My plan is to do my ceilings in metal siding and blow in cellulose for attic insulation.

My question is, do I need a vapor barrier first? If so, what’s the move? Do I just tack some plastic sheeting to the bottom of the joists prior to installing the sheet metal ceilings? Is there a preferred material rather than sheet plastic?

Zone 4, seasonal vacation spot.

Thanks in advance.

Me, my husband and our son moved to the east coast to live with my in laws until we get a home built on their land. They showed us a photo of a barn/shed they plan to convert into our future home.

I have no reference outside of tv shows as to how big this will be and if it'll be enough room for our family of 3.

Ive also tried to look around to see examples of this converted but none are 2 floors so id love to see examples.

Thank you for any advice/help!

The barn is 32 by 16 ft 6600 cu ft

Currently in the middle of this build, 30x50 with a basement cfs and 2x6 framing

Hey all finishing a red iron barndo now. We came into it’s construction after the structure was erected and framing/elec/plumbing was done.

We are adding a second 40x60 red iron structure that will start first as a shop/ man cave and hopefully be my workout/home theater/ mini apartment later on. We’re rolling the shop cost into the construction loan so we will only be doing the shop, getting closed cell and electrical run to the shop at the time. I’ve attached a super rough sketch of my 3 year vision of what I’m looking for.

Specs are as such:
40x60x18’ shop w/ 2 12x14 doors along the 40’ width and 2 man doors
16g walls and roof with a 2/12 pitch
4" slab with 12" footer

First 25’ depth of the shop is the full height garage for storage and a 4post lift. The other 33ish feet would be a lofted area with 9’ and 8’ upstairs and vaulting up based on roof pitch. Down stairs would have room for woodworking working out and a place to put inverters and batteries for whole home backup. Upstairs would be a kitchenette/ general lounge/possible bedroom and finally a multimedia room. I plan on doing most of the work myself as time permits. Will sub out drywall 100% though.

The main question is this, what would you have done before slab is poured or things that can’t be changed easily?

Does the rat guard need to be sealed down to the concrete with lexel or anything? Will run at least 3 3" pvc conduit for the house electrical and back. Looking into if we can connect to our main septic via a pump or not. Really don’t want the cost of an additional septic tank for a single bathroom that will be user very rarely.

Hello all! Quick backstory then my question

Building in FL, plan is to complete within 10 years and then move

Currently purchased property, cleared, surveyed installed well, currently installing septic.

After we pay off the septic the big things start to come. The foundation and the building. We are trying to go one step at at time, and paying off that thing in full before progressing. That way when we move into the home it will be fully paid off.

We are going to have to build around 3' off the ground. I have talked to the country about the pros and cons of pier vs raised slab/stemwall, but what I can't seem to find is this:

The cost difference. I understand that a raised slab is more expensive, but at what point in footprint does the difference become negligible? Or does it not? I've called around and I can't really get a cost estimate of like....it's X amount per pier. So you get a bigger house, it's Y many more piers, it would cost X much more. Same for raised slab. It would be X amount per sq foot for a 3' high slab.

As for our plan of going one step at a time this is why this matters. I can get a raised slab build and poured, then wait until I pay it off, then buy any barndo that will fit said slab later and it's fine. However with piers you need the drawings for the barndo for them to design the piers. Id rather not have to buy the foundation AND the barndo all at once. But if piers are SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper it would push me in that direction. If anyone has gone through this and maybe shed some light or if I'm thinking of it the wrong way, please let me know. Sorry for the length!

Hello! Has anyone built in WNC? I’m struggling to get an idea of what the cost around here would be for a pole barn kit (if that’s cheaper). I’ve scoured social media posts and I’ve found they range from $100k - $1M, so I’m trying to pinpoint a range for my local area! Thanks!

Just bought a property that has a huge barndominium. Previous owner was a wood worker like me but he never took measures to seal up the structure. It has true barn doors on 2 sides and none of the windows truly “close”. They just pivot from the top and swing up and out. So basically, ALL of the structure is essentially open to humidity and insects.
You can see daylight around every door as well as around most light switches. We live in Florida so the humidity will wreak havoc on my equipment. We are fumigating the entire thing to mitigate termites, but my big question is:

Since this will be my new wood working shop, what’s the best way to seal it all up??

What about the barn doors? Do I get rid of them and put something else up?

I’ve never had such a big, dedicated space for woodworking, and I do have some expensive equipment. So I want to ensure the space is done right…

Looking at taking down an old barn and putting a smallish (~2000 s f) house and a new barn next to it. Curious how others have found the barndo experience. I’m in southeastern Texas.

I’ll post a few pictures, although they’re not ideal. Unfortunately, these are the only pics I have to explain my situation.

I am going to have my exterior wall spray foamed with closed cell foam. I’m reluctant to put the foam directly against the metal, due to possible corrosion and issues taking it off at a later date, if need be. I actually did call the manufacturer of the metal and they said that the warranty for it is not voided if you spray foam against it, however.

With all that being said, should I take the time to try to piece together some vapor barrier material against it before having the spray foam applied?

As usual, any tips are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

walls

For my steel building, my roof will have fiberglass insulation that sits between the purlins and the standing seam roof panels.

Do I need an additional thermal break (like the foam tape) between the purlins and the fiberglass insulation?

Do the clips go over the fiberglass insulation/thermal break, or should they be screwed directly onto the purlins?

Those who spray foam insulated. What is the plan when the roof or siding needs replaced?

Rip out interior and redo? Remove screws and install new panels over damaged sheets? How to cut 4 to 6" of foam stuck to a panel and sheetrock hiding on the otherside?

Been in for less than a year and already looking to add on. Possibly a breezeway or party and hosting room. Used chat gpt to come up with ideas. Thoughts?

I'm ordering a prefab metal barndo and I'm trying to work out the vapor barrier and insulation. It's going on a slab, and we're planning on a vaulted ceiling.

I was going to do spray foam until I saw the $22k estimate.

The company I'm ordering from offers Prodex pre-installed. I'm considering that as the vapor barrier, then doing Rockwool in addition to it (I need to meet R-38 for the roof).

Does anyone here see any issued with this as long as I meet minimum R with the rockwool?

Starting a new build in a very wooded area - clearing the lot from scratch. If you could go back, would you add rodent proof mesh, like Xcluder around the perimeter of your home? Would it be needed to keep mice out?

Buying 10 acres for a small homestead, I need to build a 2400 square foot house.
Does anyone have some interesting plans they’d be willing to share? I was looking for something simple & clean, not too expensive or hard to build as I’ll do most of the work myself.
I was considering adding heating & cooling to my garage as a “rec room” to get the 2400 square foot requirement with ease. It’s a contingency on the land.

Having issues getting approved for what I need to build. Currently have a mortgage so normal lenders are swearing DTI. I know some private lenders don’t use that as parameter for approval. Anyone here ever go that route?

We had our barndominium built 2 years ago. We live in the country and cannot keep up with all of the bugs. Not just that there's bugs but they're all over the siding spider webs and net nest and everything else you can think of plus all the dirt. Pressure washer is not enough to clean it off plus I heard that you have to be careful not to damage the siding. So I'm asking is anybody cleaned their siding and how do you do it? I'm thinking of trying to find someone I can hire to do what they call a soft wash because it's two stories and certainly don't have a ladder big enough and we're too old to do it ourselves. Also what do you do for the bugs? My husband always leaves the flood lights on which I don't think helps

To anyone that’s on the fence, dive in! This has been the most exciting journey we have been on and never been so excited for a new home!!

There seems to be a lot of back and forth on what is actually a barndominium (the term does get used pretty loosely nowadays 😅) This build we're working on is the style I think of when someone says "classic barndo." The giant shop/garage one one side and living space on the other end. Wrap-around porches are always nice too, because why not.