Pole Barn House Plans

[Gordo 56]

We are now planning our pole barn house and know that folks here are interested in that sort of thing. So I thought I would share my post on my farm blog about planning our pole barn house here, below is the post.


As much as I keep wishing my retirement day would get here soon, I am also glad it's not. I know I am not ready, I have so much to learn yet, not just about farming but also building our pole barn house. With me planning to do most of the work on our house, I have to learn every aspect of building this type of home not just the construction, but everything from the plumbing system to radiant floor heating to name a few.

We are building a style of pole barn house that will take advantage of this view of Gander Hill Pond.

The most perplexing thing about coming up with plans for building our dream home is the house I am dreaming of doesn't yet exist. At least I have not found one like it any where to get plans from, but nothing can discourage or deter me from turning our dream into reality. I have searched all over the internet and the lack of information for pole barn construction for residents has been frustrating and has caused me uncertainty in our own design plans. My hope through these post I do about our house will be a source of information for others and will give them the confidence to move forward in their plans

I have found from the post I did Pole Barn House that there is a lot interest in these types of homes, because like me, people are looking for good affordable housing that takes just a few days to put up the shell and once done requires little maintenance. Most people who build these get a builder to build the outside frame and then they can finish the inside that is all enclosed and protected from the weather at their leisure. In these series of posts I will show you the style, floor plans, interior and the different components of the pole barn house we are going to build.

Milligan's Gander Hill Farm The pole barn we built on our farm last summer

The style of pole barn house we want to build.

Before I could work on floor plans, window placement, and other aspects of the home we needed to decided what style of pole barn house we wanted to build. We have decided to build a two-story house that will have a front porch, with windows, roof, trim, and doors all in white with green siding. The very same colors like the pole barn I did above, only it will look like the house below.

I got this photo from APB Pole Buildings and have a quote of 17,656.00 for materials to build this one. There are no windows priced in this quote

This is the front view of my house, but will have little different window and door placement then the one above. The front faces true south that will take advantage of the suns rays in the winter being lower in the sky and will shine in the windows and warm the polished brown stained concrete floors that will act as thermal mass and will keep releasing heat even after the sun goes down. The house will be protected by the higher summer sun with the 6 ft front porch for the first floor windows and a two foot overhang for the upper windows. The white roof is supposed to last longer and also help keep it 25% cooler in the summer reflecting most of the sun rays.

In order to build a two-story house, you do have to have more of a beefed up foundation then just a precast concrete pad in the bottom of your post holes because of the weight of the second story. On a gabled roof house like the one above, the post on the eave side or in this case the front and back side of this house carries the weight of the roof trusses, roof, snow loads, and bigger portion of the weight of the second floor. The front and back will have 6x6 lam post that will be 8' on center. The bottom of the posthole needs a 26 inch wide by 10 inches thick cast in place foundation to help distribute the weight of the structure. The gable ends of the house will not carry as much of the weight of the house, the post foundation only needs to be 18 inches wide by 8 inches thick. The posthole foundation you need for your pole barn will all depend on the style, soil type, frost heave, wind and snow loads for your area.

For the front the posts foundation needs to be poured into place 26 inches wide by 10 inches thick. This diagram call for 8x8 post but I was told by APB pole barns that because I will have a second floor I can get by with the 6x6 post.

The right side of my house that will face the view of gander hill pond I put at the top this post and will have a 8 foot deep full height gable porch which nothing more than an extended roof line and will be a cheaper version of the picture of the house below that was done by New Energy Works who designs and builds timber frame homes.

New Energy Works designed home

Our home will not look as grand and beautiful as this one, but it will be affordable and take advantage of the views of Gander Hill Pond. Our roof will not be as steep as this one with only a 4/12 or 6 /12 pitch. Our windows will also not go all the way up to the roof line. You can see below of the drawing I did of how this side of our house will look.

Pole barn drawings

I think you can get the general idea how our house will look and the next post will be on the floor plans. Don't forget if you want to follow our progress on our pole barn house click on the link at the bottom of this page to go to my blog.

 

[dave1949]

Neat house project! Looking forward to watching.

One thought about the extended roof line gable-end patio, that will limit daylight and probably airflow at the second story gable-end windows. It will also be more difficult to access the ceiling due to height, and really not much to lean a ladder on away from the gable-end. Have you considered making that roof extension at the first story level?

 

[Dr Dave]

Nice veiw of the pond, I think a walkout deck on the second floor end wall, would be a plus. Take full advantage of the veiw, and with the roof extending overhead, would provide shade. Looking forward to your project.

Dave

 

[Singalo]

Is there much of a resale market for a "House" like this?

 

[Gordo 56]

Thanks Dave for commenting, to answer your question about having the roof extension at the the first story level. Yes I considered doing that, having the front porch just wrap around to the gable end is a good look and would break up those 18' foot walls, but I thought that would block more sun light then having full height gable. Those windows on top I thought I would have them as non-operating windows. It will be hard to access the ceiling with this design and for me to do the work I know I will have to buy some scaffold. The trusses I plan to use will be scissor trusses and I will put car siding on the ceiling instead of drywall so I don't have to lift heavy drywall up there.

 

[Gordo 56]

Hi Dr Dave, I thought about doing that because that would give me a more elevated view of the farm and pond but with this end of the house there will be a great room that will have a loft over looking this area. There won't be a second floor to reach the deck from there.

 

[Gordo 56]

Is there much of a resale market for a "House" like this?

This is my retirement home so I am not really thinking about the resale market. They can be harder to sale because Pole constructed houses are harder to get a loan for but a whole lot cheaper to build. I should be able to build this with me doing most of the work for under 90,000.00

 

[Singalo]

This is my retirement home so I am not really thinking about the resale market. They can be harder to sale because Pole constructed houses are harder to get a loan for but a whole lot cheaper to build. I should be able to build this with me doing most of the work for under 90,000.00

What are they like to heat? Being a pole barn, are the difficult to insulate like you would a more conventional house? How are you planing to heat it? Wood? Boiler?

 

[murphy1244]

My house is a single story ranch built on a Pole system, I like the 6" thick walls.

 

[Singalo]

My house is a single story ranch built on a Pole system, I like the 6" thick walls.

You get 6" walls with modern construction. Was there some greater point? Or was this just as random as it looked.

 

[Gordo 56]

What are they like to heat? Being a pole barn, are the difficult to insulate like you would a more conventional house? How are you planing to heat it? Wood? Boiler?

Most stick built homes uses much more lumber and takes much longer to erect which brings up your labor and material cost of a regular built home. Most are built with 2x4 walls but can be more efficient if built with 2x6 walls but that makes the house cost even more.

Pole barn homes are very easy to insulate just like a regular home. Instead of the wall studs going vertical you put 2x6's horizontal like a book shelve from pole to pole. They are put every 24" and you can use regular rolled insulation or spray foam insulation. Pole barn homes usually don't have a basement but is built with a slab that is usually poured after the building is built. If you insulate under the slab and insulate the 6" walls the pole barn house can be very energy efficient.

I plan to use radiant floor heating that uses pex tubing that will be in the slab foundation that uses a regular hot water heater to heat water that flows through pex to heat the floor. It is a much more comfortable heat and if done right can be very energy efficient.

 

[Singalo]

Most stick built homes uses much more lumber and takes much longer to erect which brings up your labor and material cost of a regular built home. Most are built with 2x4 walls but can be more efficient if built with 2x6 walls but that makes the house cost even more.

Pole barn homes are very easy to insulate just like a regular home. Instead of the wall studs going vertical you put 2x6's horizontal like a book shelve from pole to pole. They are put every 24" and you can use regular rolled insulation or spray foam insulation. Pole barn homes usually don't have a basement but is built with a slab that is usually poured after the building is built. If you insulate under the slab and insulate the 6" walls the pole barn house can be very energy efficient.

I plan to use radiant floor heating that uses pex tubing that will be in the slab foundation that uses a regular hot water heater to heat water that flows through pex to heat the floor. It is a much more comfortable heat and if done right can be very energy efficient.

That is very interesting. I have something to new to read up on now. Can't wait to see pictures

 

[belliott]

Here is something you may be interested in. Wood Horse Barn Kits | Prefab Barns with Apartment | Garage and House Kit | Barn Pros

They use true pole barn construction. I plan on building a pole barn home/shop later this year.

 

[rturner]

You can also bookshelf using 2x8 girts to achieve more air gap for your insulation, install them with 1 1/2" protruding past the post and you don't have to notch the truss carriers into the posts which saves some time. Just be sure to use ring shank nails for truss to post and truss carrier to post connections.

Best of Luck,
Robert Turner

Most stick built homes uses much more lumber and takes much longer to erect which brings up your labor and material cost of a regular built home. Most are built with 2x4 walls but can be more efficient if built with 2x6 walls but that makes the house cost even more.

Pole barn homes are very easy to insulate just like a regular home. Instead of the wall studs going vertical you put 2x6's horizontal like a book shelve from pole to pole. They are put every 24" and you can use regular rolled insulation or spray foam insulation. Pole barn homes usually don't have a basement but is built with a slab that is usually poured after the building is built. If you insulate under the slab and insulate the 6" walls the pole barn house can be very energy efficient.

I plan to use radiant floor heating that uses pex tubing that will be in the slab foundation that uses a regular hot water heater to heat water that flows through pex to heat the floor. It is a much more comfortable heat and if done right can be very energy efficient.

 

[Gordo 56]

You can also bookshelf using 2x8 girts to achieve more air gap for your insulation, install them with 1 1/2" protruding past the post and you don't have to notch the truss carriers into the posts which saves some time. Just be sure to use ring shank nails for truss to post and truss carrier to post connections.

Best of Luck,
Robert Turner

Thanks Robert for your reply, I had a pole barn supplier tell me the same thing about using 2x8's in the bookshelf method and then you would have your framing for the inside and your girts all in one board. I wasn't sure what he meant how that works. Does the 1 1/2 that protrudes past the post goes on the inside of the building or does it protrude past the outside and that is what you nail your metal to?

 

[SPIKER]

Thanks Robert for your reply, I had a pole barn supplier tell me the same thing about using 2x8's in the bookshelf method and then you would have your framing for the inside and your girts all in one board. I wasn't sure what he meant how that works. Does the 1 1/2 that protrudes past the post goes on the inside of the building or does it protrude past the outside and that is what you nail your metal to?

The Metal is normally NAILED to 2x4 girts running horizontal between posts. the 2x8 would be nailed to the top of these 2x4s and the metal would be right against them as well. NORMALLY you would have the pole barn all done as a dry in package then floor goes in and you come back and frame up the inside into walls and insulate and seal it up. I have mine about 2/3's done but went with the 2x6 vertical framing.

Some pics.






mark

 

[MacLawn]

Gordon, what a beautiful spot!! I think you will like pole barn house. My nephew is building one now but his has crawl space instead of slab. That floor heat is great! I'm looking forward to following your build!

 

[Gordo 56]

Gordon, what a beautiful spot!! I think you will like pole barn house. My nephew is building one now but his has crawl space instead of slab. That floor heat is great! I'm looking forward to following your build!

Thanks for commenting MacLawn

 

[Gordo 56]

Thanks Spiker for sharing this, it looks great. I might end up using the 2x6's vertical like you did.

 

[rturner]

Thanks Robert for your reply, I had a pole barn supplier tell me the same thing about using 2x8's in the bookshelf method and then you would have your framing for the inside and your girts all in one board. I wasn't sure what he meant how that works. Does the 1 1/2 that protrudes past the post goes on the inside of the building or does it protrude past the outside and that is what you nail your metal to?

On the outside so you don't have to notch the truss carriers and fit the grade board between the posts. The 1 1/2" is simulating nailing the girts on the outside of the post like a typical pole barn.

RT