to tractor trailer size), horse trailers (including space to turn around).

Location also applies to drainage (a topic another poster mentioned). You want to make sure water (rain, runoff, barn waste) flows _away_ from your barn.



*"warm in winter, and cool in summer, are necessary"
*Hehe, good luck with that. Plan for electric and you can use a fan in the summer to help a bit. The only way you can get to “warm” or “cool” in those seasons is with heating and air conditioning. Not very practical or efficient in a non-insulated agri building. Heat and AC will likely require additional permits/inspections and likely increase your property taxes. Stick with the fan and use blankets in the winter. Climate control isn’t worth the cost or trouble.


*Flooring:
*With all due respect to others, I don’t buy into the “concrete is a bad flooring choice” concept. Several commercial barns by me have concrete floors and use mats with bedding on top. I’ve never heard of a horse having issues due to that. I’m not claiming it can’t happen, just that it isn’t common. 

I had a concrete slab poured for my pole barn. (Another advantage of pole barns is that you don’t need a frost wall, so the concrete work is easier). My barn is 36x30 with an overhang on one side. There are dutch doors on the overhang side. I _could_ make this a run out, but decided not to. My concrete slab extends from the barn to the overhang (acts as a walkway), so I don’t have a potential mud situation near the door.

A slab makes cleaning easy. Sure, things can get under the mats, but you can always strip the stall and clean up with bleach to disinfect when needed.

I was considering drainage built into my floor, but suggestions on this forum made me decide against it (glad I listened). My slab has a pitch to it to all water runs off from the middle to the sides. Clean up of the aisle (and/or stalls) can be done by spraying a hose.


*Wash Stall:
*Our barn has 3 12x12 stalls on one side. I left the other side with two open bays and one tack room. We thought about a wash stall and decided against it. It adds cost and complication to the project. Easier to tie up the horses outside and away from the barn for that.


*Hay Storage:
*We don’t store much hay (although we do have a hayloft). I can’t speak to fire prevention tips. One thing, however. You mention many trees. Keep in mind even if you build a separate structure for hay, you should leave a big area around it as a fire break. In the event of a fire, a separate building won’t do you any good if there is the surrounding trees catch fire and spread it to your barn.


On the topic of trees - keep in mind that you need to remove the stumps to build on the land. That’s a whole ‘nutter process from gathering firewood. 


*Lighting:
*Don’t underestimate the need for lighting. Plan your electricity needs and service size ahead of time. You will likely run a service from the house into a sub panel. If you know what you are doing, the barn electric is very simple. However, consider a licensed electrician for the service panel. They can do it safely and to code. I believe you have a higher risk of fire with bad electric than you do with hay storage.


*Water:* 
Seems obvious, but make sure you have good access to water. Definitely plan for frost free spigots. Personally, I prefer my water spigot to be outside the barn. Less trouble when/if something goes wrong. It isn’t a problem to connect and use a hose. It’s also easy to set up a “pex” watering system to have spigots above the water buckets in each stall. These can be drained easily to prevent freeze-ups in the winter.


If the photos worked, I have included three. One outside, one looking down at the stalls from the hayloft, and one from the center aisle.


Hope this helps.


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

The barn I'm at now belongs to my grandfather, so many of the design decisions were not mine, but I do really love the barn.

Here are the pros:

Flooring - We have a concrete aisle. The stalls are packed stone dust base with fitted rubber mats on top. The rubber mats are not removable. There is a slight step down into the stalls so bedding and such doesn't get kicked into the aisle. This flooring is great. Low maintenance, and seems comfortable for the horses.

Walls - The stalls fronts and walls between the stalls are half walls with bars on the upper half. While you need to place horses that get along in neighboring stalls, horses can easily see other horses while in the stalls so they seem less bored and stressed when they have to be in. This also makes a huge difference in air flow. It doesn't get nearly as stuffy and hot in summer with the half walls.

Hay Loft - A lot of people don't like hay lofts because they can get hot and start fires, but this one is great. The loft is only above the aisle, and completely open over the stalls. This with the cupolas allows for good ventilation and allows heat to escape. It also makes feeding hay a breeze. We just toss it into the stalls from the loft. No mess in your aisle!

The Tack Room - My mom designed the tack room. It's super classy. I like the wooden saddle racks built in to the wall. They don't leave grooves in your panels like the metal ones do. A book case for storing grooming kits is elegant and practical. A bench in the center of the room is a great place to sit for changing shoes and sitting to clean tack. The tack room is also insulated, which keeps helps protect tack from extreme changes in temperature and humidity.

A Dedicated Feed Room - So many barns I've been in don't have a dedicated feed room, and have to store feed in an extra stall or in some stray corner of the barn. It's nice having an actual feed room with a door that can be closed to keep any horses that might get loose out of it.

Real Stairs! - There are real stairs going to the hay loft and not some scary ladder. Otherwise, I'd never go up to the hayloft.

Lighting - The lights are run along the sides of the aisle instead of one row down the center. This eliminates a lot of shadow when grooming after dark.

Windows and doors - The windows and doors are barred with removable yolks so you have the option to let a horse put their head out or not. The windows themselves and be secured open or closed. Keeping windows open in summer keeps the barn cool and well ventilated. Keeping them closed in winter contains the horse's body heat enough to keep the water from freezing in all but extreme cold. There is also a porch with an overhang along both sides of the barn where the stall windows are. This mean you can leave the windows open in any weather and it won't rain sideways into the barn.

The Cons are as follows:

Wash Stall - While I love the design of the wash stall itself, and the shelf built into the wall, the cross ties are in a terrible place. They're placed at the very front of the wash stall so the horses are always standing half in the aisle and you get water everywhere. There aren't any studs further back so they can't be moved.

Water Spigots - There is a hot and cold spigot in the wash stall facing each other. This doesn't work out well because when you turn one on, it blasts the sand and stone out of the base of the other one. This sucks in winter because if you blast the fill out of the base they freeze at the bottom and you have to use a hair dryer to get the water running. There aren't enough of them either. There are the ones in the wash stall, one right out back, and one right out front. That's it. There is nothing near any of the pastures so we have to run miles of hose. Plan your pastures, and put spigots near each of them. It will save you so much time, headache and money replacing broken hoses and connectors on the long term.

Wheel Barrow storage - There is no wheel barrow and pitch fork storage, so we just put all that in the wash stall. Every time we want to use the wash stall we have to move it all. All the dirt from that clogs the wash stall drain too. Make sure you plan for where to put that stuff, even if it's just an extra stall.

Bedding storage - There's no dedicated bedding storage either. We used to store it in another building but that was to long of a walk so now it's in an extra stall, which is fine, but make sure you plan an extra stall or something for that too.

Aaaannd that's about it.


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## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

There's so many great ideas here I hadn't considered yet! I'm so glad I posted this. I want my future barn to be planned out exactly how I want it so there's no regrets of what I should've done differently down the line. Clearing trees and stumps is no big deal! We have the equipment for that 

I'm planning for 4-8 stalls, depending on budget. I would like to design it in a way I could easily add onto it. I plan on being very selective on who I allow to board with me.

I have zero intentions of allowing boarders to be bagging hay. It adds clutter. If they want to bag hay my barn isn't for them.

I'm not sure how I feel about just having bars between the stalls. My current barn has those and the horses fight between them all the time. Its so annoying. I've never seen a group of horses fight so much. Hawk gets along with everyone and doesn't act like that, but his neighbors are obnoxious. Maybe I would do only half the wall open, so they can still get privacy from each other. 

I don't plan to have a commercial boarding barn, but I do have a lot of friends who I know would board with me. Horses lunging out of their stalls at others would not be tolerated. I'm very strict on manners with all horses, the ones at my barn are quite shocked on the occasions I do turn in and feeding because their usual behavior simply is not allowed.

Kiltsrhott I am in LOVE with your barn, its so beautiful! I don't even want to know what it cost to build. I love how the outside windows have yokes so they can stick their heads outside! 

Hay drops into each stall is a brilliant idea, that sounds so convenient. A step down into the stalls from the aisle is a good idea too. I actually love those mesh full doors I've seen in pictures, but I don't really want shavings everywhere either. 

Thinking more about the in/out stalls, one of the biggest pros I can think of is having an external exit door to each stall in case of fire. I would probably still shut them in at night, but if something were to ever happen I could get to the horses without entering a burning building.

I would probably have electrical outlets between every stall. Maybe with those outdoor plastic covers to keep the dust out of them for when they're not in use. 

Horselovinguy you make a lot of great points I never would have thought of! Thats an interesting idea about hanging the lighting to the side to avoid shadows. Outdoor spotlights are an absolute must! I wish my barn had lights on our outdoor arena. 

Greentree- What makes you say steel pipe for the frame? That seems quite expensive and also I haven't seen it done before in a barn. I'm very curious on your thoughts about this.

Kigerqueen- I love that idea for the footing. Where do you buy that honeycomb material? This is definitely a project we could do ourselves at home.

One thing I like at my barn is that rather than a dedicated feed room, we have built in cubbies attached to the wall in the hallway with a heavy wooden lid. Each cubby fits about one bag of grain per horse, with room underneath it to store smartpak trays and metal feed bins for extra grain. It saves a lot of space rather than having a dedicated room and we don't have rodent or mold issues. I think I would combine this with a utility/bedding storage area. 

Would it ever make sense to insulate the entire barn? Maybe not do a perfect job of it but at least a little bit. I'm a wuss in the cold.


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## humanartrebel1020 (Nov 12, 2018)

kiltsrhott said:


> The barn I'm at now belongs to my grandfather, so many of the design decisions were not mine, but I do really love the barn.
> 
> Here are the pros:
> 
> ...


Lovee Your Grand fathers barn, do you have and idea who built it or designed it?


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

@SKB1994 As this is sometime in the future and a prior poster made mention of selling trees you may want to inventory your trees and come up with a management plan and feasibility study to see if harvesting would provide a nest egg for future building. What part of the country are you in? Are your woods mixed or mainly one variety? Size of the trees? How is their growth and are they free from knots and such? Are you willing to clean the undergrowth and do maintenance to improve your stand? Are there logging companies/mills that buy? Do you have a competent forestry department in your state that can advise you as that can improve the price you sell for significantly. You also have to look at accessibility and environmental issues that could impact any sale. You may find it isn't worth it but then again you may find it is a potential source for limited revenue.


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## SKB1994 (Sep 28, 2014)

QtrBel said:


> @SKB1994 As this is sometime in the future and a prior poster made mention of selling trees you may want to inventory your trees and come up with a management plan and feasibility study to see if harvesting would provide a nest egg for future building. What part of the country are you in? Are your woods mixed or mainly one variety? Size of the trees? How is their growth and are they free from knots and such? Are you willing to clean the undergrowth and do maintenance to improve your stand? Are there logging companies/mills that buy? Do you have a competent forestry department in your state that can advise you as that can improve the price you sell for significantly. You also have to look at accessibility and environmental issues that could impact any sale. You may find it isn't worth it but then again you may find it is a potential source for limited revenue.


I'm not sure if this is something we would consider, we have mostly pine and a handful of white birches. He tends to chop it for the wood stove we use to heat our home, and also gives it to his family as firewood. I imagine him being more inclined to keep the trees we clear for our own use, it would save him several years of felling trees if he just had a big pile to process as needed. 

We do have a couple acres already cleared as the "backyard" and then a quarter mile path to another couple of cleared acres that is a field. The path itself tends to accumulate standing water, and would probably need to be graded to stand up to regular use.


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

SKB1994 said:


> Would it ever make sense to insulate the entire barn? Maybe not do a perfect job of it but at least a little bit. I'm a wuss in the cold.


NO!!! Going down that road, you are talking about building a house, not a barn.

Insulating the walls is a waste of time and money unless you have doors that are weather-sealed (like the doors on your home). You would also need a different type door... standard barn doors will not keep the heat inside.

After you have the entire structure sealed up as you would when building a house, you need to install a heating system to generate heat. The insulated building only keeps some of the heat from escaping - it doesn't make the building warm on its own. Don't forget a cooling system too since that same sealed up building will retain heat like crazy in the summer.

So now you have substantially increased the cost of materials, the time involved to build, the complexity of the build. Next, you need to pay the bills to fuel your heating system.

Also, keep in mind that it isn't good for the horses to be shuffling between a warm barn and cold outside throughout the winter. 

Do yourself a favor and get a space heater to keep you warm while working in the barn (but don't run it while you are not there as it would be a potential fire hazard). Better yet, wear a warm coat.


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

humanartrebel1020 said:


> Lovee Your Grand fathers barn, do you have and idea who built it or designed it?


Thanks! The barn was designed mostly by my mom. I pitched a few ideas. For instance, the hay loft and being able to throw hay down from the loft was my contribution. I saw it in another barn once. My grandfather came up with the lights on the sides of the aisles instead of the center to avoid shadows. He didn't know it at the time but he was developing cataracts and couldn't see very well. (He since had surgery to remove the cataracts and can see fine). I didn't even realize having lights down the center was a problem, but putting them on the sides does make a huge difference.

King Construction in New Holland, PA built the barn. They did an excellent job.
https://www.kingbarns.com/

I honestly have no idea what it cost because I didn't pay for it. I imagine it wasn't cheap.

I know my grandfather did originally want dutch doors to the outside of the stalls but that increased the price too much for him. My mom wanted arched doorways and they both wanted stone veneer siding to match the house, but couldn't do that due to cost. There are a few other corners he cut but there are still so many other great details I'm not sad about anything that was cut.

King was really good about helping with barn design too. They would hook you up with other people who had barns built by them so you could see other barns and ask questions. My mom got a lot of ideas from other people who have King barns.


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## kiltsrhott (Mar 11, 2012)

SKB1994 said:


> I'm not sure how I feel about just having bars between the stalls. My current barn has those and the horses fight between them all the time. Its so annoying. I've never seen a group of horses fight so much. Hawk gets along with everyone and doesn't act like that, but his neighbors are obnoxious. Maybe I would do only half the wall open, so they can still get privacy from each other.


I really don't like solid walls because it really does inhibit air flow and make a barn feel more stuffy, especially on hot, humid summer days. Since our stalls all have bars on top we do have to be sure horses that are next to each other get along. It can be annoying. We have one horse that can be food aggressive. Since we have two aisles that cross each other the stalls are divided up into groups of two and three. The aggressive one is in a stall that's one of just 2 stalls next to each other. Her only neighbor is the bedding storage stall. She can still see three of her turnout buddies across the aisle, but doesn't have to defend her food against anyone right next to her, so it works out well. The other horses are stalled by their turnout buddies so there's no drama. It's a 10 stall barn and there are only 7 horses so we have some flexibility. We like to keep 2 stalls empty because we shuffle them around to clean stalls when they're in. If you don't have that many stalls or don't have extra stalls that might limit your flexibility in that area. I agree, only having part of the wall with bars might be a good compromise.



SKB1994 said:


> One thing I like at my barn is that rather than a dedicated feed room, we have built in cubbies attached to the wall in the hallway with a heavy wooden lid. Each cubby fits about one bag of grain per horse, with room underneath it to store smartpak trays and metal feed bins for extra grain. It saves a lot of space rather than having a dedicated room and we don't have rodent or mold issues. I think I would combine this with a utility/bedding storage area.


This is a neat idea! The last place I boarded made everyone buy their own feed so every horse had their own bag of feed. The feed room was chaos! It was really confusing trying to figure out who's stuff was who's and who ate what. If you do that, then you can label each cubby with exactly what each horse gets and how much and when, to be clear for anyone else who might be feeding for you.

This is what we do in our barn. It's an old picture but it should give you an idea. Pelleted feeds are measured in lbs and supplements are measured in scoops. Each thing is stored in a trash can or tupperware labeled with the corresponding letter on the feed schedule. The appropriately sized scoop is in the container. The black tape is stuck to the board in the layout of the barn so you can figure out which stall each horse is in too. Because it's dry erase marker, you can easily make changes. We make up feed ahead of time in tupperware containers labeled with each horse's name.













SKB1994 said:


> Would it ever make sense to insulate the entire barn? Maybe not do a perfect job of it but at least a little bit. I'm a wuss in the cold.


I would not. Our tack room is insulated. It's nice because it prevents extreme changes in temperature, and we can run a dehumidifier if we need to, but it does still get hot in summer and cold in winter. It's essential that a barn be able to breathe. Heat needs to be able to escape, especially from your hay storage area. Good ventilation is important for preventing mold, trapped dust clouds, and bad smells too. It's not good for your horses to have too much of a temperature change going in and out either.


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

@SKB1994 our barns in Texas were built out used drill stem from the oil rigs. We took them down and moved them to Kentucky.


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