Big Barn’s Retirement Farm Shop

[dragoneggs]

My my my.

Must be lots of spare change laying about in your neck of the woods!

MoKelly

Yeah... same in the Seattle area. I can't understand how there are enough high paying jobs that can afford these houses. Been working all my life in a good paying job and I couldn't afford a $1M house

 

[the old grind]

Uh, I doubt if many folks are paying cash for these homes. People tend to live on what they can borrow. An inheritance or an existing home in a hot market can make a good down-payment. Like with many tractor purchases we might hope the next one will be our last.

 

[Big Barn]

Yeah... same in the Seattle area. I can't understand how there are enough high paying jobs that can afford these houses. Been working all my life in a good paying job and I couldn't afford a $1M house

You DO NOT want to see what $700K gets you if you can find a house that cheap.

 

[dnw64]

I like the paint on the knob idea. I was taught that you should always open your compressed gas valves all the way to seat the valve. Is this a myth? If so, my luck is the paint will line up the same whether open or closed.

On any screw valve I have always opened all the way, then turned back 1/8 to 1/4 turn. I was told (long ago, by my late father-in-law, who learned whatever he did in the 50s and 60s) that this is the way to do it. IIRC it was so that the back of the seat couldn't corrode to the body (like when you go to replace a 20 year old toilet...). Anyways, I figure that closing is slightly isn't going to impede flow enough to make a difference, so I just always do it.

 

[dnw64]

OK, this may be slightly off topic, but it is about a barn and retirement, and I didn't see a better place to post it. Especially considering there are what seems to be several pretty widely rounded and smart fellers regularly contributing to this thread.

I hope to retire within about 5 years and am planning to build a barn/shop/storage building before that happens. My first instinct is a Morton, since we've used them for our business before and were very happy with the entire experience. But I think they are on the high side. I don't need anything fancy, or that will last 100 years. And I do have a limited budget.

If you wanted to build a building somewhere on the order of 40-50 x 60-80 x 16'* ceiling, insulated, what companies and/or workflows would you suggest?

To flesh it out a bit, here are the intended uses:

• Storage of my tractor and implements.
• Winter storage of our summer cars.
• Possible future use for storage of a camper (which we don't currently have).
• A small office (which could double as a "doghouse" ) and bathroom.
• An area, with separate HVAC, for a winery/brewery (personal use).

*I figure that, with a 16' ceiling, there will be some areas where I can make use of a second floor, with room below for things that don't need much vertical space, like all of my 3-pt implements, and barrel storage.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Remember, on Acetylene, only open it 1/4 turn max.

 

[dnw64]

Remember, on Acetylene, only open it 1/4 turn max.

Yes, I DID know that. Exception proves the rule, I guess.

Though I did never know why. Kinda surprised I ignored the advice as a matter of principle, as I tend to be a raging nonconformist.

 

[Big Barn]

My my my.

Must be lots of spare change laying about in your neck of the woods!

MoKelly

Not in this neck LOL

 

[Big Barn]

. Kinda surprised I ignored the advice as a matter of principle, as I tend to be a raging nonconformist.

Say it isn't so!!

 

[the old grind]

If you wanted to build a building somewhere on the order of 40-50 x 60-80 x 16'* ceiling, insulated, what companies and/or workflows would you suggest?

*I figure that, with a 16' ceiling, there will be some areas where I can make use of a second floor, with room below for things that don't need much vertical space, like all of my 3-pt implements, and barrel storage.

My 40' x 40' barn has doors along the West wall 4' out giving room to put benches and toolboxes along it. PO serviced semi tractors in that long 'bay' I wanted to keep a large boat in it w/o backing up. Walls are 14' high and drive through clearance is 13' 10". There's another door on the opposite wall of the building with clearance ~ 13' under the truss headers.

I've added two lofts, both 4' x 16' and ~7' tall. No prob walking on or under either one when they're not full of stored items. (tires, appliances, furniture, bicycles and such) As for heat and insulating the ceiling there's more volume there than I'd want to heat. I may yet build an 'office' under one loft, but put the second loft up with plans to put that on top of it and add a window on the gable-end wall.

A friend's garage has trusses and he planned a storage loft. He did the ceiling with 4 x 8 sheets of OSB and ripped battens to cover the gaps. Insulation and a partial floor were added, along with a pull-down ladder/staircase. Quick and cheap way to retain heat proved out in his Son's 30' x 40' x 12' barn by stapling Tyvek/Wraptor to the bottom truss chords and installing a ceiling fan over the workbench. It put off his plans to panel and insulate the ceiling. Adding the fabric did as much to keep comfortable heat in there as putting in the wood stove did. Expect a large barn to cost like another house to keep warm all the time.