Ideas on where to place barn

[wmonroe]

I'm going to have a pole barn built this spring but am having a hard time deciding on where to put it on the property. I am somewhat limited by the layout of the property. The flat area to the left of the house is not large enough to fit the building i want and to the right of the house would be perfect but there is such a beautiful view that direction i hate to block it with the barn. i know this is a dificult question to answer looking at pictures but i'm hoping through discussing it something will 'jump' out at me.
Planning to build a 40x60 with a overhang along the 60' side to park my trailer under.

I sort of painted in where i was thinking of putting the barn on this first picture, the black would be driveway and the red would be the barn.

And another picture to give an idea of the land.

I appreciate any suggestions.

 

[alchemysa]

Worst thing is to have a cold wind blowing directly at the doors. So make sure the prevailing wind is behind or from the side.

 

[wmonroe]

The lines i added to mark the barn are about impossible to see, i'll mark up another picture and add it.

 

[wmonroe]

Obviously this drawing is not to any scale. HAHA

 

[creekbend]

Just a thought? Could you possibly grade and level another piece of your property to build the barn and still meet your needs without obstructing your view? There should be several possibilities and variables available that will help you make the best choice. Good Luck.

 

[whistlepig]

I have had two pole barns built. These were my major considerations on both:

1) Rain water runoff from the roof of a pole barn is significant. My first consideration has always been that the runoff from the pole barn rain water doesn't create a problem.

2) Wind. My present pole barn has overhead doors on the west and east ends. In the summer, with both overhead doors open, I get a nice breeze going through. In the winter this set up is not so good. It's flat as Kansas here and the winter wind is brutal. Also the snow drifts badly both in front and the rear of this barn.

My present pole barn is set up in such a way that I can't see it from inside my house. I consider this very important also.

 

[wmonroe]

Just a thought? Could you possibly grade and level another piece of your property to build the barn and still meet your needs without obstructing your view? There should be several possibilities and variables available that will help you make the best choice. Good Luck.

This is a possibility and i will probably have the guy that did most of the dirt work around the house come in and give me some ideas. He can at least tell me what is feasible to work with or not.

Thanks

 

[wmonroe]

I have had two pole barns built. These were my major considerations on both:

1) Rain water runoff from the roof of a pole barn is significant. My first consideration has always been that the runoff from the pole barn rain water doesn't create a problem.

2) Wind. My present pole barn has overhead doors on the west and east ends. In the summer, with both overhead doors open, I get a nice breeze going through. In the winter this set up is not so good. It's flat as Kansas here and the winter wind is brutal. Also the snow drifts badly both in front and the rear of this barn.

My present pole barn is set up in such a way that I can't see it from inside my house. I consider this very important also.

1. The top of the hill would be best for run off, but that is one reason why im thinking about to the left of the driveway. The water coming down the hill splits and the center of that area stays "relatively" dry. With a proper swell and a good drain behind the building i don't think water would be an issue.

2. Where i'm at wind is definately a concern, i get a lot of it (not like Kansas though). It would be nice to have a breeze through in the summer (my parents is set up this way) but i would like to avoid the snow drifting against the one door.

Are you saying you wanted your barn so you couldn't see it from inside the house? i was leaning more towards being able to see it just to be able to keep an eye on it.

Thanks

 

[Wesdor]

When I had our shed built we had the following requirements:

1). Door on south end (snow melts in winter)
2). Door on east end (stay away from prevailing winter west wind)
3). Visible from the house but not blocking our best view
4). Concrete floor and pad in front of door
5). Electric door openers
6). Man door on south side

When the snow blows from the north we normally have no problems

Hope our ideas help you get the best shed for your property

 

[wmonroe]

Here are more pictures to help understand the layout.

These are of my proposed barn location.

These two are standing where the house is now and looking away from the driveway. This is where i originally though i would put the barn but i would have to extend the driveway through the back yard and the barn would block a lot of the view this way. Not a deal breaker but i love that open area over there.

And here is a google earth shot with me doing a terrible job of drawing the house, driveway, property lines (in red) in.:dunno:

 

[hcallaway]

Your well and septic will determine a lot. Your set backs from the county. Many times the house must be the first building from the road. Is that the house in back? Pretty land and views. Good Luck

 

[KentT]

Is there not enough room between your house and the trees? I think that would be my first choice...

 

[wmonroe]

There is not enough room between the house and trees and it would be a little too tight between the driveway and trees. 15' setback, 40' wide building, 15' overhang to park my trailer under gives me about 70' and the driveway varies between 60' - 80' from the trees.
Where i have it drawn in is about 300' from the house. I measured it today and it didn't seem like a long walk but i may be too eager to get it built also.

 

[beeforty]

I would try and put it close to the house. My small shop is 150'+ and when it is cold and rainy it's a drag, but it was already there before I built my house, so I deal with it.

 

[flusher]

Here are more pictures to help understand the layout.

These are of my proposed barn location.







These two are standing where the house is now and looking away from the driveway. This is where i originally though i would put the barn but i would have to extend the driveway through the back yard and the barn would block a lot of the view this way. Not a deal breaker but i love that open area over there.





And here is a google earth shot with me doing a terrible job of drawing the house, driveway, property lines (in red) in.:dunno:

IMHO, the driveway is the problem. It sprawls over the middle of that property. Locate your new construction near the house and rebuild the driveway so you have a useful field that's not obstructed by that driveway. Move the driveway closer to the left property line.

 

[blunosr]

Hi, Nice looking place! I agree with Beeforty, close to the house is best. Myself, I would spend more time running back and forth to the shop/barn than I would soaking up the view. Also consider the topography, as you move down-slope the water table gets closer to the surface. If there are any springs, or wet areas near where you want to put your barn, you may run into drainage problems. You might also have trouble getting enough drainage to put a septic bed in if that's in your plans.

Great looking place!

Merry Christmas!

 

[JamesHW]

I'd suggest running the road up along the lot border on the left (in your diagram) and then curve towards the house and the barn, preserving the field as others have suggested.

 

[lhfarm]

Our barn is 450' from the house, in part because we built the garage/shop in the wrong place. It blocks a view that my wife loved, but it met my desire at the time to have the doors facing south. After 15 years and very few snows that I couldn't have handled, I wish it were in a different location - the one my wife wanted.

The barn location was picked because it was next to an old shed and I didn't want to be blocking another view. Again, with hindsight, I'd move it closer to the house drive. It would just be handier.

You are clearly giving this a lot of thought and I'd encourage you to continue to do so. I'd also think about things like moving the drive as has been suggested. Because it was there when we got the place, I didn't think of moving it. If I had used it as a variable, I might have had more alternatives.

I hope you will keep posting as you go through the process.

 

[JimRB]

On my property we had setbacks for fun barns and for commercial. We were not planning on boarding any horses but the setback for commercial was 200 feet so I set the barn 220 feet away from a few property lines. It is easy access from the barn to 5 turnout areas. If you are not doing horses then a centrally located barn may not matter. You can put up a shop/hay barn where it is convenient.

 

[wmonroe]

Thanks for all the help guys. I don't think moving the driveway will work, when we were getting ready to put it in we talked to 4 different excavators and they all suggested this route (without knowing what the others suggested). It goes up the least steep part of the hill (still rather steep) and doesn't angle across the hill anywhere. I originally wanted to put it over along the property line but it is much steeper and there is no flat area at the top which would leave us driving across the very steep section and sliding down the hill off the driveway in the winter.

The plan is to go with 16' walls to allow 14' overhead door and to build a loft along one wall, with 4:12 trusses this will put my height at the peak at almost 24'. Will this be too tall and look out of place close to the house?

My plan is to stay at this place the rest of my life (29 now) and i don't want to do anything twice if i can avoid it, that why all the dumb questions.
Thanks again for the help.