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I'm new here, so be gentle with my stupidity. We are looking into building a 40 X 60 building with a 2nd floor for living quarters for guests. The first floor would be open for equipment storage. Does anyone have any suggestions whether a pole building is the right way to go? Or do I need to go with a footer foundation? Also, does anbody have any suggestions as far as companies to use for a steel building.The 1st floor will be a cement pad. Thank you in advance for any help.
My 36x48 bld with 12"12 pitch gable roof and 21x48 open on one long side attached shed with 3:12 pitch shed roof was from Miracle truss/Miracle Steel company, a DIY kit yielding an all open span bld with no internal supports required except at the periphery of both sections (main bld and shed.)
I use half of the 36x48 as a 3 car garage and the other half is a two story shop with 10 ft ceiling on ground floor and 12 ft upstairs. Upstairs is smaller floor space but has two large dormers.
This building is attached to my house so that the two two gable roofs have a 45 degree turn. I have a foundation under all this. and it is slab-on-grade.
There are several examples within a few miles of me where folks built pole barn type shop buildings and finished out at least part of the inside to live in while building their house and decided they liked it and made it into their permanent residence and built another shop.
My vertical strength members are in some instances I beams bolted to the slab and in some places C channel sheet metal. I have no complaints on the materials of my building or the details of constriction and would buy from them again.
I did not finish it out as a metal building. It is finished in brick and vinyl siding to match the house and there is no way from the outside to tell it is steel.
There are others here with more pole bld experience than I have. I will building my first soon. A concern I have is rigidity. A pole barn used as a barn can flex a bit in hard winds and cause no problem. If the walls were drywalled I'd think they might show some cracking if you didn't build it super stiff.
Pat
Thank you for response. Hopefully we will figure out what we need.
Have you found anymore info? We are looking at doing the same thing (in Iowa) but a 48x72x12 with 48x34 as a short term (5 years) living quarters. We would like to have the outershell constructed by someone else and then plan to finish the apartment ourselves. We just started getting bids and pricing everything and are having a bit of sticker shock. The lowest bid we've seen so far for the building is 43,000 and that did not include the slab - we are guessing roughly 10 grand for mud. After pricing lumber, flooring, cabinets, etc (including used at our local building recycle center) we are at roughly 15k for the guts. I should mention that 6-8 of that is radiant heat in the floor supplemented with a woodburning stove so we can avoid a furnace and all the duct work. We've found flooring for under $1 sf and cheap paint/doors, etc. Windows are a big part of the expense also - about $1700 for all windows in the building - not just the apartment. Has anyone else done something similiar and where are some special we could possibly cut corners?
$43k seems just a little high. I had quoted out a 36x72x10 pole barn (no slab), steel siding & roof for $15k in materials. Local guy said he'd put up the poles & trusses for $1500, erect the whole thing for $4500. Figure a slab for the whole thing would be about $10k (even though I'm going to keep about half in dirt for stalls) , so that would be about $30k for a slightly smaller building than what you're planning.
In reply to the OP, something to consider regarding the guest quarters in the Pole Building. Did you check your local zoning ordinances (if you have any)? Many communities will not allow living quraters in accessory buildings. This means no plumbing is allowed at all. You can bring in electricity, gas and water, but no sanitary. Don't know where you live, but here in Michigan, that is common. I have never gotten a logical answer as to WHY it is "bad" to have an apartment over a garage, or a bathroom in your workshop building, just that it is not allowed.
oops, just realized your $43k did NOT include the slab either, so your price seems a little steeper than I originally thought. If I recall correctly, ready-mix delivered to the site was around $100/yd. Then you need the labor to put it down. I would thinik with the construction slow-down around the country, "build" prices would not be at a premium.
Who quoted you the Pole Barn? I went to a local lumber yard that speced the material list and will provide drawings for the dimensioned barn. Then I asked if they could recommend someone to put it up. They gave me the name of a guy that works with a couple of other guys to erect these things. I've read horror stories about buying from national chains. I'd prefer to deal with someone close by. If I have a problem, I can drive over and pound on his door. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]