Living In The Barn?

[Golfgar4]

Rob,

That's an interesting idea, and VERY workable. Like I said earlier, it's something I would consider IF the inspectors allow them. Otherwise I think we'd need to go commercial.

And regarding the comment about modifications after it's built - I hear you, but I work for the City. Even though I should be retired by then, it always seems that the inspectors "drop by" the retired guys to see what they've been up to. That's be my luck - I'd add something after it was built and then they'd show up /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif!

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>it would be a lot cheaper to do like Alan has done.</font color=blue>

Mark,

I agree. A one story structure is not out of the question, especially when we start sharpening the pencil. It's just that we always planned on having a two story barn so we could use it for storage, an additional work shop, or whatever. But it's very conceivable that we could end up on one level. You're right about thing - the design and construction would be a heck of alot easier!

 

[ewoss3]

so just have them help you build it(accomplices). Since your are using it as a cargo lift it doesn't follow the same regulations as a personell lift.

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>Since your are using it as a cargo lift</font color=blue>

Can groceries be classified as cargo?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Not a bad idea though!

 

[dmccarty]

Golfgar4,

Very timely question.

I have been thinking about doing this for years and I'm still thinking! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I had a small lot a few years ago and had a house plan that had a two car
garage downstairs with a large living room. Upstairs was a kitchen, bath,
and three bedrooms. There was a utility room of the side of the house. The
plan was to build the "studio" first and then build the "main" house attached
to the utility room.

The credit union did not like the idea. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Sold the lot and bought more land. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Now I'm land rich and cash poor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I need a house on the property but the wife and I have to make
some real tough decisions. We have a "plan" for a garage with living
space and the "main" house attached via a utility room. Sound familiar?
/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

We have our "dream" home planned out and I'm working on the drawings.
We just are not sure if we can afford the house and if we can its going to
be tight.

So we are back to living in the "barn" idea...../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Just had the conversation
with the wifey as a mater of fact.

The problem with the living quarters over the barn is money. Even with an
effiecient design, we would have to tear out some of the walls for garage
space and likely upstairs as well. We can only have four bedrooms on our
house site so all but one of the bedrooms in the barn would have to be
modified so they are no longer bedrooms once the main house is built.

For a barn/garage we want at least a 30x40 building. 1200 feet on the
first floor. So if we simply added a second floor we would have 2400
square feet. The top floor would have to be bedrooms, baths, and
maybe a kitchen. We have thought about keeping the kitchen on the
first floor for ease of access and once we move to the main house we
would take the appliences and I would have built in storage in the
cabinents that are left behind.

Our builder gave us a prices on our garage/studio idea as well as the
main house to be attached. We would have a concrete slab foundation
in both with no tile/carpet/etc. Very simple interiors and a stucco exterior.
The price was about $60 a square foot if we rounded up.. So 2400 * 60 is
144,000. OUCH!

I think it was 60 per foot we got prices on other designs but I'm pretty sure
it was about 60. This was an average price per square foot.

Sooo, that is an expense barn/garage/storage in the long term. Short term it
makes sense for us but long term is another matter.....

I still don't know the answer....

Later...
Dan McCarty

 

[Golfgar4]

Don,

Yeah, it's going to be expensive. Right now, building costs in my area are running better than $75.00/sq. foot. We're fortunate that we have a lot of good relationships with various contractors in the area, and we can do alot of the work ourselves. But I gotta wonder what the building costs will be like when we're ready to break ground in 2 - 3 years.

I'm not sure if we have similar code requirements that regulate the number of bedrooms in the structure like you do, but it wouldn't really be a problem as we always planned on the house being a stand alone structure anyway.

One thought that I have kicked around is that once we're out of the upstairs in the barn, I could always rent it out and help cover costs that way.

No matter what happens, I know one thing. It's going to be an interesting journey /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif!

 

[dmccarty]

GolfGar4,

Its going to be an interesting trip alright. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

The house on my first property was designed so I could rent out the "studio"
after the main house was built. The lot was near UNC so I figured I could get
a couple of grad students and pay the mortgate on the main house.

This still applies except I really don't want other people on the property.

The four bedroom rule is not an ordinance but a limitation of my septic
field. I could build four houses if I wanted to but each house would only
have one bedroom. The septic field can only have four bedrooms. It limits
what we can do. The state specifies how many bedrooms a septic field
can handle and ours is four. I think its a stupid rule it should be by the
number of people in the house not the number of bedrooms. But I digress.
/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I think our main house would cost 30-40% more than the "barn" and on a
month payment the difference is not that much. Thus the quandry......

Later...
Dan McCarty

 

[ewoss3]

so the question comes to mind: are all four bedrooms going to be used as bedrooms or could one or two be called a sewing room or study. My wife and I have a four bedroom house but only one is truely a bedroom, the others are library/hunting room, sewing room, guest bedroom/office. terminolgy is very important

 

[billboe]

I think the way "they" distinguish a bedroom from a "den" (or whatever) is whether it has a closet or not... It may be different in different parts of the country...

 

[fractal]

Not sure about your zoning / cc&r's but you can pick up a used moble home (save it from the dump) for dirt cheap. Some places allow them as "temporary structures". One heck of a lot cheaper than a) building an appartment in your barn and b) paying the taxes on a detatched living quarters after you move to your real house.

First off, it saves you a bunch of money up front, second of all, it saves you tax dollars afterwords and third of all, it gives you an incentive to finish the house to get out of the f...ing moble home. Even if your county doesn't allow them you can often get your final occupancy signoff on your house before they give you 30 days to get rid of the moble if you are nice to your local building dept.

 

[Golfgar4]

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>

it gives you an incentive to finish the house to get out of the f...ing moble home

<hr></blockquote>



I actually mentioned to my wife the idea of getting a mobile home, and her reaction was just a wee bit more vocal than your comment /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif! Actually, I understand what your saying, and it is a very valid point. But we were planning on finishing the second level anyway, so it's pretty much a moot point.

 

[dmccarty]

Rob,

As BilBoe said if the room has a closet its a bedroom. At least in my
county and I'm pretty sure its a state regulation.

One of my neighbors has a septic field that only supports three bedrooms.
He had to sign a piece of paper with the county saying he would not
turn a study into a bedroom.

What is stupid about all this is it really should be done be the number of
people who can occupy they house. I think the state is assuming a max
of two people per bedroom. My neighbor certainly could put some
furniture and a bed in the study and allow it to be a bedroom. But if it
does not have a closet its not a bedroom so he would be legal. On the
other hand, say he had four kids plus his wife. Thats six people. But
he could only have three bedrooms. So everyone would have to share
a bedroom because of the regulation. If he had the money he could build
a house with five bedrooms maybe six for guests if he wanted and still
have the same occupancy. But he can't because of the bedroom rule. Its
really a dumb rule. Its easy to circumvent and really limits what people can
do with thier property.

Later...
Dan

 

[Egon]

Bedroom closets:

In Europe many bedrooms do not have closets. Instead they have an [Amoire] "misspelled " that is simply a large full height chest with doors for their clothing. To me it makes a lot of sense as more room arrangements are available and probably less junk gets lost and stored forever. Just another piece of furniture.

Egon

 

[dmccarty]

Egon,

I tried to spell Amoire and quite trying! Substituted "furninture" instead!

/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Later...
Dan

 

[bmabe]

Here's a plan for garage/workshop that I've considered: www.backroadhomes.com/noff/tc3cargrge.html
Of course, local and state codes, not to memtion lending institutions, should be consulted. On the other hand, I am planning to put up a 16' x 20' 2 story "utility" building or workshop which will serve as quarters until we can build a real house. I'm tired of making shift and need a secure place to store tools, etc., rather than carrying everthing back and forth from home to prop. & back home again.

Barry Mabery

 

[Golfgar4]

Barry,

WOW!/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Other than being a little smaller than what we're planning, that is EXACTLY what we've been talking about. I'll show the plans to the wife and see if she likes it enough to order the plans. She's so good with designing homes herself, she can probably look at this plan and start designing our own just from what the floorplan shows. Thanks./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[fishman]

My co-worker got a sweet deal on a home/workshop combo from a couple that were divorcing. Seems like they lived in the workshop for two years while finishing their home.

My wife and I also got a great deal on a home that wasn't quite finished because, you guessed it, the couple who built it were divorcing. A few weekends of painting, brush cutting, etc. made all the difference. Anyway, they built the home themselves over the course of a year while living somewhere in a dump.

Now I'm not saying these are typical cases, but it appears that adding the stress of living in a small, enclosed space to the stress of building your own home might have some unintended consequences. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

Something to think about.

 

[Knight9]

Golfgar,

If you like that plan, you may want to look at the whole site

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.backroadhomes.com/>Backroad Homes</A>

Kevin

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"...but it appears that adding the stress of living in a small, enclosed space to the stress of building your own home might have some unintended consequences.'</font color=blue>

John,

I hear you. Some people would say that since we both lasted 31+ years together already, there isn't much that would affect us /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. I guess I wouldn't disagree with that. When we were building our present home, we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with both of our kids (a girl(15) and a boy(9)) for 1 year/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif! We've always said, if we were able to survive that, we could survive anything /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif. Besides, I always figure if things get tense, I know I'll always be able to go down to the stall and sleep with my tractor /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

 

[Golfgar4]

Kevin,

Thanks. That's great. I knew you guys would come through with some great ideas. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

My wife is TRULY becoming a believer too. Last night I came upstairs from working (like being on here is work!) in the office and my wife asks "how are all your tractor buddies doing?" /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I said O.K. Then she says, "Well, what's being discussed tonight?" So I mention a few things, making sure to include some of the complimentary remarks you all have made about her /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. I said that I didn't think she was really that interested in it. And she says - are you ready? - "I'm kind of enjoying hearing about everything you guys talk about. From what you've told me, they sound like a real good bunch of guys." I was about ready to ask if she trusted those "real good bunch of guys" recommendations on tractors and which one I should buy, but I thought I'd better not push it for now!