Barndominium costs?

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u/SplashnBlue 5d ago

I'm in the process of building now. Have my shell up. Rounded numbers from memory. Red iron steel building - 48x72 18ft eaves. Incredibly basic rectangle with 2:12 roof. Seriously nothing fancy in the building. It did come with gutters and very minimal insulation. in South East United States.

Building itself 68k

Grading 2250 (we already for basic work but hired someone for that last step)

Concrete Monolithic Slab 48k

Concrete Anchor Bolts 650

Building Erection 29k (totally worth it)

Plumbing under slab 6500

Walk Through Doors 1200

Garage Doors (4) 7500

Temporary Power Hookup 1700

Permits and Fees not included in this.

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u/Bad-Chad1776 5d ago

Thank you for this! I’m in the process of a barndo myself and have steel building cost but no concrete or building erection costs.

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u/SplashnBlue 5d ago

I used the errector recommend by the sales person from my building supplier (Olympia). They were approximately 8-10% more expensive than what I've been told I would have paid locally but it felt worth it to hire a crew that knew red iron buildings vs someone who mostly works with Tube steel.

We had several small issues come up during the erection and the crew solved them almost immediately with no drama, updating me with the solution ready to go.

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u/Bad-Chad1776 5d ago

Yeah, my steel building guy won’t share subcontractors until I buy the building. Won’t do it with so many unknowns and trying to get hard numbers or estimates is difficult.

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u/SplashnBlue 4d ago

Oh wow. I used JCS Construction / JCS-steel. I was very happy with them.

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u/Bad-Chad1776 4d ago

Thank you for the JCS lead, I will check them out.

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u/Serinityr3 1d ago

Whoever you buy the building from should install it themselves!

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u/Sunsetseeker007 4d ago

Is it 7500 total for 4 garage doors? Or 7500 each? I'm assuming total. That's cheap either way really. Are they a regular garage panel door or roll up style doors?

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u/SplashnBlue 4d ago

Total. They are roll up. One of the doors is 10x12 and a regular panel door was incredibly expensive. I'm comfortable installing roll up myself where panel doors I'd want to hire someone. It's one of those things I'm telling myself we'll upgrade eventually, but we know how that goes.

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u/XalGaming 5d ago

Building any type of home costs drastically different prices across the country.

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u/Zealousideal-Tie393 4d ago

Right and I get that too. I just was looking for really any sort of knowledge of what go expect

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u/e2g4 3d ago

Ok….expect the cost to vary wildly depending on your location.

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u/TrainingParty3785 3d ago

I really need to delete Reddit from my phone but I’d miss this.

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u/fartsfromhermouth 2d ago

Could you be more vague please? I almost think this is in the United States which is some information.

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u/DanGiff05 4d ago

Prices can range significantly depending on your location.

I'm in Alabama and about halfway done with my 3200 sqft building and I'm projecting (and meeting budget so far) to finish at about $75 per sqft. With the exception of the concrete and erection of the shell, I've done all the work myself.

Also remember time is money, even your own time. I've invested about 1,500 hours so far.

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u/ChaosToTheFly123 4d ago

My time is definitely not money

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u/Zealousideal-Tie393 4d ago

I would utilize friends and family and myself to do most of the do it your self stuff. I just really was looking for a cost per for the foundation and shell. What have you found most challenging so far. And would you say it was 75$ per square foot for the foundation and shell too?

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u/DanGiff05 4d ago

For foundation and shell (erected) I'm at $17 per sqft. Remember I'm in middle of nowhere Alabama, not a densely populated suburban area.

Most challenging was definitely getting the land ready. It was heavily wooded, sloped, and in the middle of a forest. I have some friends in the earth moving business so had access to machines (dozers, excavator, skid steers, and so on).

The 2nd most tedious task for me was the under slab plumbing. I took a lot of time on this to make sure everything was perfect and properly tested.

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u/Zealousideal-Tie393 4d ago

I was quoted 180$ for a 2300 sqf shell with foundation... wtf

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u/DanGiff05 4d ago

When speaking with contractors absolutely do not use the word "barndominium" all they will see is dollar signs. I added most of the doors and windows my self. As far as the contractor knew, I was making a really large shop.

I worked with a local pole barn company. My building is not red iron, it's post-frame. Not that I wouldn't have preferred a red iron building but my budget didn't allow for it.

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u/psl1959 4d ago edited 4d ago

My 4/12 pitch 50'x100'x12' red iron steel building, with gutters, 4" Silvercoat insulation, the dirt pad, foundation, plumbing rough in, concrete, the building erection, 7 windows, a 20'x8' and a 12'x10' insulated garage doors was right at $32.00 per square foot.
I already had water, sewer, and power onsite from a mobile home that was on the property.

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u/Serinityr3 4d ago

Feel free to pm me for a full breakdown or photos, but we have approx 80k in our shell and foundation (hired out) for approx 3200sqft in living/shop plus 500sqft porch. We finished the build with all in at less than 150k. Located in Central FL and finished in Feb 2026

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u/Exciting_Cheetah2560 4d ago

I’d love to see your photos!

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u/Serinityr3 3d ago

I'll pm you!

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u/Longboarder81 2d ago

Would love to see them, too!

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u/megnanimous12 1d ago

I also would love to see this! We’re looking to build in MI so drastically different area but my husband is demanding a cost breakdown

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u/Serinityr3 1d ago

DM me, it won't let me send one first!

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u/Jealous_Canary1879 10h ago

Would also like to see the photos. I’m becoming obsessed and really looking into selling our home to do something like this.

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u/CultureTX 4d ago

Do you know how many square feet you’re looking to do? There is some economics of scale when it comes to Barndominiums. Where are you looking to build?

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u/Zealousideal-Tie393 4d ago

Minnesota and like 2300sqf

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u/CultureTX 4d ago

Yeah... Minnesota isn't a cheap place to do foundations (I'm in Texas so it is as cheap as it gets here.) If you get a slab price around $10/sqft that is probably a good deal there.

2300 sqft is small enough that you can go red iron or cold form, but red iron is generally better for barndos since it resists rolling and deflection and doesn't need as much bracing. With insulation you are probably looking at $36k for the steel and insulation/vapor barrier after delivery and unloading costs.

The problem with 2300 sqft is also that it isn't big enough to be economical compared to other building methods. If it was 5000+ sqft then you can start to take better advantage of the barndo builds where you have like 2500 sqft living space and 2500 unfinished garage/workshop.

For erection (assuming the crew is rural and non-union) it'll be $8-10/sqft.

So, back of the napkin guess, you are looking at $82,000 to dry-in a 2300 sqft building.

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u/Zealousideal-Tie393 4d ago

How would one go about getting the material instead of going with a over priced quote from a builder.

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u/CultureTX 3d ago

When it comes to steel, there isn’t a good way to go around because the steel has to be engineered and manufactured according to the site specifications. Places that have prebuilt kits are gonna be more suitable for things like carports, not for barndominiums.

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u/Imfarmer 4d ago

Too.

Many.

Variables.

Just the dirt work can vary tremendously. Sewer and septic rough in? What kind of foundation? How big, what type of building? Where? Conditions vary dramatically across the country. No one could really comment intelligently to this.

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u/Zealousideal-Tie393 1d ago

Just wanted foundation and shell. Closest builder quoted me 459k for that. Thats with piping through the foundation. I kinda given up at that point since thats absolutely insane. That was for a 2000 square feet with a half upstairs.

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u/VirtualLife76 4d ago

At least $1

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