Picture of my neighbors pole barn house.
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.
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 17,297.00 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 6×6 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 foundation needs to be poured into place 26 inches wide by 10 inches thick. This diagram call for 8×8 post but I was told by APB pole barns that because I will have a second floor I can get by with the 6×6 post.
The right side of my house that will face the view of gander hill pond I put at the top this post, will have a 8 foot deep full height gable porch which is 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.
Our home will not look as grand and beautiful as this one, but it will be affordable. 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.
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 sign up by email to follow this blog on the right side of this page towards the top, hit the follow button then you will get a confirmation email and you have to click that to follow.
I have always wanted to be a farmer, but never had the money or the knowledge to live my dream until now. I have now bought the farm ground and am in the process of turning my bare land into a farm and myself into a farmer. I am finding out that it isn't always easy, but still love the journey. This is my journal of that journey.
Looks good so far. When you get a design finished, don’t forget to price it at Lockridge’s there in Chariton. They’re pretty competitive and local. They can also do up computer blueprint drawings for free for you. I’m not sure about the Chariton store, but the one in Promise City (main store) is where we do business. The building project manager there is awesome. When we built our barn, he was out every day and sometimes more than once to make sure the workers had everything they needed and things were moving as planned. Wells is his last name. Feel free to ask questions if you need to.
Thanks Langela, I do like to use and support local business there and I will call Mr. Wells and get a quote from them and I will tell him you sent me. I am also going to call Dutch Mill in Pella Iowa, that is where the Amish get their material.
You’ve done tons of research and planning and calculations. I’m sure your project will go great! More power to you for taking it on yourself. And I love the view you’re planning to capitalize on. Seeing that island in the middle of the pond makes me think of swans! Or geese–for Gander Hill. They need a safe place to nest where predators can’t get them, and that would be perfect. I guess I should let you get your house built before I have you adding geese, shouldn’t I?
Thanks Susan, we got the name Gander Hill because there are 4 or 5 Canadian geese that nest on that hill every spring. It is fun to watch the little geese swim with their mothers after they have hatched. I do want to raise some domestic ducks and geese closer to the house.
Hi Gordon. I really like the looks of your choice of pole barns. I saw a lot of lose out along the cost of Washington when I was out there in 07-08. They are very popular there because of the milder climate and low cost of building. I was wondering, since there are a lot of tornados in this area if you will need to make an emergency shelter or not?
Hi Johnny how have you been? Yes we will put in a storm shelter that we will also use a root cellar.
Following in White House, TN where my little family is looking for an affordable housing project for our growing kids.
can’t wait to see your floorplan. The outside ideas look awesome!
Thanks Stephanie, I guess I better get busy and finish those up. I have to tweak them a little yet.