Barndominium/Shop or "real" House?

[zzvyb6]

OK, here's my 2 cents. "Experience is a good & hard teacher".

Build the shop first. You need extra height for that vehicle lift. Infrared heat works pretty good in a shop environment.

Then build the house. The shop should be large enough to store the home's intermediate building materials. Put a camper in it if you want to stay there occasionally to protect your assets.

Your shop will probably have fuel(s), vehicles, welders, gases, a loud compressor, saws, tools, sand blaster, and a tire changer. Not a good idea to keep the flammables and vehicle operations in or near your home, especially if loved ones live there too. Some projects are best performed while you are alone with no-one else interrupting or interfering with the occasional mechanical disasters, oopses, and blunders. Trust me...

 

[ETD66SS]

OK, here's my 2 cents. "Experience is a good & hard teacher".

Build the shop first. You need extra height for that vehicle lift. Infrared heat works pretty good in a shop environment.

Then build the house. The shop should be large enough to store the home's intermediate building materials. Put a camper in it if you want to stay there occasionally to protect your assets.

Your shop will probably have fuel(s), vehicles, welders, gases, a loud compressor, saws, tools, sand blaster, and a tire changer. Not a good idea to keep the flammables and vehicle operations in or near your home, especially if loved ones live there too. Some projects are best performed while you are alone with no-one else interrupting or interfering with the occasional mechanical disasters, oopses, and blunders. Trust me...

This was my plan for this lot all along. But in 2021 the town passed a bylaw that does not allow me to build a barn first, has to be a residence, then a barn. My land is zoned RR (Rural Residential) and is classed as abandoned AG, yet, still can't build a barn first. Welcome to NY!

 

[turbo36]

This was my plan for this lot all along. But in 2021 the town passed a bylaw that does not allow me to build a barn first, has to be a residence, then a barn. My land is zoned RR (Rural Residential) and is classed as abandoned AG, yet, still can't build a barn first. Welcome to NY!

We have similar zoning where I am at, I ended up buying a dilapidated house just so I could build a pole barn behind it. I should’ve just parked a dilapidated mobile home as it would’ve counted the same.

 

[hcallaway]

I have not done what you are planning on doing to that level. I did build a pole barn and living quarters inside. Had a permit for the garage and finished it out as I wanted. Never an issue. Lucky a garage first w/o a house was an option. Approximately 40 x 60. Friend liked it so much he bought it and then we built a 60 x 100 with a mezzanine to view his car collection. The home we built 7 years ago is ranch style 1800’ (oversized garage) and a large detached garage with a second floor, including 3 4 post lifts. It has been the best arrangement for me so far. I will enjoy watching.

 

[ovrszd]

It's not a footing. The footing is at the bottom. He's gonna need the same footing for a crawl space or a basement wall. The only additional expense is a deeper hole, the 18 additional yards of concrete, twice as much rebar, and taller forms. The labor is the same.

Moss, you are simply wrong. And I know where a footing is.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss, you are simply wrong. And I know where a footing is.

You keep saying I'm wrong. All he'd have to do is add 5' of additional wall around the perimeter. That's it. We're gonna end up hijacking his thread, so I'll bow out.

 

[ovrszd]

You keep saying I'm wrong. All he'd have to do is add 5' of additional wall around the perimeter. That's it. We're gonna end up hijacking his thread, so I'll bow out.

No floor?

 

[MossRoad]

 

[Paystar]

While the thought of a barndominium is appealing at first, and not to be negative, these are just the thoughts I've had on the subject over the years...

- I would not want a shop attached to my home. There's a small, but real risk of fire, fumes, carbon monoxide, etc. I don't and won't have an attached garage for the same reason. At the most, I'd have a breezeway between them to keep the rain off bringing in the groceries.

- Speaking of bringing in the groceries, I would not make my retirement home a place where I had to climb stairs. While I'm currently fit and able, a 1st story master, kitchen, bathroom, living room, are all necessities.

- If you ever have a birthday or holiday celebration, all guests will be required to climb stairs to get to it. May not apply to you, but we have family and/or friends over at least every week. My mother in-law cannot climb stairs very well.

- At the very least, make provisions for an elevator if you go with 2nd floor only living. When you're 80-90 or even if you're young with an injury, you won't regret it.

Anyhow, good luck with your decision making process. It's an exciting time.

My thoughts exactly! I've seen too many vehicles burn from a battery shorting out, or from bad winch contactors on ATV's.
If you do put living quarters in your shop/garage make sure you have a good fire detection and escape plan in place.

 

[ETD66SS]

When the ICF estimate came back so high, I did start working on a stripped down stick frame version:

Poured foundation walls, 8ft 1st story walls instead of 9ft. Just a parking garage, no car lift, so "normal" 4" slab. 18-12 pitch on the faux a-frame as opposed to 24-12, no natural stone veneer, etc.

If the ICF estimate comes in still too high this time maybe I'll revisit this version.